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Hi, I am currently a junior in high school, and soon my dad and I are going on a trip to visit colleges. I am leaning towards majoring in music education. So, my question to you guys is what do you think is the most import information to find out about a school? What are the most important questions to ask when visiting a school? Who would you be sure to meet and talk to? We have already set up guided tours of the schools and I have requested a 30min to an hour lesson with the schools tuba professor.

Thanks,
~Jesse

1) Get some face time with the tuba prof. Try to get a feel for what it will be like to spend 4-5 years studying with whoever this is, and make sure that you try to talk to some of the other studio members.

2) Try to get a meeting with one of the education profs, as well. Also, ask what the outgoing percentage is for the school in terms of job placement for music ed. majors.

3) Take a campus tour, if possible

Make sure to go on a day that they are having Orchestra or more importantly Wind Ensemble rehearsal and listen in on rehearsal. My only regret about the school I went to, was it seemed every year two or more studio's were down on talent and it had a direct effect on how the ensembles performed. So if I had it all to do over again, I'd of chosen a school that had solid studios for ALL instruments. The higher the level of musicianship around you the higher yours will be also.

NDSPTuba wrote:Make sure to go on a day that they are having Orchestra or more importantly Wind Ensemble rehearsal and listen in on rehearsal. My only regret about the school I went to, was it seemed every year two or more studio's were down on talent and it had a direct effect on how the ensembles performed. So if I had it all to do over again, I'd of chosen a school that had solid studios for ALL instruments. The higher the level of musicianship around you the higher yours will be also.

Except at the largest schools with very strong music departments, this disparity between studios will be the case. You should not choose a school just on this basis, unless you feel you really need competition to succeed.

Number one concern:

Get a lesson with the tuba teacher. Make sure you get along. It is not necessary that you see completely eye to eye on sound concepts, but just make sure that you get along. Don't go somewhere if you don't like the tuba prof, even if its the college of your dreams. Having friction between yourself and your main applied teacher is something that can affect your will to practice and progress.

Number two:

Will they give you money to go there? If not, how can you pay for it? THIS COULD BE A MAKE OR BREAK POINT. Almost every school will give you a decent education. Especially in today's economy, you need to think about the amount of debt you will be incurring through the 4+ years you will probably be there. If you can get your degree for less and still get a good education, DO IT.

Number three:

Is the college academically what you are looking for? Since you are a music ed major, this could be very important. Make sure you talk to some music ed majors away from professors (so you get relatively unbiased opinions) and ask them about the ed department and if it sucks or not. (a lot do)

Number four:

Does the school have good ensembles? Make sure you play with the ensemble you will be involved in while you're there. Also, since music ed often involves at least two semesters of conducting, make sure you can stand the people in charge of that area of study.

Also, some lesser points to consider and some general things about the campus and the way its run.

How are advisement, registration, and other administrative issues handled? (The school I am getting my master's from has a TERRIBLE and antiquated system that can screw people over quite easily.)

Is the school well taken care of? Is the music building well-kept and can you see yourself spending hours on end practicing there?

Keep in mind that you will probably not get a very accurate view of what a school is like until you actually go there. Don't bother with a campus tour, because they are mostly a waste of your time. 90% of the time, the people doing tours don't know jack about what you care about.

Don't worry, relax, and rest assured you will probably end up someplace wonderful (despite its faults)

AND REMEMBER: If you decide you don't like it, you can always transfer.

This is all decent advice, but people have left out some key aspects of college.

Don't focus entirely on academic issues when you check out schools. Yes, of course you will be studying, working, learning, and all that good stuff, but you're also shopping for a place to LIVE for several years.

Look in the dorms. Are they clean and well-maintained? Are they close to academic buildings? Are they loud/quiet? Big/small?

Go into town. Does it seem like the businesses there cater to student customers, or at least treat students like people? Is there a place to get a sandwich at 2 AM? Is there a convenience store close by for emergencies and cravings? Is the town safe for pedestrian traffic? Is the town safe, period?

Talk to students. Is it a suitcase school, where most people go home for the weekends? Does the student body drink a lot? Not at all? Do people enjoy the social scene? Where are the hangouts? [Editorial note: Music majors can be very insular, isolated, ignorant people. Talk to students in other disciplines.] Do people support the athletic teams? Do they support music and theater performances? Are there people you can relate to, both inside and outside of music? Are there people you can learn from, both inside and outside of music? Are there hot girls/guys to date? I could go on and on...

Do not read this and think I believe in neglecting academics. Make sure your school can provide you with the education you need to reach your goals. But you know what? They teach Music Theory 101 everywhere. They have Statistics and Society everywhere. There are terrible (and great!) teachers everywhere. Practice rooms look the same at every school. Quality of life issues can enhance the worst education or diminish the finest one.

Biggs wrote: [Editorial note: Music majors can be very insular, isolated, ignorant people. Talk to students in other disciplines.]

Practice rooms look the same at every school. Quality of life issues can enhance the worst education or diminish the finest one.

All very good points, esp. the ones highlighted above. I lived with non-music majors for all of my undergrad career and it was much more pleasant than if I had lived with music people.

College is often where you figure out who you really are, so you might come out the other side totally uninterested in music ed. Keep that in mind too.

There sure have been some great tips on visiting schools. As a guy who "gets visited", I often find myself wondering if my visitors are really getting "the big picture" about what my school has to offer. I hope they like what I'm doing, of course, but sometimes I feel that the unimportant things (at least to me) weigh far too heavily in their decision-making. For example, there's the prospective student who's coming here because he's in love with a hot flute player (been there, done that...), and there's the student who's not coming here because his parents didn't like the looks of the music building (does music have to look good to sound good?) Of course the "party line" a visitor gets from the faculty and staff is going to be biased, so I wouldn't blame anyone for taking my spiel with a grain of salt. That's why I'm a big believer in talking to students. The music majors are the most important, of course - and as far as them being insular, well - perhaps that's what would work well for you! When I was doing my masters the school of music was located about 10 miles away from the rest of the campus! Now THAT'S insular! Most of us in music never had the time to join a social fraternity, or spend the weekends binge drinking - we're too busy practicing.
There are two additions I would make to the list of people to talk to. The first is the director of the school of music (or Department Chair, depending on the school). Good administrators should always be willing to find time for prospective students. Even more important than the administrator, someone you should REALLY talk to is a good secretary/administrative assistant. In most good schools there's at least one staff person who mends broken hearts, listens to your problems with other students (or faculty, for that matter), will get you dropped from the "class from hell" after the drop date, and will call your parents if you are in an accident. Maybe (hopefully) your teacher can fill part of that role, but sometimes it's good to have someone who you can confide in about stuff. That person is worth more than a fancy building any day. If you ask around, the students should be able to tell you who that person is. If you can't find out, then something's pretty wrong.

Terry Solomonson

While you are set on music ed right now, don't be afraid to change or to go to a HUGE university that might make it easy to change. For Example: At Cal (first there is no performance major, it's all composition) you cannot be formally "declared" in the eyes of the college of L&S until your jr. year. Makes it easy to ditch music and do something else if it's not for you.

Also, as noted above DO NOT neglect the "campus atmosphere" part of checking them out. Best of Luck!

NDSPTuba wrote:Make sure to go on a day that they are having Orchestra or more importantly Wind Ensemble rehearsal and listen in on rehearsal. My only regret about the school I went to, was it seemed every year two or more studio's were down on talent and it had a direct effect on how the ensembles performed. So if I had it all to do over again, I'd of chosen a school that had solid studios for ALL instruments. The higher the level of musicianship around you the higher yours will be also.

In my undergrad experience, this was a problem as well. The reason was:

Each year the department had a finite amount of scholarships to hand out. If your studio was strong, you didn't get any!! If your studio was weak, you had money to pass out. THus, every studio was cyclic in talent, and never was the entire school strong... It's an odd policy.

NDSPTuba wrote:Make sure to go on a day that they are having Orchestra or more importantly Wind Ensemble rehearsal and listen in on rehearsal.

Bingo
Some conservatories have a top orchestra that will rival those in ROPA.
Even going down the ladder a bit, check out if the school has a "world class sound" in their top level orchestra or wind ensemble. Even look at who is directing those ensembles - is the person a household name? It might be cool to go to a school where "wow, gosh darn it, we're so mighty glad to finally have a good tuba player here!" but that will wear thin after a while and you will not be able to progress up to your potential. Talk to the other low brass players (not just tuba players) - do they seem motivated? Are they musicians who will challenge you to play to your best on a daily basis, or do they major in drinking and minor in playstation?

[warning: TNFJ® answer ahead]

If you want to go into Music Ed, another way to find out how effective their teaching methods are along with the resultant musicianship is to find out how many recent graduates are working in the Ed field (and NOT just teaching privately).

They should know, or have some idea.

It may be difficult to evaluate ensemble strength for someone coming from high school.

Face time and connection with your tuba teacher is also important because even if you are not a declared performance major, you will see this person a lot, one-on-one, EVERY term, and they will LIKELY (I don't know of a case where not) be your major adviser for your college career. And be the major source for your applied musical education.

But have fun. This is NOT rocket science. You are doing your best to evaluate your options, and quite likely, something will intuitively look best. This will be one of the best times in your life, and you will learn more than you ever have up to this point.
Keep that in mind.

1) Will your scholarship offering(s) automatically be renewed each year?

2) Will you be certified to teach after finishing your degree? (At some schools, like the University of Puget Sound where I teach, you can earn a bachelors, a "Master of the Arts in Teaching," and be certified in five years; at other schools it can take five+ years to finish your bachelors.)

3) What are the studio teacher's musical experiences and what are his/her former students doing?

4) Will you have access to a large urban musical center (I think this is really important)?

5) Does the school have the ensembles you are interested in (some schools don't have jazz bands or chamber music programs etc.)?

Those are just few thoughts that come to mind. Good luck.