Music Schools and Colleges

WashingtonConservatory.com is your online guide to finding Music Schools programs and colleges. Browse through all of the music colleges and schools state by state. Read about some of the more popular schools and the many degrees and programs they offer.

Music Colleges

It’s that time of year again, and all of the college and high school seniors are looking forward to getting their acceptance or rejection letters in the mail. It can be an anxious time that each student is going to have to deal with. It is completely normal to have some anxiety about whether or not you are going to get into your schools of choice.

The way that a student would go about getting into a music school is slightly different than if a student was applying to a college that doesn’t have a primary focus on music. They won’t just be looking at your academic progress and things of that nature, but you will also have to go through an audition process too.

It will depend on which instrument you are playing when it comes to how many people you will be playing for. The majority of the time you will be auditioning in front of the potential teachers that you would have should you be accepted. If you get into more than one school, there are some things you should look at before you commit to one.

The Teacher

The first thing that you want to look at is the teacher that is going to be doing the primary instruction for you if you were going to a certain music school. Think about it, this teacher is going to be spending a lot of time with their students and will directly impact the amount of success that student sees. They will help to build the foundation that is going to serve as the building blocks moving forward towards each students musical career.

Music College, University, or Conservatory?

The next factor that you will have to look at is the quality of the school, and whether or not you want to attend a college or a conservatory. There are some benefits and disadvantages to both, depending on where your priorities lie. The prestige of the school is also going to factor in, unless you are someone that doesn’t really see that as an important factor.

There are a few differences between a college and a conservatory, and those differences are something that any potential student is going to need to think about before they make the decision on where they are going to go to school. You see, a conservatory would allow the student’s primary focus to be on music. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a curriculum section that includes general studies for their academics, it’s just not the primary focus, music is. A college would let you have a balance between music and academics, but you won’t get the attention musically that you would get at a conservatory.

The Location of Your Music College

The location is always going to be a factor, no matter what type of school you are going to. The larger cities for example, are going to have more to offer as far as the performing arts departments go. They are just generally more funded and have more prestige in the music industry. Then there are the smaller cities, which will have a lot to offer, but might fall short of some of these other larger schools in larger cities.

But, the larger cities and schools are usually going to give more of a chance for distraction. So, you have to weigh the pros and cons of the location of each school in order to make an informed decision. Lets not also forget that you have to take into consideration the distance from home to the school as well.

The Financial Aid Money seems to be the biggest obstacle that most students are going to face when deciding on where they want to go to school. Most of these institutions will offer help though financially, so you have to factor that in as well when thinking about schools. Keep in mind that there is no doubt that attending a school for music or any other school that has a lot of prestige and culture surrounding it is going to cost you a lot of money. But, the outcome is going to greatly outweigh the cost if you are willing to see it through to your ultimate goal.