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What's everyone's plans for college, as far as music is concerned?

 

Are you going to major in music? Are you going to be in marching & concert band, or just one, or stop playing your instrument altogether?

 

I'm not majoring in music. As of right now, I think I just want to be in symphony orchestra. I know college marching band looks really fun, and NCAA football games are awesome, and people say it's completely different from high school marching, but...ahh I don't know.

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i dont really want to go to college. i would much rather start a band and jam out all the time and get real big and sell out arenas...

 

so to please my mother i will go to some community college down the street(even though i can prolly get into just about any major university), and start a band localy get big and when i start making money i can get out of school and persue my musical ambitions.. B)

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I'm gonna major in music, but not performing. Of course, I'll still play, but what I really love is composing. I actually want to get my PhD...

 

I might also double major with engineering or something. I'm looking at Rice or UNT in Texas, and some other mid-west schools, too.

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I'm thinking I am going to major in engineering, but I am STRONGLY considering minoring in music as well. Band has grown on to me in such a strange way, but if I had decided to remain playing football, I would probably feel the same way about football that I do about band right now.

 

I just hope I don't wind up like one of our directors who originally wanted to major in engineering then, due to scheduling conflicts, winds up as a music major.

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Just for anyone considering aTm...

 

aTm is a great school...but not for music MAJORS. If you want to major in music, dont even look here. However, if you are majoring in other things (science, engineering, business, etc.) aTm might fit your mold. To be in the marching band here, you have to join the corps...which kinda sucks. There is a wind symphony on campus ( i was in it for 2 years) and its comprised of pretty much no music majors, just people wanting to keep playing their horns. Some of them are double majoring in music, almost just for fun because they like it but it wont be their main focus. aTm also has a volleyball/basketball band called Hullabaloo! you can try out for which is fun as heck (I should know...i just got back from a FREE trip to LA to go to disneyland and play for the basketball team's game vs. UCLA on sat).

 

So theres some info for ya. But if you are seriously considering music as your major, avoid aTm. Otherwise, at least come check it out.

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I'm thinking I am going to major in engineering, but I am STRONGLY considering minoring in music as well. Band has grown on to me in such a strange way, but if I had decided to remain playing football, I would probably feel the same way about football that I do about band right now.

 

I just hope I don't wind up like one of our directors who originally wanted to major in engineering then, due to scheduling conflicts, winds up as a music major.

same with me...majoring in electrical engineering...maybe minoring in some kinda musical studies...

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Currently, I'm majoring in Music Ed at UNT with a String Bass concentration. Although, I'm still taking lessons and playing in the Concert Band on french horn. I want to be a high school band director, but I'm definetly keeping the orchestra route open as a possible option. Also, starting next semester, I'm going to be taking jazz fundamentals classes to get that working for me as well. There's so many things I could possibly do with my future, that I'm just trying to keep my options open.

 

I'm strongly considering getting my masters in music education from U of H.

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Those of you who have a local community college near your hometown that has a band program that you can also commute to, you should try looking into that. I go to Blinn College, which has the best music program out of any 2 year college in the state.

 

The marching band program isn't that great here (about the same level as a Div II 4A school band), but our Symphonic band is pretty good (Blinn actually has 2 bands, a Symphonic Wind Band and a Concert Band). But the real advantage to being a part of a 2 year college band program is that the band scholarships are even more than what you'd typically get at a 4 year college, plus the tuition is exceptionally cheaper.

 

My $2400/yr band scholarship (the typical scholarship which every member in the band who's taking 12+ hours and has above a 2.0 GPA gets--including non music majors) pretty much covers my tuition and fees, I just have to find a way to cover room and board and books (another $2000$2500/semester or so). The scholarship system is pretty much the same at any community college in Texas that's looking to build their band programs. Basically if I were commuting, I'd be going to school for free, and I have nothing about me academically that stands out at all.

 

Blinn College, Tyler Junior College, Temple College, San Jacinto, Del Mar, South Plains, Wharton....all have band programs with substantial band scholarship offerings with the small class sizes and easier cirriculum that are typically associated with 2-year schools. It's a great stepping stone to a 4 year college, especially if you don't have much money or you slacked off a bit in HS.

 

More and more people are starting out at Junior/Community College for their first 2 years....it really is a great alternative.

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I could see you as a band director. :D

Yeah, me too, and I want to be. But a huge dream of mine has been to add more importance to orchestra in our education system. I'm not talking string orchestra either. Playing french horn in both the SFA orchestra and the Virtuosi Youth Orchestra, were probably the single greatest things in making me a better player. Not only do you become much more aware of your sound as you are the only one on an exposed part, but your level of personal accountability is raised 300%. Every note you play as a member of an orchestral wind section is a solo.

 

The reason I haven't been nervous for an audition or performance in the past 2 years? Orchestra. In 2005 I played a solo in youth orchestra that was 2 lines long, at a banquet, for a huge crowd of people. I had no choice but to suck it up and play it the best I could, and in doing so, I mostly overcame the fear of messing up. It instilled in me a confidence I didn't have before, as "hiding" yourself in concert band is a relatively easy thing to do, espeically with doubled or tripled parts.

 

 

Honestly, I want to make full orchestra something that isn't considered an afterthought or something to do on the side, which I experienced my last year of high school. Ultimately, I'd love to have it as a class period, and rather than kids being in the "top band," the best players would be in the orchestra. This is also a huge benefit to string players as it opens up repertoire possibilities immensely. Believe me, playing string orchestra piece after string orchestra gets very tedious. At least for me it did. And so many great works that some orchestras are capable of playing, get left unplayed because there isn't a readily avaliable wind section to rehearse every day.

 

Just an idea I've been messing with for the past year.

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The only thing cautionary that I would say about 2-year institutions is that if you are planning on going the route of a future educator, you MUST check into seeing what education courses will transfer when you leave. For example, a good friend of mine spent his two years at a JUCO, when he transferred NONE of his courses in education transferred thus delaying his graduation a year and a half. So you MUST check into that before deciding where to go to school. I managed to graduate from Northwestern State in four years and I was the ONLY one in my freshmen class to do that. It's very difficult to graduate in four years. So you need to plan everything out before hand. It may seem tedious now, but it the long run it'll help EVERYTHING out and make college that much more fun.

 

Also, as just a small plug, if you are undecided on a college, go check out NSU. They have one of the top Music Ed programs around. All students on scholarship have out-of-state fees waived and they give very generous scholarships. Go to www.nsula.edu/demonband/ and just search around. You might like what you see.

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Blinn College, Tyler Junior College, Temple College, San Jacinto, Del Mar, South Plains, Wharton....all have band programs with substantial band scholarship offerings with the small class sizes and easier cirriculum that are typically associated with 2-year schools. It's a great stepping stone to a 4 year college, especially if you don't have much money or you slacked off a bit in HS.

 

More and more people are starting out at Junior/Community College for their first 2 years....it really is a great alternative.

I would go to San Jac (the north campus is 10 minutes away), but I already have college hours from the Dual Credit program so I would be out of SJCN relatively soon anyway. Not to mention that I'd REALLY like a change, and going to the same campus I'm already attending every morning isn't going to help, and I feel that if I don't leave home next year, I never will. I'm a baby,lol

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Yeah.

All you people need to come to Texas State University in San Marcos and join the marching band. We're pretty awesome for a college band. The people are so friendly here too. The directors and teachers here are amazing. Come tour and visit the campus- its wonderful. I <3 it.

Oh and the percussion is pretty darn awesome as is the color guard. (For a college colorguard they are pretty friggin good)

 

 

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