Tamarind Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Can anyone recommend colleges like St Olaf? This is for a daughter who wants to be a music major with a focus on percussion performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Have you read Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope? St. Olaf was highlighted in that book, so perhaps other of the featured colleges might also be of interest to your child. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Can anyone recommend colleges like St Olaf? This is for a daughter who wants to be a music major with a focus on percussion performance. What do you mean by "like" St Olaf? In other words, what are the special characteristics that you're looking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdreeves Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I'm not sure which parts of St Olaf are most attractive to your daughter, so I'll relay some of the things that put it on our short list. Academically, while not in the first tier, it is an outstanding liberal arts school, with an excellent reputation for moving students into graduate schools. The science department there is excellent. The music program is really amazing, and a large percentage of kids are in the bands, choirs or orchestras there. Another big plus for our dauhter was that music scholarships are blind... a declared music major is not necessary to get the top tier scholarships. Our daughter looked at two conservatories and several other schools, but decided that st olaf was the best fit for her. She has had an excellent transition, and is now really enjoying her studies and her time there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Also in the Midwest are Concordia College in Minnesota: http://www.cord.edu/ And Luther College in Iowa: http://www.luther.edu/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamarind Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Thank you for the suggestions and info on the music auditions at Olaf. My daughter would like to major in music performance in the area of percussion. She would like to apply to several conservatories, but I'm encouraging her to keep her options open by looking into liberal arts colleges with strong music programs. Her musical interests include classical percussion, world music & jazz. Thank you! Tamarind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphispeg Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Don't know if this would help but, Indiana is a terrific university with a great music school. Their liberal arts departments a really good across the board so, she could opt for a well-rounded education rather than just music if she decides to. There are lots of options for building an education there. There's also a school in Texas (North Texas University????) that is known in this area to be a great place to go to do music.....it may not be "classical" tho'? Others on this board may know for sure. Also - I don't know how far away she wants to go but, one of the 5 colleges in Mass. (Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, Umass) might fit the bill - there are loads of performance groups and teachers available. My niece was able to "play" her way through college. My eldest dd went through this kind of thing for dance. It is hard to find a place where there are "real" opportunities to pursue dance on a high level that is not a conservatory. She found about 7 that fit her needs. Indiana was one of them Smith was another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 They have an extremely active and helpful music majors forum board. Students and parents alike ask all sorts of questions re: schools, auditions, etc. There are some great "stickies" (threads permanently posted at the top of the forum) specifically about the college admission/music school admission process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Not certain what you're looking for exactly, but St. Olaf has "sister" schools like Westmont in Santa Barbara. My uncle and aunt went to Westmont, and my uncle just retired from teaching at St. Olaf. Others might include: Illinois Wesleyan, Furman, Oberlin, John Brown, Goshen, Hiram, St. Vincents, Concordia... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Both of the colleges I listed -- Concordia and Luther -- are known throughout this part of the Midwest for their music programs, as well as St. Olaf. I don't know about percussion in particular. Also, we had a good friend who excelled in percussion and really wanted to get into a college in Wisconsin. I've been trying to remember which one it is! It might be Lawrence University. They have a conservatory of music within their university system: http://www.lawrence.edu/ Btw, I graduated from St. Olaf, and also attended a semester exchange at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamarind Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Hey, I came across this old thread and thought I'd give an update! Percussion daughter ended up auditioning at Fort Lewis (CO), UW Madison, Ithaca, Oberlin, Hope and Olaf (next week). Flute daughter will be in the Luther College class of 2017. Thank you for all the suggestions. They were wonderful suggestions, even though we couldn't follow up on all of them. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 auditioning at Fort Lewis (CO), UW Madison, Ithaca, Oberlin, Hope and Olaf (next week). I'm headed to Oberlin tomorrow for my flute dd's audition! Good luck at St. Olaf! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Just saw this thread. Oldest ds is at Oberlin, if you have any questions (although not for music). I hope the visit was a good experience. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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