Shopping for your college major: music edition


In the past three months, I have heard from band directors whose high school seniors want to major in flute (I tell them to have the student email me for a free lesson and a tour of the music building, but so far it's crickets), high school seniors themselves who have come to every inreach event I host on campus yet have decided to major on something "practical" (not music), current freshman majors in my studio who are downgrading music to a minor, and the advising center on campus tells me of students who now wish to audition into the flute studio because they're switching their majors from something else to music.

None of this inherently spells disaster; when can you try on some hats, figure out what doesn't fit, and pivot to something new more easily than your youth? Your 20s are for sorting this stuff out! But college costs money and time, and I hate to see people squandering their precious resources when a little basic investigating could help them avoid some of the most ridiculous-looking hats. (Pro tip: bucket hats are not adorable on anyone except Jennifer Aniston and greatly reduce your visibility.)

The problem is that people think they know what music study is (surprise! I'm actually talking about music and not hats). And they don't. What passes for high school music becomes merely your extracurricular event in college. And actually majoring in music really has no correlate in your high school curriculum. 

If you think there's no way to make a living in music and are painfully trying to break up with it because your parents told you STEM!, read this. And this and this. And maybe also this

If you plan to major in music--and I hope you do!--but have only ever experienced band and maybe private lessons so far, please very seriously consider creating your own, tailored college tours in the following fashion:

  • look up the flute professor at your school of interest (it's on the website), email them, and ask if you can a) take a lesson and b) get contact information from a couple of current students
  • use aforementioned contact information to reach out to current students and ask them how they like the program, and what advice they have for you
  • tour the campus, including the building(s) where music lives, on a weekday when classes are in session
  • inform the admissions department that you wish to meet with someone from the music program and observe music classes during your standard university visit
  • try to watch some of the following: a flute lesson; flute studio class; written and/or aural theory; a music education class if you wish to major in music education
These are the classes/experiences that tend to intimidate first-year students the most, and they are the most foreign to the high school band experience. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of majoring in music. I did it, and I'm so glad! My life has been filled with hard work, but pretty nice anyway. But if you experience theory class and think you would rather die than ever do that again, you don't want to major in music. I'm not talking about feeling confused, which will get sorted with a good teacher, I'm talking about thorough loathing. Don't put yourself through that. I guarantee you won't have the willpower to do it for two solid years. 

I believe in what we do at the University of Wyoming, and I am grateful for my own education at Big 10 schools back in the 90s (mostly, though I wish they'd had entrepreneurship classes back then). And I believe in a person's right to keep flute playing as a precious, beloved hobby that will never be tainted by additional knowledge of how music gets put together or what it really sounds like to play in tune. I just want everyone to be happy and choose the track that's right for them. So save yourself some time and do a little research now. You're welcome. 

PS, that flute professor who won't answer your emails? Not the right teacher for you. 

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