Customer Reviews

College Guide for Performing Arts Majors 2008: Real-World Admission Guide for All Dance, Music, and Theater Majors (Peterson's College Guide for Performing Arts Majors)

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My son asked me to buy this, he wants to be a music performance major. Helpful features in this book: the nuts & bolts of auditions, how to communicate with the college, knowing your teacher before you decide on a college, questions to ask on a college visit, 12 pages of universities/colleges that offer every imaginable music major/concentration, and facts concerning 500 music schools (number of full & part-time faculty, programs of study). My big problem with this book: out of 500 conservatories/colleges/universities listed for music, two excellent universities were left out: Yale University in Connecticut and The Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) in New York. Both of these are listed as having excellent music programs in the Fiske Guide (which only lists 12 conservatories, 17 universities and 17 colleges in the nation). It appears that the author, the former Julliard admissions director (New York), did not want to list their competition?

I was impressed with the breadth of information for a young person in terms of how to go about applying for programs, how to audition, where to look for scholarship money, etc. However, I noticed that there weren't many Ivy League schools included. I was particularly looking for information on Yale because I had heard they had an excellent program in the performing arts. I was kind of astounded that such a school would not be included. I was also disappointed that the book did not offer any evaluative information regarding the reputation of various programs or the rate of students going on to work in the performing arts. That would be really helpful information. Further, after reading the descriptions of a few schools, (note that for Roosevelt), I wondered whether these were written by the author or whether they were based on responses provided by the schools themselves.

For anyone wishing to limit the college search to those schools who offer majors in performing arts - music, dance or theatre. It is divided into these three sections. Lists both BA and BFA majors. Very useful to 2 of my kids who are performing arts majors. Cuts those huge college guide books down for a good place to start to look and compare different performing arts colleges. Other listed info is the same as in any college guide - size, SAT average scores, etc. Recommend - I bought two perfoming arts college guides. They are very similar, you only need one.

My daughter and I had hoped this guide would give more insight into the culture of each place and the nature and quality of the experience to be had there -- student anecdotes, description of the atmosphere, insight into teaching strengths, etc., as you would find in the Princeton or Fiske guides to top colleges and universities. There is some good generalized information, but the information pertaining to particular schools is very "listy," not descriptive.

My daughter wanted this book to help with her search for a school in the performing arts. It was very helpful in that it gave examples and useful information for this particular field of study. This book is good for anyone seeking information in the arts related majors, such as drama, dance, music.