While many high school students transitioning to college follow the traditional four-year path, many have a passion in the performing arts or music realm and choose to follow the more unique conservatory experience.
When considering pursuing a conservatory education experience, it is prudent to consider the following:
1. Admission is competitive! The better schools have more difficult audition requirements as well as more applicants per available position.
2. A student who did not perform well in a particular high school class can avoid these subjects at the conservatory. Having said this, if the conservatory requires any liberal arts credits be taken, these courses can be taken at a local college with the additional benefit of not being forced into, for example, a math or science class to fulfill requirements.
3. You are surrounded by an exceptional talent pool of people who are like-minded. Leave your ego at home. There is a lot to learn from them as you grow in your craft.
4. Your alumni network will be strong. Conservatories are proud to promote the names of famous individuals that graduated from their programs. Checking the list to see what names you recognize and admire gives you a sense of the kind of contacts one would gain after graduating - not to mention an automatic incentive to succeed.
5. A big draw-back is that if your 'Plan A' does not pan out, there is no 'Plan B'. A traditional four-year college allows one to double major or change majors, provided you can coordinate schedules. It is not uncommon for people who do not "make it" in their craft to return to a more traditional college education in order to get a degree that transitions in the business world.
6. "Expensive" is the best term to describe conservatory educations. They rank among the schools with the highest PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) loan debt in the U.S. Generally speaking, the endowments at conservatory schools are smaller, so scholarships are negligible at best.
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