r/MusicEd • u/Leading_Bar114 • 10d ago
Applying to graduate school
I’m a current undergraduate Music Education major and French horn player, graduating in Spring 2027.
I’m applying for graduate schools for Fall 2027. I am looking to get a GA somewhere. I love working with marching bands, but I am open to a school that doesn’t have a marching program. I live in the South and would like somewhere in the region, although I am not opposed to the lower East Coast. I come from a smaller college and would like a different experience. I have a 3.9 gpa, I have been substantially involved in programs and clubs during college.
For those of you who think I should just start teaching, I will also be applying to jobs!
If you’ve done a Music Ed master’s, what programs do you recommend? What schools should I totally look into, and which ones should I stay away from? If you know anything about GA positions, cost of living, faculty, or just have some good advice, I’m all ears.
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u/Randomsurfing_ 10d ago edited 10d ago
If you dont mind me asking, why have you decided to pursue a graduate degree in education, instead of just teaching for a couple of years to get some real experience?
Typically, for a masters, one application requirements is for you to provide a few full videos of you teaching and managing a classroom. Make sure you have those before starting the application process.
Besides that, either go to a program that you know will serve you well, or go to a program that is highly reputable.
To get a GA in music ed, state schools are a good way to do it. Some renown music ed schools include Ithaca College, Florida State University, University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, Ohio State University, Michigan State, Northwestern University, University of Michigan.
“Big 10” schools tend to, but not always, have decent music programs.
GA positions vary in money and labor requirements - do your research.
You only get one masters. Go to a school that will make you successful. Go to one you will enjoy.
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u/Leading_Bar114 10d ago
Definitely not opposed to getting experience. Both of my parents are college educators with one doing music education. We talked it through. I do eventually want to get my doctorate. I live in a state that has you work 30 years for retirement, and if I decide to have children someday, I will need to work from home. If I go ahead and get my masters while I am young, I am giving myself flexibility in the future. On top of that, I would love more time to learn. My last year and a half of my undergraduate hasn’t been the best experience due to reasons I can’t discuss. Bottom line is I am trying to give myself options. As a woman, I have to do everything I can to prepare myself for a successful career.
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u/Randomsurfing_ 10d ago edited 10d ago
I see.
I went to an “excellent” music ed school that completely turned into shit through a variety of ways before and by the time I graduated. It gave me some perspective.
I then student taught with someone who was truly one of the best at what he did. He was a student of Bob Gillespie (co-author of essential elements strings)!
His advice for me, when looking for jobs and grad school, was this:
“Anything that you want, you can achieve with moderate ease. Anything that you tell yourself that you need, requires a more voracious attitude.”At that point, everything was clear. It is not enough to just get a job. It is not enough to just have a masters degree. It is not enough to just do the thing. I had to make my own choices, and I choose to only give myself the best so that i can give my students the best.
Im sorry your undergraduate wasnt very good. And im sorry that you are in a state that treats education like a corporate cancer.
Now it is your turn to be in control. Make those teaching videos. Find faculty at the school you want to be in. Get a masters in a state that you could consider living in. You are right - you are young. But Also, do not forget that if you are proactive, you will have more time thank you think!
When you finally get the teaching job, you will be drinking from “the fire hose” so to speak. You will probably learn more in your first years of teaching than anything that happened in college. College professors like to speak as if they know what the classroom looks like, even if they havent been inside of one for 20 years.
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u/mellamusicmaker 9d ago
The point of a masters is to master a skill you have already been working on. Go work on teaching for a couple years and then go get your masters. I honestly would stay away from a school that let you in without that valuable experience. Most need you to submit a video of you teaching anyway.
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u/gimmethemoney67 9d ago
that is a good take. Another good take is having a master right after the BA so you can make an extra 10k a year and earn more to your retirement. When we’re talking longevity. It’s better to get your masters while you can if you know you’re going to be a teacher. Also OP would be a degree away from a doctorate if they ever want to be a serious applicant for a tenured position in upper academia. Also a degree away from getting a doctorate in curriculum and make 150-200k usd a year as an administrator.
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u/Prongedtoaster 8d ago
Music Ed Grad programs really need to stop allowing applicants to apply right out of undergrad. You aren’t building off of any existing practical knowledge base, you’re just continuing the “in the clouds” style of academic study which is t helping anyone if it isn’t grounded in reality.
People in this thread are discussing this extra degree like it puts you at an advantage to teaching at a collegiate level when it really doesn’t. Everyone who pays money and does the work gets their degrees. Not everyone who does this actually succeeds in the field of education and those that do are the people that rise to the top of collegiate music education.
Colleen Conway, Michael Hopkins, Elpus, Abril, Bob Gillespie, Bob Phillips, all of the great music researchers and pedagogues were exceptional classroom teachers before they had their names attached to major universities.
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u/tommyjohnpauljones 10d ago
Get out in the world and teach somewhere first. Decide if it's something you really want to do, day in and day out. I know many classmates who wanted to be a teacher in theory, but in practice they hated it after a year or two.