All that jazz &mdash UC/CSU majors
As the mom of a high school junior, I'm blogging as our family gets going on the process ourselves. My son, an avid jazz trumpeter studying at San Francisco School of the Arts, is interested in a jazz major. That translates into a happy, engaged college student and possibly a teaching career, even if future superstardom is a bit remote.
We're not entirely ruling out pricey private colleges requiring massive legwork on scholarships and financial aid (stone buildings surrounding emerald quads humming with eager young intellect, charming yet vibrant towns lined with bookshops and earthy coffeehouses). But the smartest consumer move for a Californian is to focus first and foremost on the UC/CSU systems. So my husband asked me today if I know which UC/CSUs even have jazz majors. I knew some, but had not thoroughly researched the list.
So now I've gone hunting on the CSU website. Here is the feature where you input the major and get a list of the schools that offer it.
I've checked out a couple of other online features like this, as well as actual books with pages and covers. So far, I've found that they're incomplete. Let's input "jazz" into this feature, click and see what we find:
Something's missing — the school that has most interested my son so far, CSU Northridge. Its highly regarded jazz program has had two trumpet teachers whom he admired as performers before he had any idea he could conceivably study with them one day.
Here's a description from the CSU Northridge website:
The lesson here is to do the research in both directions, college by college, and don't rely on the shortcuts. We can't expect this to be too easy.
We're not entirely ruling out pricey private colleges requiring massive legwork on scholarships and financial aid (stone buildings surrounding emerald quads humming with eager young intellect, charming yet vibrant towns lined with bookshops and earthy coffeehouses). But the smartest consumer move for a Californian is to focus first and foremost on the UC/CSU systems. So my husband asked me today if I know which UC/CSUs even have jazz majors. I knew some, but had not thoroughly researched the list.
So now I've gone hunting on the CSU website. Here is the feature where you input the major and get a list of the schools that offer it.
I've checked out a couple of other online features like this, as well as actual books with pages and covers. So far, I've found that they're incomplete. Let's input "jazz" into this feature, click and see what we find:
Ethnomusicology - Jazz Studies B.A. (UCLA)
Music (performance-oriented) B.Mus. - Jazz Instrumental (UCI)
Music B.A. Concentration in Jazz Music Studies (CSUMB)
Music B.A. Concentration in Jazz Studies (SSU)
Music B.A., (Concentration in Jazz Studies) (SJSU)
Music B.M. Concentration in Jazz (CSUS)
Music B.M. Concentration in Jazz Studies (CSUSTAN)
Music B.M. Concentration Jazz and Commercial Music (CSUFULL)
Music B.M. with Option in Jazz Studies (CSULA)
Something's missing — the school that has most interested my son so far, CSU Northridge. Its highly regarded jazz program has had two trumpet teachers whom he admired as performers before he had any idea he could conceivably study with them one day.
Here's a description from the CSU Northridge website:
The BACHELOR OF MUSIC degree is intended for students planning careers as performers, conductors, composers & arrangers, and university teachers. Areas of emphasis include Orchestral Strings, Classical Guitar, Winds, Percussion, Keyboard (piano and organ), Vocal Arts, Composition, Commercial and Media Writing, and Jazz Studies. Entrance auditions are required for all BM options.
The lesson here is to do the research in both directions, college by college, and don't rely on the shortcuts. We can't expect this to be too easy.
posted by caroline at
1:25 PM
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