2015 Music School Rankings: Snubs, Overrates, and Why Rankings May Fool You

This past week, “US College Rankings” came out with their music school ranks for 2015! This is exciting news, and the list is a valuable resource for those who will soon be entering college to pursue a degree in music. Below are the 2015 rankings:

1. Eastman School of Music

2. Juilliard/ New England Conservatory (tie)

4. Oberlin Conservatory

5. Curtis Institute of Music

6. Indiana University

7. University of Michigan

8. Northwestern University

9. University of Cincinnati/Berklee College of Music (tie)

11. Yale University

12. Florida State University

13. University of Illinois

14. Manhattan School of Music

15. Univeristy of Southern California

16. Peabody Institute

17. Mannes College of Music

18.  Cleveland Institute of Music

19. University of North Texas

20. Arizona State University (Go Sun Devils!)

21. University of Texas

22. Rice University

23. University of Colorado

24. University of Wisconsin

25. Ohio State University

26. University of Hartford

27. San Francisco Conservatory

28. SUNY – Stony Brook

29. Kansas University

30. Boston University

The rankings page can be viewed here:

http://www.uscollegeranking.org/music/2015-best-music-schools-and-colleges.html#axzz3ecQ0Kr00

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Now, something to keep in mind is that much like a music audition, music school rankings are very subjective. It’s for this reason that I prefer to refer to schools in “shelves” as being a Top Shelf (Top 10) second-shelf (Top 20) or third-shelf (Top 30), rather than ranked 1,2,3,4 etc. Eastman is not necessarily better than Juiliiard just because they are ranked #1 and #2, respectively. There are many ways to measure how good a school is, and rankings could easily flip depending on how you do so.

Second, despite this subjectivity, there are some MAJOR flaws with this list!!! Though most schools are on the correct shelf, there are more than a handful that are significantly out of place. I also don’t understand why there are ties that seem randomly thrown in the list. US College Rankings needs to get the opinions of more people involved in the college music world to give them insight on these rankings. Below are the schools that are (in my humble opinion) considerably misranked.

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Serious Snubs

1. The Colburn School

2. Rice University

3. University of Miami

Located in the center of downtown LA, The Colburn School has quickly become the best music school on the west coast, hands-down, and yet they did not make the list at all! The school is very exclusive, as it is the only conservatory in the nation that provides full-ride scholarships (including room & board) to its students, and the entire school consists of just one symphony orchestra and a piano studio. Having been to Colburn myself and worked with some of their faculty, I simply fail to understand how they’re not on the list, and would rate them as a Top Shelf school myself.

Rice made the list at #22, but they really got snubbed as well. When I talked to Dale Clevenger, retired Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony and Professor of Horn at Indiana University (#6) about Rice, he said that they probably had the best college orchestra in the entire country. Yet this list has them as a Third Shelf school. Puzzling.

Miami has quite a good music school as well, yet they did not make the list at all. They’ve got some outstanding faculty (including their horn professor who is the solo horn player for Jurassic World, Star Trek Into Darkness, Up…) and though I wouldn’t put them too high on the list I definitely believe they earned a spot.

Overrated Schools

1. University of Illinois

2. Florida State University

3. Yale University

One checking out music schools for the first time would see Illinois and Northwestern very close on the list, only a handful of spots apart, and think they are considerably close in terms of quality. NOT THE CASE! Illinois has a good music program, but it’s not great, and certainly doesn’t deserve to nearly be on the top-shelf.

Similarly, Florida St. is a good, quality school, but I would never say it’s better than MSM (#14) and would rank them around #20 with the likes of the other solid state schools.

Lastly we have Yale. For those who don’t know, Yale has an endowment that allows them to give full rides to all accepted students. However, this opportunity is only available to graduate students! And while these students are incredibly skilled, the fact is you can’t be in the top dozen schools in the nation when you disallow the nation’s best prodigies (undergrads who become professional without needing grad school) from coming to your school.

So…if I were to rank the top 30 music schools with my own system and (humble) opinions, it would look like this:

***schools are NOT listed in any particular order within their own shelf***

Top Shelf Schools (1-10)

• Indiana University
• Eastman School of Music
• Rice University
• Juilliard School
• Curtis Institute of Music
• Colburn Conservatory
• Oberlin Conservatory
• University of Michigan
• Northwestern University
• New England Conservatory

Second Shelf Schools (11-20)

• Berklee College of Music
• University of Cincinnati
• Arizona State University
• University of Southern California
• Manhattan School of Music
• Cleveland Institute of Music
• San Francisco Conservatory
• Mannes College of Music
• University of Texas
• Peabody Institute

Third Shelf Schools (21-30)

• University of North Texas
• University of Miami
• Florida State University
• University of Colorado
• Yale University
• Boston University
• Kansas University
• Southern Methodist University
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Hartford

Again, my opinions are in absolutely no way perfect, but I feel this is a much more accurate list. If however you feel I snubbed somebody, feel free to express your own opinions in the comments section.

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Now, having just given you a list of the best music schools, allow me to (somewhat hypocritically) tell you why that list is not the best way to decide where you want to go to school.

First, I can’t emphasize how much ranking schools like this is a subjective process. There are simply too many things a school must do to be a “great school,” and no perfect formula to calculate all of them in the proper way.

Secondly, as much as some people like to ignore it, finances are real, money doesn’t grow on trees, and going into a ton of debt in your undergrad is usually not a good idea. Just because you get accepted to a top-shelf school doesn’t mean you’re obligated to go into six figures of debt to go there. Rather, I’d encourage you to go to a very good school somewhere a little less renowned where you don’t have to sell your organs to pay for tuition. This will free up finances for you to get a better instrument, go to summer festivals, and go to grad school at a Top Shelf school, when you can get a little more for your money.

Finally, music majors are studio-based majors where you do a lot of your learning from one individual, whether it be the professor of your instrument, a composition professor, etc. Eastman may be the #1 school in the nation, but perhaps their oboe professor has never had a student win a big job. Meanwhile, the oboe professor at a state school has multiple students in major symphonies. Also, even if you find an incredible professor at an incredible school, if you have a lesson with them and find you don’t get along well, you will not find happiness or success at that school. Your studio professor is arguably the most important priority in selecting a school.

In conclusion, please remember in your college selection process that a school’s reputation is not everything. You also need to:

1. Remember rankings are subjective
2. DON’T BREAK THE BANK!
3. Find an accomplished professor who fits well with YOU

And THAT, is college music done right!