School Days (Revisited)

With the beginning of school comes an exciting time (again): looking at colleges. I can hardly believe my Markie-boy is old enough to be doing this, but HE IS! Since I didn't really document Ethan's whole process of finding his school (and me realizing that the decision isn't in my hands at all), I thought I would write some thoughts about the process with Mark.

Mark is in a tricky situation. He wants to receive his Bachelor of Music in french horn performance AND major in German. Right there, we've eliminated most of the music

conservatories because German (as a major) isn't always an option. Too, he's thinking now that he wants to go to medical school afterwards and become a physician. This doesn't surprise me

at all, considering how much Mark is just like John (with a bit of music added in :-)) For this to happen, he needs to also have a school where the necessary science classes are offered, so that he can prepare to take the MCAT. Because he needs all of these classes from different departments, he really has no option but to apply to big schools (no Eastman or Juilliard).

(On a side note, it's an interesting thing to let children decide their own fate. With Ethan, I had him look at so many colleges that I thought would fit him well. We went on tours and he stayed for overnight visits at the campuses that I thought he would like, but in the end, he picked a school that I had never visited and that he saw when he parked there for another event. Turns out, it was just where he was supposed to go.

With Mark, if it was up to me, he would be in music the rest of his life, mostly because it has been his life up until now. He plays beautifully, he gets along so well with everyone (a bonus as a musician), and he's a wonderful teacher. I can't imagine him pursuing something else somewhere down the road. This is where we as parents really learn to be parents--stepping back and letting them grow. )

With Mark, I'm remembering the lessons learned from Ethan, and I'm attempting to let Mark choose his path through the college choice process. For me, it's been amazing to see how committed Mark is to the whole thing. For music schools, it's a long, hard, involved process. First, he must apply to the school itself and be accepted there. Once that happens, he must submit a separate application to the music school and set up an audition. The auditions run from January to March.

Last year, Mark practiced an hour to an hour and a half a day. It served him well when he went to Interlochen and was placed in the best orchestra. Since he's come home, he's up to 2-3 hours a day, depending on the day. In fact, he dropped his favorite class at the high school, architecture/drafting, and uses that hour to practice there. Then, Johannah usually stays after school for a couple of hours for Thespians, and Mark holes up in the practice room then too. By the time he comes home, he's done with practicing and can start in on the homework, or go to work, or Mutual.

Mark's horn teacher lives in Philadelphia and she's very well connected. I'm discovering that connections are a good thing in the music world. She suggested to me that I arrange lessons with horn teachers with whom Mark is interesting in working. *Deep sigh* So in addition to the two applications, and the auditions, now Mark needs to basically visit every college, attend rehearsals there, and have a private lesson with each teacher.

I've loved every minute of planning all of this. Anybody who knows me knows that I love to travel, and more than that I think, I love to make travel arrangements :-) Since our traveling has been curtailed due to injury and time, college visits are a great substitute.

"People who know" suggest that kids have 2 "for sure" colleges, 2 "stretch" colleges and 4"comfortable" colleges. Honestly, I think it's a scam to collect all those darn application fees. The funny thing is that in music, I'm not sure there are really very many "comfortable" colleges, or at least that's what Mark is experiencing. Either it's a sure bet that he will get in, but the music program isn't that great, or we're hoping and praying that he gets in, because the music program is fantastic.

His "for sure" colleges"? Ohio State, Penn State and BYU. All of the teachers have met him, and the horn programs aren't the best, but the teachers are good.

His one "comfortable" college? Peabody Conservatory/Johns Hopkins University.

His "stretch" colleges (and the ones that he actually wants to attend)? University of Michigan and Northwestern University.

One other kink in the process is that we're looking for a great horn teacher. Horn teachers come in all shapes and sizes, but there are some really great ones who are good people too, and some really great ones that are mean. Indiana University has a fantastic music program (surprising to me that anything great can come out of Bloomington), but 2 of the 3 horn teachers are horrible people. One, Myron Bloom, a world-reknowned hornist, is actually known for asking his students to score him some dope. Yeah, not the kind of teacher we're looking for which adds more intrigue to the entire process for Mark.

Like I posted before, Mark's basically already been offered a scholarship to come to Ohio State (pending a good audition). Next Friday, October 1, we're visiting University of Michigan. The teacher there, Adam Unsworth, is a really hot name right now, and Angela Cordell, Mark's horn teacher, says he's a really great person too. Plus, he's released a couple of CD's of jazz horn, a genre that he is basically inventing. Very cool. Mark is nervous as all-get-out about meeting him, but Angela is convinced that Mark's personality is going to be a bonus point in Mark's cap come admissions time.

The other top choice is Northwestern for several reasons (and honestly, if I could pick, this would be where I would want Mark to go, but again, I'm remembering what happened with Ethan). Gail Williams is the horn professor, and she is a fabulous person. Mark has already contacted her about a lesson, and she was thrilled to hear from him. When she found out about his history with Germany and music, she suggested that he also contact the German department because the German department loves musicians. Turns out, Northwestern turns out more Fulbright scholars than any other university, and Mark already meets all of the requirements for it. What an opportunity that would be! Anyway, she's already playing the part of Mark's advocate and helping him set up the best possible situation. We're headed there Halloween weekend, so that we can not only meet her, and someone in the German department, but so that we can hear her play the Schumann Konzertstueck with three of her students! Mark sent off an email to the head German professor (auf Deutsch) and now we're waiting to hear from her too.

He has a lesson scheduled on October 27 (the day before we leave for Northwestern) with Denise Tryon at the Peabody conservatory. The great thing about Peabody is that it serves as the music school for Johns Hopkins. While Mark would be able to take his German and science classes at Johns Hopkins, he doesn't actually need to apply there. If he gets into Peabody (and I think he will), he's set.

I must laugh, thinking about this same time next year. Who knows what will have happened and where Mark will be? Probably every plan mentioned above will have been overshadowed by something even better, but until then, Mark and I are working like dogs to give him every possibility imaginable.