Hey,

I really need advice as to whether conservatoires are much better than unis to study music??

I auditioned at Guildhall and Trinity last term, with 2 grade 8's (clarinet and saxophone) and a grade 6 (piano), but got rejected from both . I have been accepted at Nottingham, Cardiff and Leeds so far, waiting to hear from the rest- but im not sure if i should take a gap yr and re apply to other conservatories!!! Please help, im very confused!!!

Don't give up on music college, if that is really what you want to do...you may regret it if you go to uni and don't get the playing experience you'd like. Generally there is a big difference between music college and uni. If you want to play, and don't want to be weighed down with academic work then I suggest you stick at your music college idea. I had uni places, and the day I got my A level results I had a complete change of heart and decided to take a year out and audition for colleges. It was the BEST thing I ever did, and I'm the proud owner of a degree from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music (which i'd totally recommend!). Take that year out, pracise really hard, get a few advice auditions from various colleges and then re-apply...go for it, and GOOD LUCK!!!

Ah indeed. It's all about performance and theory. You'll get more practical experience in a music college. you'll get more theoretical knowledge in a uni. It depends on what you want to study.

If it makes it easier to understand i'll compare it to acting and drama - if you want to be an actor, you go to drama college, if you want to study drama, you go to university.
If you want to be a professional performer, you go to a subject college, if you want to know about the subject, you go to Oxbridge

It depends what sort of course you want to do. Universities can vary between themselves and just because there a very good well know uni it doesn't mean you'll like it. I'm in my gap year practising, I applied to unis and music colleges last year got rejects from birmingham conservatoire and royal welsh but i got accepted to leeds college of music and all my uni places. I took a year out in the hope to reapply to birmingham but i've decided not to and to just got to leeds anyway.

Music colleges can be great if your the right sort of person to fit in there. The major difference is performance side, music colleges get about 35 hours a year tuition and universities get about half that. If your unsure, take a year out anyway just to get your head round things. I found leeds college of music a nice inbetween place, it still has the performance pressure and tuition as other music colleges but find the atmosphere slightly more relaxed and less competitive.
Good luck what ever you decide

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