North Central College

As a sophomore in the music department here at NCC I have been very satisfied with my experience as a whole. I've become great friends with people inside and outside of my major, I've learned a large sum of knowledge and skills that I believe will help me in my future life after college, and I have found a great mentor who challenges me, and makes me want to work harder at etudes, scales, arpechios, and practice in general: she's my instrumental professor and advisor for this article's information. And the ability to find a mentor and learn from them as long as possible is, in my opinion, the strongest aspect of the north central music department; and the college as a whole from my own experience thus far and what I've observed in others.

1 the aforementioned mentor accessibility: from the small size of the college, the relative easy access to professors, and the warmth the professors manly show towards students, it is designed for students and facility to engage eachother and form lasting bonds.

2 class sizes are SMALL: they will be, by and large, smaller than your high school classes. Which for me allows me to learn more because my questions (on advanced music theory mainly, that was a hard class) get answered almost the moment my hand hits the air. Some may not like the close quaters of the classes however.

3 the campus strives to have free/cheap events for students all most every night. I go to about two concerts a week and perform in about one a week.

4 Wentz Concert Hall. If you haven't heard of it Google Yo Yo Mai's favorite concert hall. If your interested in music this hall will make you weep tears of joy. Almost perfect acoustics.

5: ten week terms. Don't like a class, don't worry it'll be done in ten weeks. Does make it easy for course work to be a bit overbearing, but by and large I enjoy the ten week sprint classes where I only have three or four classes to worry about. Some may not like how fast classes have to go because of this.

6 the average pay for NCC grads is 60 thousand dollars a year with a ninety eight percent employment rate one year after graduation. And for the two percent the school's pretty good job advice programs are open to alumni. Not to shabby a life to get right after college. The music department average is a little lower at 45 thousand and eighty percent. But still pretty solid track record in my oppion.

1 the science center is out dated. I had a few classes in there (in a bio major focusing on the phisiology of the hear) and it is out dated, it was built in nineteen twenty or something like that, and its age shows. The equipment is more modern, which helps, but when the only physics lab you have is a converted chm lab, it won't matter how cool your tesla coil is: its still in a chm lab off to the corner. The school has said they want to build a new one, but until then this should be a major turn off for aspiring scientists.

2 the school never closes for weather. Ever. Since half the student body commute it is an issue. I've had friends cry because they had to drive an older car through two blizzards and a flash flood so far. Its a little ridiculous.

3 on campus jobs want you to work long awkward hours for minimum wage. A standard problem for on campus jobs, but worth mentioning. Also no work study ties that I know of, so if you need that it may be an issue.

This is a great small college. If you want to go to a small college, NCC should be a considering school for you. If you want to study music you should also consider NCC, take it from me this department puts on great performance after great performance and if your half good you'll be in a good number of them; and the music classes/lessons are well done and will help you develop as a musican. But if you want a big school, a D 1 school, a school with Greek life, or a school that parties more than just a handful of people in a dorm lobby: this is not the school you'd likely excel at. So in a nut shell: NCC is a great small small college with a strong music program. If that interests you please join us, we are a great community and we'd be glade to know you.

Signed,

A happy NCC music performance major