The Manhattan School of Music

Date: Sep 23 2015
Major: Music - Composition/Theory (This Major's Salary over time)
The activities that take place at MSM are completely antithetical to what the mission of a real conservatory should be. The socioeconomic stratification is huge - the school is dominated by the princes and princesses of the ruling elite from countries like China and Korea with a smaller number of Americans who hail from families with modest incomes. The language barrier within the student body has been exacerbated by the school's degrading standards for acceptance; I have had experiences where the most profound discussions involves a mere "Hello, good morning" and nothing more. Needless to say, the absence of a true lingua franca in the school community has had severe repercussions on the quality of classroom education and professional collaboration.

Like nearly every single classical music organization in the country, MSM has demonstrated nothing but poor fiscal foresight and monetary irresponsibility. Tuition increased by a nominal rate of 12.8% for the 2015-2016 fiscal year and I would not be surprised if it continues to skyrocket in subsequent years to come. The administration claims this was necessary for growing the scholarship fund and generating capital for plant renovations, but anyone with an ounce of deductive reasoning can determine for themselves that this move was motivated by pure greed and a total lack of understanding of basic business and economic principles.

In terms of the general intellectual milieu, it can be said without exaggeration that there is none. Students are generally more concerned with their fickle and puerile love lives than actually procuring employment. The state of total delusion that these students are in is completely demoralizing and can suck you in if you are not mindful and willful enough. The student council primarily functions as a ragtag band of sycophants loyal to the administration for no apparent good reason. What few students there are who actually possess some kind of intellectual aptitude are ostracized by the largely anti-intellectual student body.

My advice: if you still choose to attend MSM, stick with the professors you like (the one good thing about this place), have a close circle of friends, and weather it out together. The wiser approach is to transfer out and either pursue music at a university or liberal arts college, or change majors altogether. As the classical music industry continues to contract, the quality of life for musicians will diminish until it gets to the point where no amount of love for the music is worth opportunity cost of a healthy and fulfilling life.