Have you heard or know about the Wheaton Conservatory in Chicago? This is the website:

http://www.wheaton.edu/Conservatory/

It is part of the Wheaton Christian University, but is a real and true conservatory. I was looking at this as a school option, as I doubt that I would be able to make it into something like Boston Conservatory or New England (probably my first two choices, though I will probably still apply there). It seemed like a good mid-range conservatory.

I was wodering if anyone here had any experience with this school, and what their thoughts were on it. I would be applying for composition, though I would love to minor in piano perofrmance.

Also, what do you think my chances of getting in are like? I meet all the Christian and moral standards, by the way. And here is my myspace where you can listen to a couple of my compositions:

http://www.myspace.com/colinthomson

Please let me know anything about this school, as well as if you think I could make it in at my current composition level.

Hopefully later I can upload some sheet music of my compositions for your critique.

Thanks in advance!

I know nothing about the composition department, but I do know Dan Horn and can definitely recommend him. I also know one of his former students and she always spoke well of her time at Wheaton.

I grew up near there, in fact my girlfriend in high school lived just down the street from the college. I had a couple lessons and performances there, though not with the core faculty, so I can't really comment there. It seems decent enough, in terms of facilities and whatnot.

It should be noted, however, that Wheaton is not really in or particularly close to Chicago. Still maybe 45 mins minimum from the city, so if you were looking for big city life, it's not there.

I attended Wheaton back in the late 80's, early 90's. It is an excellent liberal arts school with a very respectable conservatory. I was a literature major who minored in piano. My piano prof was Dr. Karin Redekopp Edwards (concert pianist and excellent teacher!). I think she still teaches there.

The level of education at Wheaton in general is very high, as are the expectations of all the profs. My husband also attended there (Communications major) before going on to get his Master's at NIU in Dekalb. His feeling was that most of what he covered in Dekalb's Master's program was merely a review of stuff he had learned as an undergrad at Wheaton. Consequently, he finished NIU with a 4.0!

I can't directly address the subject of getting into the Conservatory since I was not a music major. But I can say that getting into Wheaton is not easy. When I applied, I was told that less than half of the applicants were accepted. I have heard that since then it's gotten much tougher. You need a high GPA and a strong list of accomplishments, plus a good entrance interview. They are not just looking for good students -- they are looking for people who are motivated to make a difference in the world "For Christ and His Kingdom" (school motto).

In regards to location, Wheaton is indeed about 45 minutes from the Loop, but there is a Metra (train) station on the edge of campus that makes it simple to get downtown. The town of Wheaton itself is lovely and quaint. Not that there is much time to go site-seeing and goofing off. Wheaton students spend a lot of time studying!