Should I continue at my current university for just the semester, graduate at the same university, or take the semester off and work while looking for better schools with my desired major? I have a 2.5 GPA will this affect transferring for music ed?
So I am currently a Sophomore in college, originally an accounting major, now undecided. I go to my school for a fairly good price where I can be walking out with no loans to pay if I graduate from here. I realized that I would like to major in music education. I attempted to transfer into the Spring of 2019 to a school with music programs the only problem is I made the that decision late and did not have much time to get my things together to audition properly. Another problem is that I wound up getting a 2.5 gpa by failing a course.
My question is, should I stay at my school now and retake the class I failed to bring back my gpa to make it easier to transfer to a school with a better gpa, or should I take the semester off and just work while sending applications for schools with music education for the fall semester. Maybe possibly stay at my current school, get a business degree there, and get my graduate for music. The school I am trying to go to for music education is Temple university. If I did transfer I would have to take another four years of school anyway.
If I did go back to my school for the semester to pick up my gpa, I feel as if the other sources I take would be a waste of money because they do not really help me go towards my desired career path.
I personally would like to just work for the semester, but I do not know how detrimental a 2.5 gpa would be when trying to transfer to a college.
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4 Answers
You should stay where you are, retake the class, improve your GPA, and then try again. It’s not the GPA that’s the problem. It’s the failing grade followed by an immediate attempt to transfer. That’s not going to look good on your application, whereas showing that you can try again and succeed will look better. As for taking classes that don’t move you forward on your career path, keep in mind that the first thing you need to do is complete your education path.
Since you aren’t attempting to graduate from your current university, you are free to fill up your remaining credit hours with any classes you want (plus the class that you are going to retake). Maybe you could take a music class. But even if you can’t, music programs still have distribution requirements. Temple, for example, requires music students to complete the university’s General Education curriculum. So take classes that will make it easier to focus on music and music education after you transfer.
One last thing: music education is a fairly demanding major, and very few music schools accept students who do not have significant prior experience with music. So before you plan your life around this major, you should contact some people at Boyer College (Temple’s music school) and make sure you have the background they are looking for. You probably won’t be able to speak directly to a professor right away, so start with the main office and see who they direct you to for more information.
I suggest auditing a couple of courses first. Until you find what you like.
I wouldn’t shoot myself in the foot by looking for an cushier school to get into, or out of. For the best effect, stay where you are and tough it out. ALL of life is not a gimme and it isn’t going to get any easier.
(FYI – My dad was a music teacher. If you want to make more money as your life evolves, get into something else.)
What sort of music do you play?
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