Preparing to Transfer to a University

One function of the SLCC music program is to prepare students to transfer to a four-year institution so that they can continue their music studies and earn a bachelor's degree in music. SLCC's music faculty are committed to helping students be successful as they move on to pursue their bachelor's degrees.

Often students attending SLCC do so with the idea that they will simply finish their General Education requirement and then transfer to the university to work on their major. They do so believing that they will enter their program of study with only two years remaining to finish their degrees, because they will not need to take any General Education classes. This is not the case in music.

Students who transfer to a four-year institution's music program having only completed their General Education requirements will most likely need at least another four years to complete a bachelor's degree in music. The main reason for this is that students are required take two years of music theory before they are allowed to take the majority of upper-division music classes. As a result, students who have completed their General Education requirements but have not taken any music classes will be entering the first year of a four-year program, not the third. Generally, the best, most efficient plan of action in preparation for transferring to a four-year institution's music program is to complete the associates degree in music program as outlined, especially taking the four semesters of music theory that are required. Failure to take music theory while you are SLCC will unavoidably delay your graduation from a four-year institution.

Additional recommendations to help you prepare to transfer to a four-year institution:

• Complete your associates degree in music. This will complete your General Education requirements and a majority of the Freshman/Sophomore-level classes in your four-year program.
• Take private lessons in the area of your specialty.  While not technically a requirement for your associates degree, any four-year program in music will have a private instruction requirement.
• Take Music 1010 (Intro to Music) to complete your Fine Arts General Education requirement.  While you can choose to broaden your horizons and complete the fine arts requirement in some other way, Music 1010 will provide you with a general overview of the history of Western music for the last two millennia which will be very helpful to you as you continue your music studies and prepare you to take more in-depth classes in music history as part of your four-year program.