Hello all. I am going to be a junior in high school this next year. I am very involved with my band, participating in every playing event I can. Recently I have became very aware that my flute, though loyal, has began to grow off me. I asked my director what he thought about moving up, and he instructed me to stay away from intermediate step-up flutes and just pay the money for pro. This makes sense, seeing as I plan on pursuing a college degree with my flute. However, I doubt his judgement slightly, as he is a trumpet player. I have been playing for nearly 6 years. My current flute is an Armstrong student model (I can't say anymore, for it is at school and I do not know the model numbers.) Any decent advice and suggestions?

I would say no. A true professional flute would be completely handmade and would cost WAY more than a high school flute should cost..

I'd look minimally around the $2000 dollar range you can get some pretty decent new flutes even for college.

I'd look at several flutes:
-Yamaha (500 series and up)
-Pearl (Dolce and Elegante)
-Miyazawa
-Muramatsu (EX a bit more expensive so possibly find used. I've heard WONDERFUL things about these)
-Haynes (the "Q" series? I've never tried nor heard much about these but Haynes makes handmade professional flutes)

ANY of these would blow your current Armstrong away..

Also just make sure you try as many flutes as you possibly can as that's the only way you can tell which one is for you

If you plan on pursuing music as a career, you should get a private teacher ASAP. Private lessons will help you play better than if you just got a new flute. Your teacher would then be able to guide you in the right direction when it is time to upgrade.

TBFlute is exactly right, I'm planning to pursue flute in college too, and so I'm getting a private teacher.

The only problem in finding a private teacher is, there aren't any for my area. I agree, I would love to find one, that would only help my playing. However, there seem to be none in my area.

Yeah, agree totally with TBflute, a pro flute teacher is much much more important than any pro flute. S/he can make you play/sound like a pro even with your student flute! If you don't have a pro teacher, even if you got a $6000 pro flute, you will stay sound like a student.

There are quite a few semi-pro models that will take one right up to when they start playing in a symphony etc... Muramatsu, Mateki etc... all have entry level silver plated semi-pro models that sell for around $3-4000 new and can be found used in mint condition for much less. I picked up a used Mateki for $1200 last year.

Have you ever considered webcam lessons? Nina Perlove offers those, on her website http://www.realfluteproject.com/web/home.aspx.
I myself have a local teacher, but this looks interesting.

Arabians207 suggests well. You could get something pretty nice for 2000-3000 dollars US. I'd add the Sonare and the Haynes, Amadeus as I've had students get some great advancement from moving up to these models.

1)Get a great teacher if you plan on pursuing a univ. music degree. This teacher should have at least a B.M. in flute-related studies. Take year-long private lessons and practice as much as possible. If there is none in your area, consider finding one a bit further away, even if you can get private (In person)lessons once a month from a teacher that is 200 miles away, is a good thing. I am specific about "in person lessons" because I do not advocate Skype or some other form of online lessons.

2)Get a pro flute when you really need one. H.S. isn't the place for a pro flute. The quality of playing in most H.S. bands (compared to professional groups) doesn't warrant that sort of pro instrument and it could attract dangerous envy from peers. Because of the type of metal often used, it can be damaged easier. The cost of a good pro flute in buying and repairs is about a factor of 8-10 times that of a beginner flute. For example, A standard Haynes handmade (~$10,000) and a full overhaul at the factory ($1250) that would probably be needed during college is more than you'd need to spend on an intermediate flute.

3)If you do your research on intermediate flutes, you can get a very fine playing and durable instrument that you can spend the next 4 years wearing out the mechanism with through incessant practice.

Remember that the flutist makes the flute sing.
No flute can make an untrained flutist play more musically.

Have you ever considered webcam lessons?

I have researched this. Advocates of this won't admit this but my conclusion is that there are certain important things that webcam lessons don't do well over in-person private lessons.