Hello, My name is Heather. I am 17 years old and have been playing the oboe for a little over 6 months now. It comes pretty easily to me, I guess because I have played every instument under the sun before it unril this one "stuck." I have two questions.
1. Generally how long do you need to have been playing/how good do you have to be before you can think of music school (as in university) I was thinking of majoring in something else before, but I love to oboe so much that I am slowly starting to consider the possibility of "what if" I went in that direction. Would it even be worth pursuing considering the fact that I still have (as does nearly everyone) a few things to learn? I know this is hard to say one way or the other, but opinions or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.

2. I recently had my wisdom teeth out, and because of having to heal, I have not been able/allowed to play much. it there anything I can do outside of actually playing to retain things that might be lost during such a hiatus? ( I am able to play on a limited basis at this point, but still have some jaw pain... so... any ideas?
Didn`t mean to ramble on, but...
Thanks, Heather

Heather, it doesn`t matter how long you have been playing whether or not you will be accepted into a music school or not. I worked my tail off practicing every day for 1 1/2 years, and got a full scholarship ship to a university with a music program. After another year of hard work I then applied to oberlin conservatory and got accepted with a Dean`s Scholarship and outstanding talent/musical promise grant. I did this with no previous wind instrument experience. I know that it sounds like i`m bragging, but i`m really just trying to prove a point. If i can have that success with that short amount of time anyone can! So if you really want to go to a music school as bad as it sounds, practice and acheive your dreams!

Good luck!