<p>What has been your experience in regard to the meaning of post-audition interactions/events such as the following: (input from previous year applicants would be particularly valuable, for obvious reasons.)</p>
<p>1) Student has standard 10-13 minute audition slot on a standard audition day, (that is, many other students are also auditioning), is invited to return to teacher's studio later in the day whereupon s/he is given a one-hour or so lesson on material played at the audition.</p>
<p>2) Same scenario as above, but upon returning to studio instead of an impromptu lesson is invited to ask questions about school, programs, f.a., etc.</p>
<p>In no case has a clear offer of admission been made. At all schools, there are limited number of slots available and more audition days yet to go (so not all candidates have been heard yet).</p>
<p>When this has happened to you/your child, have they always in the end been admitted? Or is this more like making the short list, but not necessarily the final cut?</p>
<p>Just wondering, as I while away the days 'til late March.</p>
<p>Short list but not guarantees. As you noted, there is the issue of what other talent shows up during the entire audition season. A student who glows the first weekend may pale when compared to later artists. It is a good sign, but no promises. Be patient.</p>
<p>In those scenarios, you can’t even be sure that you have made the short list. Conversely, if the teacher does not invite you to return, you can’t be sure that you are out of the running. Different schools and different teachers have different procedures, and you just cannot read anything into what they say or do at the audition until you have either an acceptance or rejection notice in writing. My daughter was rejected at schools where the teachers were highly positive during and after the audition and she was accepted with merit scholarship at one school where she got into a rather spirited disagreement with one of the teachers over some nuance in technique. Sorry, but you are just going to have to wait for it.</p>
<p>So was asked to meet with a teacher after an audition. It was the teacher he had requested and it was the only teacher that he had not had a lesson with or worked with over the summer. The teacher wanted a chance to get to know him a bit better. He was eventually waitlisted.</p>
<p>Agree that the attention can be pleasant - but not an indicator of admission success.</p>
<p>I can think of a number of kids’ variations-on-this-theme scenarios:</p>
<p>1) Auditioner (grad) had had summer lessons with the requested teacher, but was in reality far from ready to attend the conservatory where the prof taught. Kid auditioned for full faculty. Requested teacher kindly invited the auditioner to lunch with him following audition - general chat, no audition feedback. Kid was not admitted, but felt good about the whole experience - felt he’d been treated as a human being, not just an “also ran unsuccessful auditioner”.</p>
<p>2) Undergrad auditioner ran into requested teacher in the hall after audition for full faculty. Teacher stopped to say he’d enjoyed the audition - kid not admitted.</p>
<p>3) Kid who’d had lesson with requested teacher months prior to audition. Requested teacher made a point of greeting student in front of the rest of the faculty panel and thanking kid for coming to audition after the audition completed. Kid accepted - but into studio of a teacher with whom there’d been no prior contact.</p>
<p>4) Kid invited to teacher’s studio to ask questions about school and programs. Kid admitted, but had choice of multiple other more “selective” schools as well. Merit aid offer from 1st school was good, but not outstanding - some “selective” places had the same offers.</p>
<p>Good luck to you, but I think it all does depend individual schools and teachers.</p>
<p>The only thing that is clear about audition protocol is that nothing is clear, routine or consistent.</p>
<p>Given what I have read on this board, my son should have been rejected everywhere. We paid for ALL private lessons (not a single teacher “waived the fee” in light of his extraordinary talent ;)) and not a single teacher invited him to their studio after the auditions (even teachers with whom he had had what we considered to be positive lessons). He did get two emails that said that he had been “recommended for admission” based on his auditions (I called these the music school version of a “likely letter”), but that was it.</p>
<p>Yet he was accepted everywhere, with merit money at most.</p>
<p>I think there are just too many variables when it comes to music school auditions, and I have heard stories that don’t coincide with ours at all, and ones where kids were promised things that didn’t come to fruition (even one boy who got a positive note from a teacher and was still rejected).</p>
<p>The only thing you can do is wait until March. That last week is very long indeed. Good to have lots to do to keep yourself busy.</p>
<p>D (in grad auditions) related one teachers comment after the audition.
“My response is —when can you start?—but there are eight other faculty members who vote and I’ve been wrong before!”
In short, this is a great time to pick up a hobby and stay away from the vodka.</p>
<p>Agree with Allmusic on this–I think jazz students are less likely to get that formal meeting with a studio teacher. I just have never heard of that happening, regardless of the admissions decision. There are certain cues though. My son was told at one very selective school: “you have a very unique style. I’d like to see what you could do here. Your SAT’s are a little low.” He was waitlisted, but admitted without merit money two days later. That seems pretty cut and dried and easy to figure out if you think about it!</p>
<p>The post audition “meeting” should be consider a quaint idosyncracy of some schools/departments/studios. Being invited is certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but not being invited doesn’t necessarily imply anything.</p>
<p>My D auditioned at three schools on formal “audition days” and there were no post-audition meetings and she got into them all. Had I know about this custom, I would have been freaked out!!</p>
<p>Yes, either make sure the liquor cabinet is well-stocked, or lock it up and throw away the key…</p>
<p>In all the years of audition experiences kid’s have shared, any type of “post-audition” contact is very unusual - and not consistent between students even within the same school or with the same faculty member. Most of the admitted kids - even to top conservatories with nice merit $$$ attached - have no “special” attention directed to them. </p>
<p>Try to relax! I wouldn’t read anything into a post-audition comment/contact OR worry about the lack of one!</p>
<p>OK, sounds like it’s clear as mud. My kid has so many irons in the fire (applications to both selective non-conservatory and dual degree programs, plus an early admission to a very nice (non-conservatory) college that I’ve pretty much lost track of what I’m rooting for anyways…</p>
<p>I just want to comment on this:
“We paid for ALL private lessons (not a single teacher “waived the fee” in light of his extraordinary talent )”
most teachers on the junior-year lessons tour (3 out of 5) did not accept our offer of a check - but I don’t think this had anything to do with the talent exhibited during the lesson. I got the clear impression that some teachers just never expect payment for this, and some do! I have a feeling that norms might vary a bit by instrument, but I don’t really know for sure. What was interesting, however, is that the 2 that did accept the check were in general much less appealing to my kid. Just sayin. Yes, I know the plural of anecdote is not data.</p>
<p>My sense, based on the experience this year, is that if you are very competitive and a strong applicant, you will know through some form of communication via the accompanist, your treatment in the audition or post-audition communication. However, the wisest move is to remain circumspect until you get confirmation of acceptance from the school – all of these places have their own processes and rituals, and it is clearly possible that you may not meet all the criteria. So, for example, you might do a bang-up audition, get some positive feedback, but your application papers do not meet the school’s standards. That could put you down in the applicant pool. Until you get the response from the admissions office you should take nothing for granted.</p>
<p>jugglingmom - maybe this is true for singers, but definitely not for classical instrumentalists. My son had several auditions to schools which admitted him with merit $$ where absolutely nothing was conveyed on the day of the audition. No communication at all at IU where he is currently attending! He felt that he really didn’t know whether they liked him at anyof them. It is usually very formal and they would consider it a breach of etiquette to convey their reaction at the audition. Unless…he didn’t pick up their cues. that said, the admits came quite quickly for all the schools so we didn’t have to wait too long. </p>
<p>ImperialZeppelin - I agree - I would have been completely freaked out had I thought other kids were getting more attention. Perhaps this is why most schools don’t allow it.</p>
<p>It might depend on the instrument. With voice, they have a full day of auditions. With less popular instruments, the prof may have time to meet with the student afterward.</p>
<p>The most surprising and competitive acceptance my son received was at an audition that lasted all of 10 minutes. No chatting, no informal anything. He played what they asked him to play…and left. There was no info session, no tour, nothing but the 10 minute audition. Oh…and the applied teacher with whom son had his “sample lesson” was not on the audition committee that heard him.</p>
<p>Stringfollies, our experience is admittedly very limited. DS did get signals that he had had a very strong audition, which seems to have been proven out in an official acceptance. However, I don’t think you can assume anything, regardless of your sense of how the audition went or any post-audition communication, until you get notice of the acceptance.</p>
<p>Audition experiences of DS1 and DS2, for what they’re worth -</p>
<p>DS1 Undergrad - Auditioned at four schools. Two schools asked him to stay for their scholarship round after his initial audition which he took as an indication (correctly) that he was in. Third school, very cut and dry audition, in and out, no feedback - he was not admitted. Fourth school, lots of friendly conversation afterward but no lesson; found out later studio teacher e-mailed his private teacher to wax poetic about how DS played, and yes, he was accepted. </p>
<p>DS1 Grad - Auditioned at two schools. Both schools very businesslike - audition, then a few questions, then off you go. Each didn’t take longer than 10-15 minutes. Got into one school (better audition by far), not the other (which was disappointing but no surprise to S). </p>
<p>DS2 Undergrad - Auditioned at three schools (did not make the academic cut at the fourth). First school, pretty businesslike, 10 minutes of playing, followed by brief Q&A, no lesson. Not invited to stay for scholarship round, but was accepted with merit aid. Second school, 10-15 minutes of playing, followed by rather extensive interview, then invited to lesson (an hour long) after lunch. Accepted with sizable merit aid. Third school, 10 minutes of playing in rather informal setting, brief Q&A, hour long lesson later in day, then breakfast next morning with studio teacher. Still waiting to hear. </p>
<p>Both kids seemed to have a pretty good sense of where they stood with the audition committees - so far, the only real surprises have been pleasant ones associated with financial aid. (Knock wood!) I will say that as a parent, I found it much easier handle the waiting the second time around. That initial experience, however, was pure torture - you first-timers have my sympathy.</p>
<p>Hate to be a crumudgeon - but I know there are MANY students out there who have no idea that they are definitely not competitive for the schools or teachers for whom they are auditioning. Many have been told they are reaching, but won’t believe while others lack the background to know, but that’s one of the good things about this process. The schools will let them know.</p>
<p>If any one doubts this, take a scan through Youtube submissions for your kid’s instrument/voice and approximate age. It’s very clear that a number of students uploading their performances truly have no idea that their performances aren’t outstanding. Audition committees face this daily during audition times!</p>
<p>It truly can be difficult to try to predict the outcomes when, by definition, the participants can’t be objective! Random interactions can be exactly that - random interactions.</p>
<p>Sometimes an audition faculty just instinctively likes a candidate as a person, some nurturing intuition is aroused, and while they know they will not admit, they do not want to crush the spirit to which they have responded so positively. Hence they are friendly and personable, meaning they would love having the musician as a relative, but know they should not encourage them professionally.</p>