Hi, I’m a sophomore and I’m considering going to university for viola performance and I live in Indiana. If i were to be rejected from the Jacobs School of Music, then BSU would be my second choice. I was hoping that someone to shed some light on the difficulty of being accepted, and how rigourous the program is at Ball State. I’m currently working through Suzuki book 5 with my private lessons teacher, and I’m in my school’s symphony orchestra.
Any stats, such as acceptance rate, would be greatly appreciated. I understand that the bsu acceptance rate is generally between 59 and 62 percent, but almost always the school of music at any given university will have it’s own acceptance rate due to the fact that you have to be accepted in to the major after the school
When my son was completing his sophomore year of high school, we (I) wrote to the professor of his instrument at a college he wanted to attend and asked what would be the best way to spend the next 2 years preparing for entry into his program.
What does he play, and did he get in?
@bsudoc1120 - Hi. He plays jazz bass, and he did get into UNT, which is the place where we wrote the professor mentioned above. When he was a HS sophomore and wanted to pursue jazz bass in college, we did not know where he stood in the competitive spectrum and where each college stood as well. It took some time with him playing around a lot of places and having several instructors to feel where he was at. The UNT professor gave specific advice such as test out of as many gen-eds as possible, learn some keyboard, have good theory knowledge and know how to play the bass. This wasn’t audition-winning advice, but program-efficiency advice.
I do know someone who went to Indiana’s (and is still there) program on viola and is a sophomore there now. That person was obviously good or great before applying, so it was a pretty likely admit. In a way, the acceptance rate is not a totally helpful number, but the student’s capabilities are very important. I don’t know if this is helpful, but I used to look at audition or screening videos on YouTube and see if someone followed up with whether they made it in or not, then I would try to imagine that was the boundary between good enough and not.
For Indiana viola, I am guessing that the typical admits are exposed to the circuit of playing at other youth orchestras outside of their high school, for example. Are you aware of any such things? If so, their directors and instructors can observe your playing and give you some ideas.
Maybe look at youtube video ID r27tYp2A99k