Blair School of Music

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>Hello! I was wondering about how competitive the opera/voice program at Vanderbilt is, and if I have a shot at getting it (although I realize this is probably difficult to predict without hearing the audition)! I'm applying regular decision and have an audition on February 12.</p>

<p>ACT: 30
Top 15% at competitive high school in Massachusetts, 3.64 GPA
Senior Schedule: AP French, Virtual High School Honors Pre-Veterinary, Honors auditioned Symphonic Band and Concert Choir, AP Biology, AP English, Statistics, Physics.
Very strong and unique essay
Very strong recommendations</p>

<p>I have been in the All-District Choir Freshman through Senior Year, the All-State Choir Sophomore through Senior year (I received the top score last year in districts), and was recommended for the All-Eastern Choir last year. I am also in (or have been in): New England Conservatory Youth Chorale, Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a Student-Run Contemporary A Cappella Group, and a Madrigal and Jazz singing group. I have been taking private voice lessons for five years, and have had a few vocal coaching/diction lessons as well.</p>

<p>I also play Clarinet in the Marching band (section leader), Baritone Saxophone in the Community Band, and French Horn in Symphonic Band. I have many other non-music related extracurriculars such as Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track (I high jump and pole vault), Horseback riding, National Beta Club, Tri-M Music Honors Society, YouLead Students Against Substance Abuse, etc. I have leadership positions in almost all of these groups.</p>

<p>I will be singing "Das Verlassene Magdlein" by Hugo Wolf, "When I Have Sung My Songs To You" by Ernest Charles, and "Sebben Crudele" by Antonio Caldara at my audition.</p>

<p>I realize that my academic stats are not very competitive for Vanderbilt, so I was also wondering: if I get into Blair, how much will that help me get into Vanderbilt as a whole? Does anyone have any tips/suggestions Feb 12? This is my first official college audition, so I'm not too sure how the process works!</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Anyone? Please?</p>

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<p>The academic standards for Blair are not quite as high as say, Engineering or A&S. Entrance into Blair is dedicated mostly to your audition (though of course, academics is still important). You seem to be a competitive applicant, definitely do your best at your audition and best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you! Do you happen to know about what the admissions stats for Blair are? I wasn’t able to find any on their website.</p>

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<p>And- sorry for all the questions!- does anyone know about what level the sight singing will be at? I saw they had it in their auditions, so I just wanted to have a better idea of what level I should be practicing…</p>

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<p>Hold on and give me a day, let me ask around with my Blair voice friends.</p>

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<p>Here’s what he says: Umm, well, first off, I would tell your friend to not worry so much about how “hard” the auditions are going to be. And to definitely not worry about the repertoire they are singing. They arent looking for the most polished or accomplished singers, they are looking for potential and a good fit for the program here. So my advice is to not stress, and just sing as they always have. In terms of sight reading, its never too complicated. Again, no stress, but if they wanted, they could find some simple music somewhere and just pick out a line to sight-sing. It couldn’t hurt. But that would never really affect a determination of acceptance or not too greatly. Hope it helps =)</p>

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<p>emJN15, have you checked out the music major forums on CC? They’re very helpful. Tons of good information for all sorts of schools. Go to the Discussion Home page and scroll down until you see (what I think is) “Majors.” Look for Music Major, and go there. They’ll know a lot more about music schools across the country than the average person who frequents the non-music side of CC. Good luck!</p>

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