chances at vandy/how good is blair?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>I'm apply to Vanderbilt through regular descion. Chances for getting in?</p>

<p>White, upper-middle class female from the north
GPA: 94.78 unweighted
ACT Scores: 32 Composite-- 34 English, 34 Math, 29 Reading, 29 Science
SAT II: 760 US History, 680 Math
AP: 4's on English Lang and US History; currently taking Calc AB, Lit, and Bio
I've taken all AP and Honors Courses</p>

<p>ECs: In School
National Honor Society
French National Honor Society
Tri-M Music Honor Society (VP Jr. Year, Pres this year)
A few other minor clubs
Peer Advisor (selected from over 80 students)
School Musical-- always a leading role
Varsity Cheerleader (3 years)</p>

<p>ECs Out of School:
Volunteer assistant CCD teacher (3 years)
Volunteer cheerleading coach (4 years)
Volunteer counselor at a special needs camp (4 years)
Voice- mainly opera
-- Performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center twice each
-- All-State Operafestival Finalist (3 years, winner this year)
-- Sang at festivals in Italy and Martha's Vineyard
-- Nominated for a Tri-State Youth Theatre Award for a school show
-- Many, many, many other performance experiences</p>

<p>My essay is great, so are my recs, and I have a professor a Julliard whom I coach with writng me a rec as well. I also sing very difficult soprano arias (coloratura, for those of you who know), which is rare for a high school singer. I'm currently working on the Queen of the Night Aria :)</p>

<p>Also, I'm applying to Blair, so I was wondering how strong the program is and how are the performance opportunities? Also, anyone who could shed light on the audition at Blair...</p>

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<p>Forgot to add:</p>

<p>Applying RD
Rank: top 10% (probably within the top 20 students)
Advanced Choir (4 years)
Girls State Candidate
Bloustein Scholar</p>

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<p>Well, first off you should know that Blair is probably the most selective of the four schools. Sorry. :stuck_out_tongue: That’s the price of a Vanderbilt brand music school.</p>

<p>That said, your application is very strong. If your essay and recs are as strong as you say, you should have no real problems. My suggestion for your audition is to hit it hard with a solid piece or two on your instrument of choice (or perhaps sing an aria). Also, if you can, schedule an alumni interview after submitting your application.</p>

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<p>Hi there. :slight_smile: I’m a freshman in Blair this year (although transferring into Peabody – I’ll explain). I’ll let you in on what I have to offer, and I hope it helps!</p>

<p>Firstly, Scottandrus is right. Blair is definitely the most selective of the four schools of the university, but your academics do not have to be as outstanding as they do to get into the other three schools. It comes down to your audition. Blair is a very rigorous program that will teach you more than you ever wanted to know about time management. The curriculum (even though it’s going to change… your class only has to take 1 semester of music history, as far as I know, while my class has to take four!) is intense, and there are a lot of 0-, 1-, and 2-credit courses to take up lots of time without giving you credit hours. That’s a real pain if you want to double major in anything. That said, if you’re planning on actually becoming an opera singer, you’ll never leave Blair anyway! :P</p>

<p>I’m impressed – a high school coloratura! I’m also a soprano (although voice is not my major at Blair), and that’s intensely awesome. :slight_smile: My range only goes up to a D6… lucky girl. :wink: Your vocal training sounds fantastic, but it really comes down to your audition, and Blair is competitive. Dr. Retzlaff, one of the voice teachers, told my boyfriend (a bass who auditioned in December) that out of about 130-150 applicants, they take 15 or 20. Usually about 10 enroll. The teachers at Blair (you have your choice of Retzlaff, Shay, or Jarman) are very demanding and expect their students to prepare very thoroughly for performance. When you perform in studio class and during student recitals, you will be expected to act, sing, dress up… PERFORM. This is different than a lot of schools, where you could get by just knowing the words and staying in the same key throughout the piece.</p>

<p>The audition process is very smooth – it was easily the most organized of any of the auditions I had. You go into the building and sign in. There will be faculty members and students there with name tags to show you around. Once you sign in, you will have your official audition time (although you’ll likely know beforehand). You will have a practice room assigned to you, and a student will help you find it. Your accompanist will know which room you’re in, and will come in to warm up with you before your audition. It’s very well run. Since you’re a voice major, you’ll likely audition in Dr. Retzlaff’s office. He and Shay and Jarman will be in there to listen to you. Sometime during the day (you will be allowed to choose when), you will take a theory test. It’s pretty basic, so no worries about that.</p>

<p>Performance opportunities are decent, but not fantastic. You will sing in at least one ensemble every semester, but you can definitely do more. Also, there are a few a cappella groups around campus (lots of Blair-ites involved) that you could join. Swingin’ Dores is the primary girls’ group. Every year, Blair puts on a fully staged/costumed opera with the orchestra. This year, we did Marriage of Figaro. The thing is, it’s not totally students – the professors participate as well, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone younger than a junior in the opera (but I could be mistaken). That’s something to ask the professors – I’d shoot Retzlaff an email.</p>

<p>Your academics are a cinch; for Blair, you’re more than set. It really does come down to your audition. If at all possible, setting up a sample lesson before your audition with one of the teachers will help you enormously. It’s very difficult to chance a prospective Blair-ite because the audition is what makes you or breaks you. Practice your @$$ off and really go all out with your performance when you audition, and then relax. Good luck! Hope to see you around next year. :)</p>

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<p>In order to possibly defuse (yes, you’re a bomb) whatever stress you may be feeling about Blaire, I picked this up in another thread who picked it up from a Vanderbilt Admissions Blog (so the stats are truthful, I would say):</p>

<p>ADMIT RATE</p>

<p>A&S 28.44%
BLAIR 40.65% *
ENG 44.72% *</p>

<h2>PEA 46.50% *</h2>

<p>AVG 32.48%</p>

<p>TEST SCORES MID 50% RANGES</p>

<p>A&S 1360-1510/31-33
BLAIR 1280-1470/29-33
ENG 1360-1510/31-34
PEA 1270-1410/28-32</p>

<p>But again: </p>

<p>*Just like each applicant, there are stories behind the numbers. You will notice that it appears “easier” to get into Engineering, Blair and Peabody. This is not at all true. The applicant pools for our three professional schools are highly self selecting. For instance, the 40.65% of admitted Blair students are all gifted musicians who qualified through an audition. Not an easy task by any measure.</p>

<p>Just rock it out on your audition. Don’t think you won’t get in because you made a 32 and there are some who will apply with higher. Be the good musician you are.</p>

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