Thanks everyone. We’re a bit in shock, I think, S included. He went out with his friends but before he left, he told us he doesn’t want to make a final decision until he’s seen all offers.
I think that, for all the stress and worry, there’s something about being in the process that he’s not ready to give up yet. It’s like being on a quest — you can’t wait for it to end and yet when it does, something is missing.
That said, don’t get me wrong — we’re thrilled!
Yeehaw @akapiratequeen. A big congrats to you and your son!!!
Re: VP auditions:
It’s not necessary to take a resumé to an undergrad audition- always take one to a grad school audition- but more and more kids are doing it. A lot of them have fairly extensive MT or community theatre experience as well as competition placements and choir or church soloist experience. Including a small, color head-shot in the upper corner of that (single- it should never be more than one page) sheet is helpful for faculty later on when they’re trying to remember faces with their own notes. Of course, always have multiple copies of that and of your repertoire list.
The method of “over-offering” admission so as to garner the numbers a school hopes for is done everywhere. It can, and does, backfire. In my daughter’s freshman year, the school had a much larger than expected number of kids accept the bids and actually had to lease two floors in a dorm adjacent to the music dorm in order to accommodate all of them. Four years later, only about half of them remained on graduation day though; the VP class began with 19 and 6 of them graduated.
@akapiratequeen - huge congrats to you and your son! What a wonderful option to have in hand already! That said, I think he’s smart to wait until everything is on the table before making a decision.
And congrats to everyone for all the auditions done and acceptances already in and still to come. The finish line is in sight, even if time seems to be going in slow motion. I also love the warmth of this community, which I stumbled on nine years ago when my son was still in high school. Every year I find myself rooting for everyone here.
For any jazz students who are going to be auditioning in NYC (and their parents), there are going to be some great jazz shows in the city in the next couple of weeks. If you want any recommendations for when you’re in town, feel free to PM me.
Alright @akapiratequeen ! Such a relief to have great options moving forward.
S auditioned at Peabody today. My spouse took him and attended a parent meeting in the morning. She reported that it was very well run and informative. The jazz program is in the rebuilding phase. They have only 12 jazz students now and are lookign to add another 10-12 this year and ultimately build the program up to 40-50 students. S felt the audition went as well as it could have and liked the school.
Interesting tidbit about finances at Peabody. Merit scholarships are available for Peabody students but if you are accepted into and enroll in a dual degree program with Johns Hopkins (which S did apply for), you are considered a Hopkins student and you lose any merit scholarship you might have gotten if you enrolled only at Peabody. It’s an interesting point that we had not considered before. . . .
My D auditioned as a contemporary vocalist and did provide a resume with 1x1 headshot in corner along with her song list and lyrics to any of the songs she wrote. . She did it because she has extensive training in musical theatre/cabaret, jazz and classical. She incorporates many facets of her training in her style.
I can’t speak to other instruments but in her case it really helped. She made 3-5 sets and the panel really appreciated it and referred to it often during her audition and interview.
@lkbux64 Congrats on the successful Peabody audition! I have heard great things about the new jazz faculty. Definitely a program to watch.
@lkbux64 Great to hear that the audition went well! One note of caution on Peabody for jazz - they were making the same pitch about rebuilding their jazz program a number of years ago when my son was looking at schools. And as you probably know, they went through quite a bit of turmoil last year. Peabody is obviously a terrific conservatory, and they’ve recruited some good new jazz faculty, so maybe they’re on the right track this time. But if it’s still a serious contender once all your son’s options are on the table, I’d suggest taking a very close look and asking a lot of questions, including talking privately with students in the program.
Congrats @akapiratequeen ! That’s great news. Now, he can breathe a bit and see what else comes down the pike.
A huge congratulations to your son @akapiratequeen! What amazing news! I think it’s great he wants to wait until all offers are in before making a final decision! Wow-Ithaca is such a great school and an incredibly beautiful area! Must be a relief to have that great offer at this point. Cheers to you and to all others finishing up auditions, getting nice offers, and getting closer to the finish line!
My daughter just received a generous talent scholarship from the College of Saint Rose in addition to the academic award they offered, so it’s definitely our most affordable option at this point. She enjoyed her shadow day there. The timing was bad for the music theory class she observed because it was a test day but she said everyone was super friendly and welcoming throughout the day. Two administrators came right up to her to welcome her when we arrived. She said she was surprised they remembered her from audition day but hopefully that means she made a good impression.
My daughter also got the Miami Frost email. I hate when they tease you with “we will start making decisions next week” but you know they probably won’t ANNOUNCE those decisions until the end of March! But I guess it’s nice that they give that heads-up so all candidates are sure that all materials are in. We had an issue where my daughter’s ACT scores were not sent to Frost when we thought they were, but luckily we caught that right before prescreen notices went out.
Keep the updates coming! It will seem like an eternity, but we are almost there!
Thanks @AmyIzzy! And OMG I feel for all the Frost kids! Hopefully they will move more quickly. We don’t expect our next decision until mid-March, with a couple of schools holding out until April 1, so I feel your pain!
I think your S is very smart to see how it all plays out @akapiratequeen. Unless he is sure this is the one and the offer is good for all of you. But it’s good to let it all play out. So great that he has a top choice in the bad though. Takes the stress off early on.
As for the Frost email it is indeed odd. We didn’t get that last year. I agree with @DrummerDad18. I don’t think notifications will come any earlier as they are released when the regular decisions come in. As I recall from last year. Frost sends their decisions over to the admissions committee who then looks over the kids application overall to make sure they can be admitted from an academic side of things. Then all notifications go out at once. I also remember last year that we were all waiting and watching for the magic green circle or checkmark etc. And the application populated differently as kids were accepted. And it took another fair amount of time once accepted to see the actual merit money given. Yikes! It was stressful. Hang in there…In another 5 weeks all will be known! And saying that I realize that 5 weeks will feel like 5 years! :-))
I am now on high alert waiting hear from Ithaca and even signed up for USPS informed delivery - boy will I be disappointed when the mail that can’t be previewed turns out to be the Washington Post weekly ad circular!
So son was tentatively planning to do a trial lesson at his no. 2 school this weekend since he is going to be on campus anyway. He reached out to the prof. on Monday and hasn’t received a response. Would it be appropriate to send another email if he doesn’t hear anything by mid-day tomorrow, or is that annoying - should he just let it go? Maybe he just doesn’t plan to recommend son for admission and has better things to do with his time.
@eh1234 I’ve got everything crossed for you that you will get a package today. A funny story about Informed Delivery: I’d been watching their daily emails like a hawk but nothing was happening. Then yesterday afternoon I got a call from S’s dad – we’re divorced with joint custody, and I’d completely forgotten that all the mail goes to his house! Luckily he jumped in the car and rushed over with the envelope. But I guess I can stop using ID!
Congrats to your D @AmyIzzy wow!!! I wish we’d known about St Rose before we started this process. Congratulations ?
Congratulations at @akapiratequeen! I’m thrilled for you guys!!
It’s been a long while since I have posted. Hi there everyone! S has had one grad audition. It was at Northwestern, which we love. On Friday he has an Audition at Curtis!! He is taking it all in stride, but I admit to being quite distracted with nerves for this. I’d love all of the positive vibes you can muster!!!
Lol. Of course we absolutely love Curtis too.?
@momsings sending your S every positive vibe I’ve got! And of course, I love to hear of Ithaca musicians rocking those amazing grad auditions!