Good advice @vistajay! It’s also good practice/motivation for some of the more competitive ones later
Help! I feel like we haven’t looked at enough places! Or maybe I’m just nuts…
@akapiratequeen as long as you have a safety (by all the usual standards, ie: 1) your S is willing to attend, 2) you are sure of academic/artistic admission and 3) you can afford it) I think you are ok! But y’all still have time to add a program or two if you are nervous; you can always drop some later, even before auditions! I know you’ve done lots of research! You’re probably not crazy, lol!
I caught that “probably,” @dramasopranomom ! 8-} I think I’m letting this stuff get to me. There are 1-2 places on his list where I would think he’d certainly get in, but I keep hearing stories about kids who were rejected from their safety schools after flubbed auditions so now I’m in a tizzy. I also wish he had more reach schools, but not sure where to recommend given his desire to have both music ed. and jazz. So I should probably take a deep breath and relax. He’s doing well: has all his applications in except the one with the prescreen, meeting with his guidance counselor at the end of the month, practicing a reasonable amount (especially considering marching band is taking all his time). And, as you say, there’s plenty of time to add a couple of schools.
I think “feeling nuts” is the norm for parents of aspiring music students. Figuring out how to not transmit said nuttiness while remaining engaged and helpful is the task. Super easy to do the summer after auditions!
@TxSker My son went through this process last year as a trumpet performance major . He applied to 10 schools - 4 with prescreens. 10 was a lot, but since auditions can be iffy, he wanted a comfort level while also keeping his reach schools in the mix. In the end, we had to schedule 9 auditions which was challenging, but do-able. I agree with others that getting the apps done as soon as you can is preferable, but you are not behind in the process at this point.
Glad I’m not the only one freaking out. I don’t see how there is any such thing as a “safety” for artistic admission (well not for my particular kid) so I guess Plan B is to go in “undecided” at a school where the kid is accepted academically, find somewhere to put a bass in a dorm room, and hope that some music classes, lessons and a practice room all come together so he can re-audition? That makes me kind of nervous. Since there are only so many audition weekends, I’m trying to prepare myself for the possibility of this scenario or a gap year.
I thought that this one would be my easy kid since he has good grades and test scores but nope! The thought of him having no where he actually wants to go come next April is not very comforting. I wish I could go back in time and put him in lessons a few years earlier!
@willrogers 9 auditions, wow! Where did he end up going? Were the acceptances in line with what you expected?
Others: are your kids doing a non audition safety option?mine doesn’t have one as of now…
Sometimes, a gap year can be a more palatable Plan B than a “safety” school when it comes to music. This was in the cards for my D, since we really needed money, in addition to artistic admissions. I don’t know if it’s really possible to be sure of much of anything at this point in the year, @eh1234 @akapiratequeen and others. And that really is okay. You both seem to be doing all that you can in terms of research, etc., and your children are doing all they can by practicing, performing and getting those applications in. Music admissions, at a high level, are a completely uncertain business; we research, get good advice from professionals in the field, support our children in EVERY possible way, and then we have to just wait and see. If one is lucky enough to live in a state with an excellent In State (and affordable) option, it can be a little easier to draw a deep breath. Sadly, that was not true for us, and my D made the decision to make a gap year her “safety” choice after visiting and auditioning at a neighboring state’s program (our original “safety”) and firmly NOT liking it. I think you may find that your children have very passionate ideas about what they do and do not want after visits and auditions.
If this helps, we found that the “reachier” schools where my D felt most at home actually seemed to be most passionate about her. In other words, schools and students tend to self select each other; our experience was that the programs my D liked the best also seemed to like her a whole lot. I don’t know…I’m always interested in others’ experiences in regards to this. Another thing to keep in mind is transferring… however, be aware that sometimes it can be almost impossible to get the same amount of merit aid as a transfer student. Also, depending upon the sort of programs one is transferring from (and to), it can be possible that while “credits” transfer, they do not fulfill program requirements, causing a student to spend extra time on a degree. So transferring can sometimes be a more palatable option for families where artistic admission is difficult as an incoming Freshman, but for whom money (aid) is less of an issue.
All this is to remind you all that there are so many different ways to do this! And, really, your child is going to be okay!!! Dream a little and add that reachiest of reachy schools…make sure to have as solid of a financial and artistic safety as possible (but only if your kid really is okay with attending there!), fill in with schools and programs and teachers across the spectrum! This is a great time to start getting comfortable with the sheer uncertainty of the field as a whole (both you and your child)! You probably won’t need that safety, but who knows??? Especially on the Musical Theater forum, there are many stories of kids who could not get the artistic admissions they wanted, and yet after a single gap year (full of study and practice, of course) they received multiple high-level offers of admission and merit aid. This is absolutely a viable option as well, and might be better than looking for more and more programs to ensure some kind of safety. Hang in there you guys!
@akapiratequeen my S had no non-audition options although our state school (which had pretty stringent audition requirements) was an academic safety. But that’s because he really wanted a conservatory and all of them required auditions (and prescreens too). I think 6 is a decent number - my S applied to 8. One of his friends only applied to 4! (Berklee, Eastman, Oberlin, NEC). Did you visit Oberlin (no music ed)? How about U Michigan?
Hi @drummergirl! We ruled out Oberlin because no music ed, and U. Mich/Northwestern because they don’t seem to offer much merit aid to undergrads. The current list is: Ithaca, Syracuse, Berklee, Eastman, Rutgers/Mason Gross. We also threw Lawrence in there; we’ve never been but it seemed like a good fit, although in his perfect world he’d like to stay driving distance from home.
Academically, he should be fine for most or all of these: although his SAT/ACTs are at the low end for the two schools that require them, his GPA is at the high end. So it all comes down to auditions and, I guess, what they are looking for this year. Other schools he saw and decIded against for various reasons: U Maryland, Peabody (he loved both but they didn’t have the right programs for him), Temple. He would prefer not to go in NYC, as we live nearby and he wants something different, and he doesn’t like hot weather (so no Frost or USC).
Whew! He’s a picky kid, but it all made sense to me until I started to worry that he didn’t have enough options! He’d be happy at any of his top five, so at least there’s some wiggle room.
@dramasopranomom Thanks for that. My son is applying to two in-state options that are probably a good fit for him - he just needs to not spazz out during his auditions. So they seem like the closest thing to a match at least and would leave enough money in his 529 for grad school, when he’ll hopefully be ready for a more selective program.
@akapiratequeen I’ve identified one non-audition B.A. program which may go down as a second choice for that particular school if he applies there (Rutgers). I’ve also tried to get him to apply to an in-state school that doesn’t have auditions for freshman or a B.M. at all, but he does not want all the general ed. requirements that go with a B.A. (he’s probably borderline for admissions there, so not an academic safety).
He really should have done more work on his list and applications over the summer but now school orchestra, youth orchestra, jazz ensemble, pit orchestra and rock band rehearsals are all looming. (He will never turn down an opportunity to play the bass!)
@eh1234 Are you in NJ? Sounds like we are on the same track in many ways! I didn’t know he could do a BA in music at Rutgers, he’s already applied but I wonder if he could add that…
@willrogers If I may, can I ask what schools, how the process went and where he ended up? You can send via DM if you wish.
@akapiratequeen 9 live auditions was a lot but we really didn’t know with any level of confidence if he’d make it past prescreens, if the live auditions would go well, etc. His “safety” was in numbers of options. We tried to carry little expectations on admittance since they were all dependent on auditions. He decided on NEC and loves it so far.
Where we could swing it, a lesson in advance of the audition was really helpful. At the audition they remembered him and it reduced his stress level a bit since he had at least some familiarity with the school and instructors. At one school, they told us their cut off for private lessons prior to auditions was Nov. 30. That may have just applied to that school but I wish I had known that in advance. We were fortunate and just squeaked in with that last lesson during Thanksgiving week.
@akapiratequeen We’re in VA, but the NPC for Rutgers indicates S would get significant merit aid so it’s on the list. The BA is in the arts and sciences school (not Mason Gross), which is probably why there’s no audition.
So we just got back from a bit of a whirlwind trip to visit 3 schools. It was a great trip - all of us went and we did fun stuff too. And it was VERY clarifying for my senior on what he is looking for and what we should prioritize. He will apply to a range of schools but if it comes down to it, he has some direction on what he will spend more time pursuing and finishing first.
PSA - he had appointments with 3 teachers on this trip for sample lessons. 1 of the teachers was a complete no show. Another was late. The teacher who was a no show had a good excuse and it wasn’t personal, but had the teacher contacted us ahead of time to let us know we might have been able to arrange a meeting with another member of faculty or rearrange our schedule to meet later in the day. My kid is PICKY, has really excellent teachers now and I really thought this would be this school’s downfall for him but happily redeemed itself in all other ways. This was a school I suspected would be a great fit and it’s SO disappointing driving 10+ hours and having this experience.
So I highly recommend having your student send a confirmation e-mail copying back the original scheduling e-mail or the info 48-72 hours in advance of the meeting to verify. Something like …
“Prof Jones - Very much looking forward to meeting you for our scheduled sample lesson Wed Sep 29 at 2:15 pm in Music Building 102. See you then. Billy Johnson”
Good advice, thanks! Which schools did you see? Would love to hear your/his impressions!
We went to Oberlin, Carnegie Mellon, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. All 3 seemed like fantastic programs actually and we had a great experience and got good information at all 3. I’ve never been to Pittsburgh before and that’s a lovely city. They were nicely contrasted as a small rural LAC, mid size urban private, and huge public, midsize city. We’ve visited other schools of each of those types and they did all fit neatly into their type. It helped clarify for my kid what he is leaning toward now (which is preferably smaller, more flexible LAC, possible dual degree or at least strong academics for elective classes) but there is a good chance he will apply to all 3 as reachy options. I liked CMU a bunch more than I was expecting. It had a quirky intense vibe that reminded me of UChicago, which my kid really liked despite it not having a real undergrad music program other than a BA with a pretty inflexible core. My kid is pretty academic too and is looking forward to other academics too. He is dual enrolled and has loved every PhD taught dual enrollment class he has taken.
Oh - one interesting tidbit I got at Ann Arbor that was interesting is that 33% of SMTD (school of music, theater, dance) are Michigan residents and that they said they do have merit available in that school up to full tuition scholarship. I’m sure that’s a rarity, but there it is. The fact that 2/3 of the student body in that school is from out of state is probably a decent indicator they are probably doing at least ok with merit/finances.