Thanks for the update, @MusakParent! We have a good friend whose son is a freshman at Carnegie Mellon in VP. It’s a great (tiny) program but intense – like, 9 am to to 10 pm six days a week. Perfect for a certain kind of kid.
How was Oberlin? My S is on the fence about that one – it’s a complex audition process and they don’t have music ed, but we know people there who absolutely adore it.
Here on the ranch, things are really starting to heat up! S has his first few audition dates: Dec. 1 at Berklee, Jan. 11 (regional/NYC) for Lawrence, January 26 (tentative) for Ithaca, Feb. 2 (back upstate–holy cow it’s gonna be a lot of driving) for Syracuse. No word yet from Rutgers, and the others are prescreens so it’s too early to know.
Plus … it turns out that, when you open all the various supplements, there are essays and all kinds of stuff that needs to be written! Whoops!
Meanwhile, the year is off with a bang, with marching band, regional jazz orchestra, all-state jazz ensemble, and of course, school all competing for his attention. We let him take a much easier schedule this year than last – no AP courses, three music courses (wind ensemble, choir, and teaching assistant for the 9th grade choir), a couple of graduation reqs and a couple of things he really loves (sociology/psychology). So far no regrets on that front – I think his head would blow off if he was carrying the kind of schedule he had last year.
Oh my kid LOVED Oberlin. That’s his favorite reachier option right now. He is interested in at least applying for dual degree. We need substantial merit to justify more expensive options. The acceptance rate at CMU School of Music is published in their most recent documentation as 6% so I’m surprised they are as friendly and welcoming as they were!
I’m jealous of having dates lined up already! I think the common app on our end is close to being done. We need to get references in line. We have 3 lined up. One of my kid’s music teachers is being difficult which is really annoying. They clash personalities a bit. He has like 5 other people he could ask that would probably be happy to write a strong letter but I feel like he needs to talk to this teacher about it and we haven’t seen her for a month so we’ll see how that goes later this week. He had a fabulous teacher that moved away and I always regret the switch to this teacher. Been a mediocre fit but it’s not his major instrument so we’ve just let it slide.
This week is crazy town over here! We need to schedule a time to do prescreen videos too.
@MusakParent - I’d skip the letter from the teacher who you feel may not write a strong letter if you have better options. Go with the prior, fabulous teacher, especially If that teacher can speak to growth and work ethic. We “skipped” asking my kid’s HS choir teacher for a recommendation as this teacher was never a strong supporter of our vocalist. There isn’t an upside to a so-so letter.
I’m jealous of your audition dates, too @akapiratequeen. I just purchased a bass guitar for S19’s 17th birthday later this month (he’s been wanting a violin bass to play around with) and I might hold it hostage until he writes his essay!
Meanwhile, his list seems to be shrinking so there’s something new to worry about! There are really only four schools I’m sure he’s applying to. Still, it looks like he’ll have some overlaps with your son.
Thanks! Some of the dates are tentative – it’s more that we’re trying to get a sense of what those months will look like.
One big change here: after much discussion, we’ve agreed to limit the list to the five schools he wants to consider plus one backup where he’ll do an online audition. I’d been pushing him to add to the list, but the reality is that we’re all (including his teacher) confident that he will get into at least a couple of the five and that, of those, at least one is affordable without merit aid. His playing has been improving by leaps and bounds, and I’d love it if he wanted to reach for a few more options. But he knows what he wants, so I need to drive my little helicopter away and let him make his own choices.
I’d love to hear how people are doing too. We are considering going back down to Saint Olaf for another look and an interview. That’s not super far for us so not a hard decision. My kid is technically a homeschooler so I think interviewing is a good thing for him though he is dual enrolled right now. He also says that’s his favorite closer to home option though I just read their acceptance rate is like 20% in music too nothing is guaranteed and we can hardly call that safe! LOL. It is a beautiful campus and welcoming community. My kid is not Lutheran/Christian so I wasn’t sure he would like it but he does. I know many happy and productive grads out of that school both in and out of the performing arts.
I’m finding this process isolating. I actually tried to chat with a couple other parents locally about kids applying to auditioned programs and they seemed so protective and private about it. I’d love to have a friend locally to have a beer with and vent about this ridiculousness once a month. LOL. My kid has very measured enthusiasm. This morning I suggested chopping his list way shorter because he dragging his feet on his essay and he flipped out at the suggestion. He is a strong writer, has resources at the ready and just needs to rip off the bandaid and get it done.
Interesting…we got a flyer from St. Olaf’s yesterday and it looked very nice. A long way from New Jersey, and I wasn’t sure that a Jewish kid would be comfortable there. If so we might add to the list.
And yes, I agree! I know people who went through this last year but for the most part, they are fairly negative (“it’s a nightmare, good luck with that, although it all kind of turns out okay”). Right now it seems so unformed – so many different requirements and he doesn’t know where to begin preparing it all. I’d love to vent, but I also wish he knew other kids going through the same crazy process at the same time.
Oh man you guys I know exactly how you feel. It is very isolating. I’d be happy to chat with anyone about anything. PM me if you’d like to start a convo. I can tell you that my D was the only kid in her entire school that did anything remotely like this. She was one of 4 kids that went on to study vocal performance and the other 3 are right here at the local university in classical voice so none of them did the audition stints with prescreens around the country. The families here either rolled their eyes at us or were just plain clueless. UNless your kid is at a PA HS then you are on your own. I wouldn’t have been able to navigate ANY of this without this amazing site! Even down to the 11th hour and the appeals process. This site is invaluable. It probably is worth thousands of dollars in extra scholarship money that D ended up getting through appeal!
I think S arrived at his final list over the weekend. Two in-state publics, four OOS publics, one private. I would consider two super reaches (and one of those is getting a video audition). The in-state schools are probably the safest. I do wonder if one will be dropped when we get down to actually doing the travel, but I think it should be feasible. Two schools are within an hour of home. I guess it’s possible he could add one more video audition school but he really doesn’t want to be far from home and is making an exception by applying to one school that is 11-12 hours away.
Biggest challenge right now is getting him to write an essay. I really want those apps in by October 1 and the audition dates squared away.
@SpartanDrew I have to keep reminding myself that a PA HS is a performing arts high school and not a Pennsylvania (PA) HS. ;)) Two entirely different things! Can SO relate to all of this–even though we’re still a year behind those here. Just want to get a jump on the process. I have so many questions, and quickly get to feeling overwhelmed. Trying to stay positive and not freak out, but that’s easier said than done! It’s COMPLETELY different than the normal college application process, IMO. Any time I try to talk to other HS Jr. or Sr. parents about it, I get the sense (almost immediately) that they either think I’m crazy or have no idea what I’m talking about. If it weren’t for this site, I’d be seriously under-informed and feeling totally isolated. So thankful for all of you here who freely and generously share information!
@mom2clarinetobsessedkid I think you are very wise to start doing all of this now. I think D was about a HS sophomore, maybe younger when I jumped on here and started surfing. That’s how I found out about the Berklee 5 week and many other opportunities. The threads and people on here are full of great info. Just like you, no parents we were around had any clue what was going on. I have since become great friends with a couple Mom’s from here and we text almost all the time. We all are so grateful to have each other as friends and can’t imagine having traveled this process without each other for support!
I agree with the comments expressed here about how this process is so completely different from a typical college application. I felt people looked at us like we were completely crazy to through this very complicated process. The people on this site and those met on the audition trail have been so helpful in sharing information. I have an older son at a music school in a large university and a younger son in a conservatory. Very different experiences but each one perfect for them. If I can help in any way, please let me know.
Right now i’m just overwhelmed and confused. There are so many moving parts! S19 has a spreadsheet for his top 6 schools but hasn’t really gotten down to focusing on specific requirements. Between school (including wind ensemble and chorus), marching band (over in early November luckily), his weekend jazz orchestra, all-state rehearsals about to start, and getting his applications in, there’s just too much going on! He’s hardly practicing when he gets home, he’s just exhausted. First audition is Dec. 1 but I can’t see him really getting down to practice for it until Nov 10. (Luckily not his first choice!) Should I worry?
@akapiratequeen , hang in there. I seem to remember some good conversation about how prudent it was to ratchet back activities during Senior year/audition season…perhaps beginning on GoForth’s thread, and then definitely on @SpartanDrew 's thread from last year. Maybe somebody can find this pasrt of the discussion and share?
I have a few thoughts:
-Planning audition rep with a teacher is so important here; generally speaking, it’s not a great idea to be working up brand new repertoire in the midst of auditions. Presenting well learned rep to audition panels helps keep the stress level down, and generally allows the student to show their best level of musicianship (despite travel and even illness, maybe, during the tough audition season). In other words, probably most of your S’s rep is already chosen/learned?
-Know your child. Cutting back on activities is pretty much a given. Auditioning for high level music programs is like having a second job, but some musicians handle juggling lots of activities/stressors better than others. There is no right or wrong here, but do search those threads for how people feel in the thick of audition season; do they usually wish they’d had their S or D commit to less? Usually, but not always.
-For our family, I served as travel/detail manager, as I am sure most of us do!!! This freed my D to focus on doing her job…which was to be as prepared musically and academically as she could be! This is one way that our journey is so different from the standard college application journey (as discussed above). It really is too much for the student to do alone. In my opinion, it’s ok to set a date with your S to sit down with him and help him sort through the audition requirements for each program and get them on that spreadsheet. I did this sort of thing a lot with my D surrounding the detail parts of applications and auditions; for us it was necessary. We actually sat together about twice a week to go over “things” throughout her Senior year. I tried to not do things FOR her, but sit down and do them together. There are a lot of moving parts to this process!
This is just my two cents on this process! I hope others will comment, as well.
I can tell you my D dropped out of the select women’s ensemble choir which was a twice weekly after school commitment. She still did the fall musical and really really regretted it. Just our experience but less is definitely best senior year.
Such good advice! Thank you! The biggest time suck will end when marching band is done in early November. He dropped out of a cappella and, with the exception of all-states (done by Nov 15) his schedule will really open up.
He does know much of his repertoire so it’s a matter of practice and more practice. Same with scales and sight reading — he’s got a great ear and that can make him lazy.
I really appreciate the reinforcement for my helicoptering. I keep the spreadsheet, plan the travel, and even read and mark his correspondence for responses. His job is to complete the essays and applications (basically done at this point), prepare for his early audition and prescreen (both Dec.1) and then buckle down to the multiple auditions in Jan and Feb. We’ve let him cut down his other classes to the bare minimum — just stuff he needs to graduate, three music classes, a couple of guts. No more standardized tests and no APs; he killed music theory last year so we let him stop, understanding that he’s all in for music. This makes me nervous as my daughter was so much more academic senior year! So I can definitely use reassurance. I keep thinking “what if he changes his mind?”
And while I’m venting I also wonder: is all this really worth it!? Does he need so much prep to be competitive? Or is it total overkill? I’m erring in the side of more effort because a) it’s my only music kid — others got in ED at their first choices and we were done — and b) we’re hoping for merit aid. Would love to hear from more experienced parents on how much was too much!