Congratulations to everyone who has received good admissions news and good $ news! And to those who didn’t wind up with the results they/their child hoped for and feel dejected, it’s ok to feel like, “This stinks.” It is crazy that 18+ years of preparation (I know those pre-music years contribute to the overall kid!), boils down to whether you can pull off good enough pre-screening videos, and if so, if you have a good 10 minutes at audition time. It’s nuts. Not to mention that the $ factor can then wind up undermining all of that… But as someone who personally had a very crooked path to eventually get where I needed to be, I believe that resilience (and developing a tolerance for delayed gratification) will get you where to want to be, step by step. Best advice I ever got in my life was in my 20s when I was told, “How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite.”
I was reflecting to S this morning on what my take-aways are regarding his whole journey to get where he is now – incredibly appreciative to have two options ($ is a whole separate issue and for a variety of reasons, I really have no idea where that stands right now, so I’m setting that aside for now…), but also add in some disappointment and probably even some surprise about not getting further vis a vis some schools. For what it’s worth in case this can benefit anyone reading, or just as a way of sharing this whole crazy music-kid experience:
Having your teacher out of the country the summer when you’re making pre-screening videos, and again during the months of audition prep and audition season, is far from ideal. Obviously you have no control over this, but planning ahead far in advance and accordingly would have been a good idea. You need your teacher’s input, advice, and to be your advocate.
Not being surrounded enough by your musical peers – who can inspire and motivate you – to help you keep striving for your full potential and growth, is not good for kids who really thrive on that kind of influence and environment. Makes me wonder if years ago, we should have sucked it up and done a pre-college program at a conservatory, despite what seemed like a super-inconvenient 2-3 hour train ride, each way. This is not because I think it would have gotten him into “more” or “better,” but because I see how much more he glows and progresses when he has this, and wish he could have experienced it more and sooner (basically it’s just been summers). This is also why I am so happy he is at the point in his life where he will soon have this, every day!
Challenging academic classes/strong grades in H.S. really don’t matter in this game. It really is all about the audition. I’m not saying that the personal and intellectual growth that come from long, hard academic work are not incredibly valuable to one’s development, or saying it’s not worth doing this. I just look back and chuckle at things such as the time spent meeting with the college guidance counselor over the summer to discuss whether it’s a good idea to push on into Honors Geometry over regular because it will “look better to schools” (there were so many of these conversations and concerns over the years). As long as you know it’s a music school-performance route at that point (which we did), realize schools are happy if you know a circle from a square and couldn’t care less if you were in honors or not. The only reference I ever heard about grades was at MSM where they said they might look a bit sideways at a 2.0 GPA and that they might give more merit for strong academics. I actually said semi-jokingly to S this morning, having received his quarter grades with a 3.9 GPA for the quarter, “you might have got into some schools you didn’t, if you had a 3.5.” I swear, as crazy as it sounds, there were times I told him to stop working on academics so hard and practice more! I even hid a book or two. And I’m an educator! [insert laughing, crying emoji here because I can’t!]
While “playing the game” of meeting teachers and doing trial lessons during the application season isn’t a guarantee at all, if you can afford to time and $-wise, I’d recommend it. Based on what some of S’s friends did who live closer to these music schools, a one-off may not cut it, but starting lessons with them as a private student at the start of application season lets them really get to know you and see what you’re capable of. If they are impressed with you, passing pre-screenings is easier, and a “not great” audition might be forgiven more easily. This wasn’t a realistic option for us, but I see the benefit of it if you can swing it.
Pianists need to play on as many pianos as possible over the years! Each piano is different and you don’t get to audition on the one of your choice, or even one you’ve ever played before. S felt one audition didn’t go well because the action on the piano was very light – way lighter than his at home, way lighter than the one he had just warmed up on for several hours right before. It threw off his playing because he couldn’t adjust to it properly and quickly enough. A couple other possible lessons learned – if they designate one piano the “warm up” one vs. all the others available for practice, use that one for at least the final 15-30 minutes, just on the chance they intentionally have chosen a piano with a similar action (I have no idea if they are that intentional about such things, but why risk it), and don’t warm up so much right before an audition that you’re tired, and even better, if you have a time choice, mid to late morning is better than afternoon when you’re tired from feeling like you’re not being responsible if you’re not practicing enough up until the audition.
That’s what I can think of for now!
@SpartanDrew, a question for you about New School housing – do you have any idea why they house most music students in the 20th street dorm when that’s mostly upperclass students and the furthest from the music school? Also, what is the practice room situation like both in the school and in the dorm?