Class of 2023 undergrad/Class of 2021 grad: The Tours, the Auditions, the Journey

College Majors Music Major
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Part 1 of 2.

I have gotten much more benefit in terms of insights for my D’s music application and audition process from this forum than I have given back. So, I wanted to post the few things we learned in our process at the schools where she has visited/auditioned.

For background, my D is a classical vocal soprano applying for admission as a freshman in the fall (class of 2023) who wants to major in music education (with a current ultimate career goal of directing a colligate choir after grad school), but she also wants to improve as a performer while an undergrad. She has had some all-state (Texas) level competition success, but not consistently (stopping at area-level this year was a blow). She hasn’t done the serious Summer programs that many here have, though she did do a two-week University of Denver program before her junior year, then opted for a writing program at Rhodes in Memphis last Summer. She has a good enough GPA and test scores to get into the meaty part of the academic bell curve, but not put herself to the far right of many school’s bell curves. For background on me, as my poorly thought through screen implies, I have been fairly compulsive about beating this game on the merit aid side though school selection. We are in the tier that won’t get any need-based help, but really would not enjoy paying full price at a private school.

Like with my S (class of 2021 at USC), whose search was all academic, we divided the tasks in our process: my D comes up with random attributes she is looking for in a college, I create a spreadsheet with colleges that meet her criteria, D changes her criteria, and I change my spreadsheet, while acting like I’m bothered, but I really enjoy this puzzle. After looking at only small schools during her junior year (she is at a private HS with a graduating class of 75 where rapport with her teacher has been a good indicator of academic success class-by-class), D informed me that she wanted some larger schools with real sports programs/school spirit in the mix, and some more prestigious music programs. Her consistent criteria have been (A) a cultured city (measured by quality of the art museums and restaurants) in a cool setting, so schools in or near destination cities, and (B) a campus that fits her image of what a college should be. While I think she will spend a lot more time chained to campus than she realizes, her logic on the first of those that I had a hard time arguing with was: “why would I choose to I go to city for four years that I wouldn’t be excited to go to for a weekend?” The second criterion has been very “gut” driven and a little mystifying for me, as I approach these things analytically by nature; I think it is akin to what others have referred to as campus feel/vibe, but D’s seems more visual/picturesqueness-oriented than most.

Music education was a surprisingly effective filter, eliminating a lot of schools that don’t offer a program that results in teacher certification, but would otherwise fit. We entered D’s senior year with an eclectic list of eight schools hoping she would have a varied set of choices with different strengths at the end of the process:

Puget Sound in Tacoma and Trinity in San Antonio (the last two holdovers from our small school search era),

Miami/Frost and Eastman (the adds to satisfy her prestigious music component),

Colorado/Boulder, Washington/Seattle and UNC/Chapel Hill (bigger schools with at least decent music programs, but from the city-driven side of the list, with UNC having the least city, but a great school), and

SMU (her parents’ proximity-based favorite, and all-around good fit that we talked her into applying to late in the game).

Three of those schools (Puget Sound, Trinity and SMU) had Fall auditions that resulted in university and music admission decisions before Christmas. Reading the posts this Spring, I really encourage folks in future years to consider that aspect when putting their list together. We have had a much less anxious Spring with some acceptances in the bag.

D ended up not completing the Eastman application; it was really daunting compared to her others. So she was down to seven schools, and seemed to be less focused on the prestigious music school aspect as we got into the Fall.

So our experience in audition order:

Trinity (audition, no pre-screen). This is a small (student body: 2400-ish) but strong liberal arts school in San Antonio, Texas, with a five-year BM/MMed program. It is in a nice neighborhood, but pretty close to a highway, for good or bad. There is nothing in terms of commerce in the immediate area, but a five-minute car ride gets you to a lot. The campus was pretty enough for me, but it was D’s least favorite campus aesthetically on this list, lacking curb appeal. The music department is tiny (35 music majors total all instruments), but very accommodating and well-funded – the choir travels to Europe every year. Everyone we met at Trinity (Admissions Counselor, Choir Director, Voice Teacher, etc.) was very likeable, completely genuine and clearly very interested in student success. Trinity lines up its auditions with its all-day marketing programs for all departments that happen roughly quarterly throughout the year. D auditioned at the end of September, skipping most of the program since she had been to one the previous Spring. September is quite early (their scheduling seemed much more about the all-day program than fitting music program norms), so she was the only one auditioning that day. D auditioned for just the Choir Director, who spent 45 minutes talking about various topics with her afterwards (there being no one else for him to audition) including how many conducting opportunities Trinity music ed students get. D also arranged a voice lesson with the voice teacher, a regular with the San Antonio Opera and a Jacobs grad, who also spent a while talking about big school/small school comparisons with D afterwards. We consciously decided to make use of Trinity’s unusually early audition hoping to get D’s first audition butterflies out of the way in a cozy setting, and we weren’t disappointed. The whole process was calming and encouraging. Result: Trinity has a generous academic scholarship grid on its website based on unweighted “Core” GPA and SAT/ACT, so its transparent. On December 13th, D received notice by email that she was admitted to the university (no separate music admission required) with a scholarship one notch higher on the grid than her stats would indicate, which implies that they really didn’t do the math to remove all the As in choir and recalculate the “Core” GPA. Based on the music information session that we attended last Spring, Trinity may also award music scholarships in March in the $1000 to $9000 per year range for majors and non-majors, but those are openly skewed to fill program needs, usually to less common instruments.

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Brilliant analogy @bridgenail, thank you for that…it is well received on my end.

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Part 2 of (it turns out) 3

Puget Sound (audition, no pre-screen). This is a small (student body: 2400) liberal arts school that is easier to get into academically than Trinity, with a bigger music school (80 total music majors total all instruments) and a five-year BM/MMed program. The campus is gorgeous. We spent two sunny days there in November (I think they were the only two consecutive sunny days in the Seattle/Tacoma area in years). The auditions were on a Sunday, and they were pretty in-and-out – show up for your 30 minute slot and call it a day. D rolled in with some confidence coming off her Trinity experience and felt good about how it went. The following day was Puget Sound’s “Music Day” as an offshoot of a campus-wide marketing day. That was a well-run program leaning on the campus-wide stuff, but getting the music kids together for lunch and some music-specific presentations. D tried to arrange a music lesson with the head of the vocal program, but got to sit in on someone else’s lesson instead, which I think is a perfectly reasonable accommodation on a busy weekend for the faculty; it doesn’t tell the teacher as much about the student, but is about as informative for the student as a direct lesson. Result: On December 19th, D received notice by email that she was admitted to the university (no separate music admission required) with a scholarship that was in the range predicted by the school’s net price calculator. Puget Sound has changed its dates for giving news for music applicants several times in the last few years, so we thought we might have to wait until March for music scholarship news, but after Christmas we got a letter dated December 19th by regular mail with another $6000 per year in music scholarship (I don’t know what the possible range is).

Washington (pre-screen and audition, but submitted on videos only). While we were in the Pacific Northwest for Puget Sound auditions in November, we planned a full day on campus at the University of Washington in Seattle. This is a big school (student body: 31,000+) with a slightly graduate-heavy music school (117 undergrads and 170 grads). We did the regular campus tour and info session, then had arranged to meet with the head of the choir program as a substitute for the head of the music ed program who was on sabbatical. The choir program director was very nice and accommodating and invited us all to sit in on her next class. Then we went off campus for D to have a voice lesson with a voice instructor affiliated with the school who is on campus some days, but not our day. The voice instructor was awesome and big on vocal health, and D said she could feel immediate improvement in how she used her voice afterwards. We told every UW music person we met that this would be our only trip to Washington, as we just couldn’t justify more travel in the Spring when they have their auditions; D would just submit videos. We were apologetic about that and asked what we could do to level the playing field with those who would be able to audition in person. Each UW music person said “exactly what you are doing now, building relationships and showing interest.” The voice instructor said to let her know when D submitted your videos, so she could weigh-in officially based on D’s lesson. Results for music admission are in March (a week before admission to the university) so we will see if that approach is viable – but see the SMU note below.

SMU (pre-screen and audition, but submitted on videos only). This is a mid-sized school (student body: 6,500+) with a mid-sized music school (200 undergrads and 100 grads). SMU has what I think is a regionally respected music school. It does not have the national music reputation of University of North Texas nearby, but the overall campus is much more what D pictures (it is a pretty campus in the nicest part of town), with stronger overall academics. We had spent a day in June doing the generic SMU campus tour and meeting with music faculty. The Fall EA audition day, December 1, was the same as UNC’s. I talked to the music admission coordinator and asked whether D would be better off pushing to regular decision or sticking with EA and auditioning by video, while also arranging voice lessons and a music ed interview on other Fall days. The coordinator said stick with EA and make the relationships on other days. So I, a fan of UNC as an overall school, decided D should audition to SMU by video only. D had a voice lesson, sat in on a French diction class, sat in on choir rehearsals and interviewed with the music ed director, all on a day a week before the actual audition day. Then she relied on her videos that would have otherwise been just for pre-screening. Just to ramp up the marital pressure, the French diction teacher (at what is the only school D is applying to within the driving distance my wife prefers) told D after the class D observed “oh no, you really need to audition in person to have any chance of admission.” Result: December 5th, D received a letter by email that she was admitted to the school of music, and on December 14th she received notice of admission to the university with the exact academic scholarship amount that SMU’s net price calculator predicted. SMU gives chunky music scholarships in March, averaging $13,000 per year, but I don’t know how those are spread out. SMU has a competitive $30,000 per year scholarship for music “scholars” with a minimum 1410 SAT (D just missed it), which may skew that average badly for the remaining folks, but SMU’s website says most music majors get some music scholarship.

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Part 3 of 3

UNC (audition, no pre-screen). Since D is an out of state applicant to UNC, she will have to sing her way in, since OOS acceptance rate is around 13%. The day before the audition, D did the generic campus tour then had arranged a meeting with the very nice and talkative music ed director and sat in on a studio class with the head of the vocal department (the UNC faculty officially do not do voice lessons for applicants). The actual audition was of the in-and-out variety, but it was well-run and practice rooms were provided. The morning before her audition slot, D and I attended a mandatory music admission information session. Like the music ed director the day before, the head of the music scholarship committee spent most of the information session seeming to apologize for UNC having a “department” of music, rather than a school or college of music that would have more autonomy. He said the music department does not decide admissions, but does have 30-ish strong recommendation slots, which will carry the day as long as the admissions office doesn’t think the recommended student won’t make it at UNC. I think that is why UNC was the only music audition request form that required GPA and SAT/ACT information – so they won’t waste a recommendation slot on a good musician who is a student the admissions office will kick. D thought it went okay, and the accompanist was a real pro, recognizing that one of her pieces had the vocals jump in immediately so he gave her a little nod and took his own overly-deep breath before starting that one. The next day D sent a note to the faculty in the audition reminding them that she is an OOS applicant who fits the campus-wide academic stats, but will need music help to get in as an out-of-stater. I have no idea if that will help, but I hope the music department is conscious of the fact that two kids (one in-state and one OOS) with the same stats and same voices have dramatically different prospects without music department intervention, and as an obviously biased Texan, I hope they use their 30 recommendations accordingly. There are four true full-ride scholarships (tuition, fees, room, board, plus) per year for the entire music department’s entering class – it has been several years since a vocalist has won one. In late February or early March, UNC invites eight applicants to campus for a weekend to pick the four full-ride winners. Otherwise, the music scholarships are in the $1000 to $3,000 range. D would be happy with just getting one of the 30 music-driven admissions. Results: should hear either way on January 25th.

D has auditions at Miami (January 18th) and Colorado (February 2nd) after passing the pre-screen stage at each, with results expected in March. We visited and met music faculty at Colorado last Spring, but we haven’t seen Miami. No negative news yet. D is consciously not ranking schools until all the decisions are in. If all news is bad from here on out, she still will have interesting options with different strengths, which was my goal from the outset. If she can add few more acceptances, her choices get more varied. If she is accepted to Miami and/or Colorado, she will have a big range of music school size to choose from. If she is accepted to Washington and/or Colorado, she will have a big range of university size to choose from. If she is accepted to UNC, she can add a great academic choice to her several good ones. D still doesn’t seem overly focused the national reputation of the music school, but a full day at Frost may change that.

D’s most interesting result for future readers should be Washington, where the video-only (but with real interest and effort shown) positive result at SMU may be confirmed as a real strategy for handling conflicts/travel fatigue or exposed as an aberration.

I would recommend each of the schools D has auditioned at so far, depending on what an applicant was looking for. While I can’t imagine a friendlier, more supportive and accommodating faculty than Trinity, no school was completely lacking in this quality. Puget Sound is the prettiest campus I have seen, but all had nice, safe seeming campuses in great cities. D hasn’t seen a poorly run audition set-up yet, but some were more presentation-oriented than others. In my opinion (not D’s who isn’t making or talking about her opinions), SMU seems to be the goldilocks that checks the most boxes on D’s list. We haven’t left any school thinking, “well, that place is out.” I have left almost all of them thinking “I wish I could go here.”

This has been a much more involved process than my older son’s academic-oriented search. I really appreciate the insights provided by the folks here. D would not have arranged a single voice lesson at any school if I hadn’t stumbled across these threads and the tips from more experienced, in-the-know music parents.

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@dsinha may I ask why Belmont over Frost? S is trying to make that decision. He would be Music Business at both. We’ve been to Belmont, but never Frost. His UM audition is regional in NYC on 2/1 and then we’ll head down to Miami sometime after that, when it is more convenient. He says Frost is his #1, but like I said, he hasn’t visited yet. Belmont is a very close #2 since we all loved it and the surrounding Nashville area. Looking for ANY insight!!!

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@Propinquity4444 We have a spreadsheet! :slight_smile:

So, I think we’re in the same boat as you. Visited Belmont/Nashville, left Frost/Miami till we got an audition, so some of his current priority list could be because of that. But with that said, son wants to study Jazz, but not to be a guitar player at a Jazz club, but a fully developed multi-genre studio musician. So Belmont Commercial Guitar program, a really friendly guitar faculty, and Nashville being studio central were the reasons for Belmont.

Frost he applied to MADE/CAM instead of Jazz, but that’s a more ‘do whatever sort of program’. Also, Frost tries to compare themselves to Nashville in their pitches for music opportunities, so we decided the real thing should get a few extra points.

Still, we have our Frost audition this weekend. We’ll have a better sense after that.

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@dsinha thanks for sharing your perspective. Your book and research sounds very interesting and I look forward to its release. Best of luck with that endeavor.

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Interesting reading all the folks who have Belmont on their list and ranked highly in terms of preference.

My D is in the same boat as others (wants to study jazz to develop skills but not limit herself to performing it after college) which led her to choose only schools that have both contemporary and jazz programs side by side (USC, Frost, New School and Berklee).

We didn’t include Belmont on our list due to their explicit positioning as a Christian school as we’re Jewish. We’re not super religious or anything but it just felt weird and like it might not be a great fit.

But seems like it has a lot to offer (beyond it’s location, which is clearly also an asset). A number of the Frost MADE/CAM graduates my D knows ended up settling in Nashville after school to pursue their songwriting careers.

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@DrummerDad18 We had the same issue with Belmont. We’re Indian, and pretty non-religious, so we were worried about the double-whammy of “Christian School” and literally zero ethnic diversity. I asked a question on diversity, and stumped all the admission folks :slight_smile:
Still, the school left the Church affiliation behind more than a decade ago and is consciously trying to ‘modernize’ their culture (though they still have a strong legacy religious studies program). Ethnic diversity will take time, but they came across as pretty progressive, as is Nashville.
I was telling my son that he’ll definitely stand out as “that Indian kid playing the blues at Riverfront Park”. :slight_smile:

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@MeritHopeful , my son goes to FSU. When you get PM privileges, PM me. We had a lot of common apps: SMU, Trinity, Miami, UNC. Also my D15 is at USC. Great recap of your process. Future applicant readers will appreciate your details!

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@MeritHopeful, thank you for this great information! My daughter is considering graduate school at UW so this was especially helpful. It’s also interesting to hear your priorities, many of which resonated with me. Best of luck to you and your musician!

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@MeritHopeful - when you get PM privileges message me as well. We know folks who have (and are doing) music at UW and can give you insights on PSU as well.

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@tripletmama — she said her scholarship audition went well. She seems to be in an anxious state of mind. At the beginning of the weekend she suddenly wanted to apply to a big state school not known for music (it has music Ed and her boyfriend happens to have applied there for engineering). Then, she learned she earned a soloist spot (one of five at a rather large festival), so I am hoping that all our work finding great schools based on the criteria she initially came up with has not suddenly gone to waste. It was great to drive up and see her enjoying the performing (chamber, festival choirs) and the cameraderie. I left thinking the school (Luther) would be a nurturing one—very friendly and with some wonderful enthusiasm for music. She won’t fall through the cracks there.

@MeritHopeful and to everyone who has posted about their journeys: thank you!! It has been great to read the variety of opinions on what is a safety and what a reach, and what makes for a good bottom line. It has been wonderful to read of everyone’s experiences. When it comes to my daughter, I must say that I feel I am the one throwing out-of-state options on the table. My son (a non-music Major college-going kid) was maybe like @MeritHopeful’s D, with certain dreams of rain and old brick campus buildings in his mind’s eye. I was the spread-sheeter trying to draw out any kind of criteria to get our college-finding journey started! He settled on some majors, small classes, accessible faculty, politics of the state —you can’t imagine all the types of info I collected! Like @MeritHopeful, I enjoyed it partially.

Ultimately, campus visits on his own (admitted student days) really helped him get a feel for each campus, although he almost chose the big in-state university where his father had wanted him to go, but which did not have many of the criteria. Financial aid (merit and need-based) was a big factor. I was glad he had three good financial matches to choose from.

While music major journeys are much different, I also feel like I am trying to keep my daughter’s mind open to the possibilities out there. She was interested in vocal performance and cello performance, as well as music Ed. I think she would be fine as a musical entrepreneur and several of the schools tout entrepreneurship-encouraging programs. I have been surprised, though, that my D is thinking more about music Ed recently, and wonder if it is because she can’t fathom a career as a performer (or because her school teachers and classmates can’t).

I think she is a great performer and can handle arranging gigs already (she’s subbed for a town orchestra, played in her quartet at a wedding, gotten hired to sing at a couple churches, and has done a lot of the footwork arranging her quartet’s playing with a touring act passing through town). She’s also recorded a five-song original-music CD in our basement, and sold a few copies. It’s not a full-time job but certainly enterprising. I am hoping our upcoming audition road trips will help her see the viability of this music track and give her an opportunity for great mentors. I am somewhat frustrated at the thought that she might choose the state school we did not visit (guess we might now). I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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@dsinha Thanks! In my mind, Frost is the more serious/prestigious school for all things music. Based on nothing except some comments on CC. However, I’m just not sure how they can beat the Nashville connections and networking opportunities! Wondering if Frost can provide that at a level greater than or equal to Belmont? I guess the audition results can make that final determination! lol

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Bienen School of Music at Northwestern finally released the results of the pre screen. It’s been a very anxious few weeks here. Pleased to report that my D - VP Sop passed the pre screen - audition date TBD. She’s a happy camper!

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Hi all.

I have a question about sending in a recording for an audition. If the requirements list four pieces of music, plus scales, do they have to be recorded in that order? Also, does the recording have to be start to finish without breaks or turning off the camera? I would imagine so, but I can’t find this information posted anywhere.

Thanks!

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@MMRose : My S sent in recordings for his CMU audition. They were recorded in no particular order, and they were not all recorded at the same time (or even the same day). He just loaded the files in the order they were listed in the audition requirements. (He was accepted at CMU).

These requirements could be different for other schools. If in doubt ask the music department. Good Luck !

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Co grays @highnotes2018 D!

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@MMRose My D’s experience was consistent with @gram22’s note at #1256. The upload page for her recording requests always called for separate links for each component, which made it easy.

I think many folks get by fine with less focus on recording quality, but I called a few local small-time recording studios and asked if we could rent a room with a piano. One particularly entrepreneurial (read: desperate) studio owner offered to come to D’s school at her weekly music lesson time with a mic for the piano and one for her. Then he sent her links after only balancing the two mics and making sure they were sync’ed with the video (no production added) back at his shop. It was $250 total, which seemed reasonable in relation to the audition travel spending we are incurring. Your results may vary based on the desperation of your local studio.

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Hi guys! I wanted to give those of you considering Miami/Frost an update from my D’s visit this past weekend. Just to update you, she is a jazz voice student at New School. Frost was second on her list had NS not come through at the 11th hour with enough money to attend. @glassharmonica’s comments in an earlier post were spot on for us, it was a nail biter right up until May 1st on the money factor and we appealed twice with a bump in money each time.

But back to U Miami. D became good friends with another jazz voice student when they attended YoungArts NY together last spring. She was in dire need of some sunshine and warmth so I gave her a Christmas gift of a trip to Miami to see her friend this past weekend since she started school before my D did. It has been a very eye opening experience between speaking to this girl’s Mom about her fall semester, the ups and the downs, and D visiting. Let me start by saying this is a very intense music school and program. It’s no joke. D’s friend had a brutal semester and worked herself to exhaustion. Very likely more from her friend’s work ethic than perhaps needing to do as much as she did but overall she had a tough semester. D said from hanging out with the Frost kids this weekend that it’s a “very different vibe” from New School. I’m not entirely sure what she means by that but that’s what she said.

Additionally, I should mention the food and housing situation if that ends up being part of anyone’s decision. As much as I complained about the joke of a meal plan at NS and was jealous about the amazing cafeteria and campus at Miami, I have to say now I’m wondering if that cafeteria was showing their best side on prospective student/parent visits. D’s friend has been sick constantly from the food there. Her Mom wondering if there is some weird preservative they use or something. The choices are extremely limited. She has had to pad her money so she can shop at Trader Joe’s and get food for her dorm. When we visited, we thought the cafeteria was fantastic. D is vegan and SO MANY options for vegan and gluten free. NOT the case when she was there this past weekend. She dined in the cafe with her friend using her free guest passes and found next to nothing to eat. Her meals consisted of tater tots, french fries and a bowl of udon noodle soup “with literally like 15 noodles floating in it that looked like someone’s leftovers”. That’s a quote. Yikes! Anyway I wanted to give everyone a real expectation for what it could look like.

Finally on the housing, the sophomore on campus apartments that were scheduled to be ready to go by this coming fall have been pushed back. D’s friend is looking at off campus housing to have a kitchen and it’s likely 15 minutes away. The closer apartments sound like a crazy frat party all the time.

To be fair, I think a lot of schools have their flaws and I’m sure they all show their best side when prospective students and parents visit. I do also want to point out that Frost is top notch. It really is. Amazing faculty and musicians. But know that the beautiful cafeteria that had every single food station open with a zillion options may not be quite accurate when your kid attends there if that is an issue for any of your kids.

Best of luck to everyone starting out or continuing their audition journeys! It’s fun for me to watch and hear everyone’s experiences and successes as they happen.