tripletmama, if your daughter is already getting high profile gigs, what is her motivation for school? Just curious. I had a dancer in a similar situation who eventually decided no point in conservatory, She danced, then went to school for something else entirely later (I believe you also have a dancer).
In the old days, it was rumored that those who graduated from Berklee weren’t going to make it. Those who left early to perform were the successes. I believe that has changed and there are many reasons to go. Just curious if early professional success affects your daughter 's desire for school at times.
@tripletmama The absolutely common refrain we hear from anyone in the music business is “Always say Yes, till yoU HAVE to say No”. Even this weekend at Frost, where we attended a Forum with students, followed by a Q&A/class discussion with the CAM director and 2 successful singer/songwriters. In each session, the kay takeaway was “put yourself out there because you never know where opportunities will come from and that’s the most important thing”.
@tripletmama great news! Positive experiences like this will no doubt be confidence and resume builders which in return may positively influence the audition outcomes. Best of luck!
Quick feedback on Frost (MADE/CAM) audition weekend:
Well organized and gave us opportunities to sit in on some actual class/discussion groups
Jazz kids got to jam together
The actual audition was 10-15 mins. Son played a prepared piece, and a an original composition. They did NOT do a lot of guitar techniques discussions (scales, arpeggios, etc.) but spent a few minutes interview style, and asked about my son’s intent, what he wants to do, etc. He thought it went well. I’m not so sure.
Interesting information from the first info session that Median income after 6 months is 50K. (Dean says “more than the business school kids make”)
Dean came across clearly as someone who really cares about the kids
@dsinha - thanks for that feedback! I may PM you with more questions since my daughter has her Frost audition 2/9 and is also doing MADE/CAM. Just curious-was the 50K figure for Frost students or University of Miami students? Congrats to your son-I’m sure he did great!
Interesting thing happened at Frost audition day at MADE/CAM class/studio session:
CAM Director Craig Carothers and two of his (highly successful - Peter Wasner and Michael Logan) songwriter friends played some songs and took questions for the students. All three got their big breaks in Nashville In fact Peter said that “he met more people in one night in Nashville, than over 10 years in LA”. Peter has been playing with and writing for Vince Gill for 35 years.
Clearly country/folk songwriters, but interesting opinion of Nashville v. Miami for opportunities and networking.
@eh1234 —
Audition experiences seem to really vary, and I hear that at some schools there is not much interaction/feedback on purpose, whereas at others it feels more like a mini-lesson. Best of luck to your son!
@compmom - good question (about going to school at all). She started in classical and only moved over to jazz 1.5 year ago seriously. She is a newbie in jazz and that’s her passion (for now anyway). I think she has a lot to learn in jazz - and wants to perfect that genre. And of course, network - and hopefully find a good combo wherever she goes to school (she’s auditioning at Berklee, NEC, the New School and SFCM).
Feedback from Loyola NO;
-Well organized smaller school where they have a very personal vibe
amazing location with public transportation close
-food is good… they take you to their cafeteria as part of the process… however since you can hop on any public transport and get to the French Quarter quickly…any food is possible
-you apparently can also eat on Tulane’s campus as well as take classes
-practice rooms are shared with a small upright piano…leaving no room … not the best for brass players-you do have access to them
-audition is in a small office with a panel of 3…they ask to play the required pieces… not all but parts… then ask questions and they you can ask your questions.they give some feedback to the pieces that you played
-practice with the Wind Ensemble… this was a great was to see the levels of the students there
-many choices to play-Wind Ensemble(2 levels)- chamber groups-orchestra- Opera-guest composers-student composers and gigs around town
-Campus tour provided
-everyone was extremely nice and helpful
-Instructor has weekly lesson and groups 2x a week; WE classes 3x a week and SO 2x a week for 3 to 4 hours
-Instructor invites students to LPO concerts… we were there and met other students plus faculty there
Great feedback on Loyola NO. Glad it went well for you. It was on our early list. I don’t know why we took it off but I’ve regretted it. Not sure about S.
I hope everyone has had safe travels home. Our first audition is today for a scholarship. BA program did not require audition for entrance.
I have now experienced and read about faculty asking an auditioning student about other schools to which the student might be applying. Is this customary? How can the answer impact (both positively and negatively) a student’s chances of being accepted to a particular school or receiving merit based scholarship? Is there a best answer to this question other than to list a bunch of schools? Thanks.
It is normal enough. It is easy to mention the other schools and let them do what they want with the info. Especially if the list is the typical ‘peer’ schools, there is not much to think about the list. I suppose if your list was only the one school, that would be unusually interesting. If the list were extremely different types of schools, they might wonder what you are really looking for, I would imagine.
That’s an interesting question. I am an alumni interviewer for my alma mater and we are specifically instructed never to ask where else the students are applying. Not only does it put them on the spot/make them uncomfortable, but it leads us to jumping to conclusions like “okay, they see this as a safe school” or “wow, this is a heck of a reach for them.”
So in music, if a kid is applying to (say) Eastman, Julliard, NU and Loyola/NO, would the Loyola panel be more likely to say, “we’re a safety for this kid, let’s save the scholarships for the people who really want to go here?” I guess we’ll never know.
Maybe a safe answer would be, “I’m applying to six places including my state flagship, a couple of conservatories and some larger schools.” Or similar. I’ll probably just leave it to my kid to stumble through it.
I was also wondering whether a school might say - the kid is applying to some great schools. In order to get him/her we need to make a strong offer! Very confusing.
S18 got asked about other schools probably 5 of 7 auditions. It’s common. Don’t overthink it though. S18 just answered honestly. If he was asked about preferences, he just said he had not made a decision (which was true). Now after acceptances went out, he did let the programs know where he’d been accepted, which 2-3 programs he was deciding between, and what scholarships he’d received. That yielded a $10,000 additional music scholarship from one school, late in the game.
S got asked at his auditions and on some of his applications. For the applications he just stated ‘undecided’ as that was not an appropriate question at the time. His list did lead to some feedback from one school explaining how their program compared - so I’m thinking @vistajay has it right.
When asked about other schools, I’d recommend being as forthcoming with details as you’re comfortable being. If you want to share specific schools, great. If not, it’s okay to be somewhat vague (e.g. “I’m only applying to universities with great jazz programs”); if they press for more details, have the confidence to demur.
More importantly to me is to express interest in a school. Say that you want to be there and act like you do, even if you have reservations. If you have serious concerns, you’re better off waiting until you have an offer in hand to raise any of them.
That said, only say that a school is your “#1” or “top” pick unless it really, truly is your top choice. Music in general and music schools and academia specifically is a small world. If you tell everyone that they’re your #1 pick, you’ll lose credibility if/when other schools find out, and the chances of that happening are better than you’d think and/or the schools and faculty will admit.
(I believe you also have a dancer).