@jazzyboydad thanks for the helpful info about Oberlin. My S will be auditioning there in a couple of weeks and you offer some good intel. He’s classical voice but the info still helps.
Just thinking ahead… (very optimistically, for no good reason), but in the event our child gets an acceptance, should he email the teacher saying thank you? Should he JUST say thank you? Should he say thank you AND he’s very happy to hear this great news but he is still not going to commit until he gets all (or none) of the other offers? Should he say nothing at all? What is the protocol?
We are heading to Peabody for a Thursday interview/spending the day. My son is interviewing for computer music program so our process has been somewhat different regarding auditions. However he did not get into Berklee with his EDI audition so I doubt he will get into Peabody. I too am very interested in any feedback from those who are Peabody early in this coming week. Good luck to your son!!
Leao114———Berklee (5000+ students) and Peabody (500+ students) are totally different schools. I am in Baltimore now for my son’s Tuesday audition. We went to Berklee in Boston for an audition. I can give you feedback on Wednesday. Please be positive. Peabody is small but a very fine conservatory which seem providing excellent education and supports.
@Music2023 great question. My D emails after an audition if she had a personal connection with a prof but we’ve never really thought about after an acceptance. Maybe folks that did this in years past have a thought or two in this? I suppose a nice email can never hurt, especially if it is a school that a student is seriously considering.
Yes would love to know this as well! Veteran parents like @SpartanDrew, @bridgenail @vistajay – thoughts on @Music2023 's question:
“Just thinking ahead… (very optimistically, for no good reason), but in the event our child gets an acceptance, should he email the teacher saying thank you? Should he JUST say thank you? Should he say thank you AND he’s very happy to hear this great news but he is still not going to commit until he gets all (or none) of the other offers? Should he say nothing at all? What is the protocol?”
One of S’ acceptances requested that he acknowledge that he received the email. He wrote that he received it and thanked them nicely. Nothing else was said about committing.
Auditions - 1st Trip:
D has now finished all her live auditions - 2 out-of-state trips with our state flagship sandwiched in between. I went to all but one with her, and it was a great experience. However, between traveling and trying to keep my head above water at work, I haven’t been able to do more than lurk here for the last several weeks. Some notes for future readers, especially percussionists.
BU, Rice, Chapman – None of these were on official audition days because of schedule conflicts. In all cases, schools were very accommodating about rescheduling.
• BU – We arrived early, and they put D in a practice room right away, so she had lots of time to warm up. Audition was efficient but friendly, maybe 20 minutes. D had time for a short Q & A after playing.
• Rice – D had plenty of time to warm up in practice rooms that admin had scheduled for her. D played through most of her audition set for the prof. This was the only program that required excerpts, but the prof. only asked to hear 1 of them. After she played, she had an interview with the prof.
• Chapman – Again, plenty of time to warm up in a percussion room. D played for prof, and then they talked for quite a while.
Trip 2 – Michigan, Frost, USC Thornton – Michigan was rescheduled from the percussion audition day to a general audition day. The other 2 were on official audition days.
• Michigan – In addition to the 30-minute audition slot with the profs, D got to sit in on an ensemble rehearsal and the studio class which was very exciting for her.
• Frost– Thanks again to @WestOfPCH for detailed post #1315 about Frost audition day. Spot on and so useful! We treasured the extra 30 minutes of sleep we got as a result of knowing we did not have to be there precisely at 8 and that we could pick up coffee and bagels at registration. However, future auditioners might want to note that some of the profs and administrators were there to mingle during this registration time. I barely had time to scrape the cream cheese off my teeth before the percussion prof found us. Everything was well-organized. D said theory test was easy. A graduate student proctored the percussion auditions. He sent students into the warm up room at their scheduled time and then moved them to the audition room. Audition slot was maybe 20 minutes, a friendly amount of time. While we were waiting, we chatted with D’s friend who is a student there and a couple of other percussion students. Time for lunch with friends after D’s audition and then a studio meeting. This was the only school that offered a studio information meeting. It was very interesting (even though we were so tired we could barely stay awake).
• USC Thornton – Another well-organized day. Again a graduate student was proctoring and getting percussion students where they needed to be at the right time. The student before our D had canceled, so D was able to get a little extra warm up time. Audition was short with only minimal chit chat at the end, but she felt positive. They cut her off on all of her pieces, but D knew that’s common and wasn’t thrown off. After that, D took theory test (“easy”) and then we went to the student panel—probably some of you were sitting in that same room with us.
Post-audition summary: Everywhere we went, students and profs were kind and friendly. None of the schools have fallen off of her list (although she might have a couple of favorites), and I think she feels good about all of the profs she auditioned for A couple of profs made comments that let her know she would probably be admitted to their program which made her very happy, and one prof sent her an official unofficial email to tell her that she is being accepted to their studio which was even more thrilling. I instructed her to email back with an expression of enthusiasm since she won’t be able to afford that school without decent financial support. 
Gosh, I think my son never emails after auditions, but he does answer all emails that require responses or let him know he’s been accepted into a program.
@sbjdorlo would you send a simple “thanks” to acceptances? No comment about next steps?
My S emailed after auditions only where he received exceptional treatment (coffee with a prof) or had a question.
@PercussionMama thank you for the wonderful update. What a positive experience! My S also felt very positive overall, though a couple of schools shifted on his list. Did your D feel she got better at the auditions as they progressed? Or was there a point where it was “enough already?”
Good question, @akapiratequeen. What my son has been saying is basically “thanks. I look forward to receiving more information about the BM program and I’ll be sure to follow up if I have any questions.” type emails. He’s gotten all his notifications via email and they all say the formal information is coming in the mail in a few weeks. He really can’t say more until all the results are in and we see the financial aid packages. With music, at least with his schools, it’s so complex.
He will always respond to emails that are conversational and need a follow-up response if that makes sense, but he has not sent thank you emails after the auditions (but perhaps he should!). I’m glad my son’s not the only one that didn’t automatically respond with a thank you. I assume he said thank you at the end of each audition.
One interesting thing: I didn’t realize there were two cello teachers at one of his schools (neither were at the audition, but they recorded it and apparently sent it to both teachers). He was contacted by one who asked if he wanted a trial lesson. But now I just found out that the other, who’s a friend of his longtime teacher, said he wants to teach my son. So I don’t know how that works if my son gets accepted and decides to go there.
Is that typical at a school with more than one music teacher that a student has to decide who to take from? Or how does that work? At the other school where there’s more than one teacher, we just reached out to one of them initially for the trial lesson, so he seems to have assumed that my son would be with him if my son’s accepted and attends.
That makes sense, @sbjdorlo! I don’t think it’s necessary to send after auditions except in special cases. My S is VERY old school – he’s been taught by older generation jazz players who put a lot of emphasis on home training – always wears suits to an audition, introduces himself, and shakes hands with everyone on the panel and every kid in the backing ensemble. I’m sure he comes off as kind of a throwback, but that’s who he is so it’s “on brand!”
@sbjdorlo , it’s interesting how a potential professor’s demeanor can influence the applicant so drastically; good, bad, and in your son’s case a bit of both. My S18 met with a professor for a sample lesson at a prestigious music school before auditions. The teacher was harried, a bit cold and distracted. S18 also did not sing well during the sample lesson, though his audition the next day went much better. S18 left with the impression the teacher was not that interested. He was surprised to be admitted later, with a nice music scholarship and a warm email from the teacher inviting him to join the teacher’s studio. But the first impression had already dampened my son’s interest, and with other attractive options the teacher’s email came too late.
Re: thank yous after audition. If my son had a sample lesson with a professor in the audition, he sent a thank you to the professor after the audition. If he had no prior contact with any of the faculty at the audition, and none reached out to him, he sent a thank you email to the music admissions contact who had coordinated the audition.
As for a thank you for admissions, I think it’s case-by-case. Again if a teacher is very involved and contacting you then yes, you could “acknowledge” the admissions and say you will keep in touch as all admissions come in. As @vistajay points out, teachers may be contacting you too so you may already be in contact. I can think of one school where my D had no particular teacher contact when she received an admissions. She made no attempt to thank anyone in that case. The school by that time was out of the running. So it does depend a bit on where you are in your “relationship” with the schools/teachers. It’s certainly OK to not send a “thank you” too…as you are still gathering offers/information. My D never did to my knowledge (thinking grad school too). But she was in contact with the teachers and had been basically told she would get admissions…so once it happened it was more discussing money and opportunities with the teacher. Hope this helps in some way.
My S has also sent thank you notes to the people he connected with outside of the audition process (i.e., people he met on prior college visits or had private lessons with). If a prospective student has a clear first choice as to which school they would like to end up at, would it be helpful to send a note indicating that before admissions decisions are made? I have seen opinions on what to say if a school asks the student if they would come if accepted, but am wondering whether it is helpful to volunteer that information without being asked.
Based on some of the comments here I’m wondering if my S should send thank you notes after his recent auditions with schools where he had sample lessons, in one case two sample lessons, with the professor? No notes from anyone yet but very positive feedback at the auditions. They have all said decisions won’t be made until all auditions have been heard and I have to assume that is actually the case.
Waiting is hard…
My son’s two acceptances to date have come in the form of generic letters from the school of music admissions, so he has not felt the need to respond. He did send a thank you by email when he had a trial lesson at one of these schools a few months ago.
He is supposed to set up a trial lesson at one of the pending schools for this weekend since he’ll be on campus anyway. I’ll be sure to remind him to (belatedly) thank the prof for the audition last weekend when he emails him to schedule.
Agree @TxSker, waiting IS hard! I think we may have most results and some financial info by the end of next week which is not really that far away. It already feels like he had his last audition a month ago instead of one week ago.