TIP: Things to do while you’re waiting that will help in the decision making process. My son did this last year for a couple of places he was interested in. He was invited to attend the Studio Class for his instrument. I imagine now with some of them being virtual, your students could ASK to be sent a Zoom link for those classes. That’ll give them a feel for the instructor, students, style etc. There were two prospective students in my son’s class the other day. I’m sure schools and instructors would be open to that… sitting in a class, so to speak. And even though all his ensemble classes are in person, they’re always recording and send a Zoom link so maybe there are some doing those virtually? Your kids could probably sit in as well. This might already be happening, but thought I’d offer the tip incase it wasn’t. Instructors are ALWAYS happy to do stuff like that. Folks just rarely ask one told me.
@Bennie’s mom we waited until acceptances to observe classes etc.
I am always interested in reading about your son because my kids are the opposite: they would hate the attention and the birthday serenade would mortify them 
This is why school choices are so individual!
My kid is the type that WOULD be mortified if this happened in a class with strangers or a professor that he didn’t have a relationship with . Those types of situations spook him and have him pulling into his shell, so to speak. He keeps reminding folks he’s nothing like his extroverted mother 
. BUT, when you’re in a class with 8 of your freshman music friends (1 being your roommate and 4 of them in your campus dorm “pod” ) and your music instructor who consider that class “family” so to speak, it’s a bit different. And yes… definitely school choices are very individual. At Duquesne, they totally live that credo that "Here, you’re not just a number! " 
JUST the environment that my warm fuzzies loving kid thrives in.
My daughter has wrapped up her two Zoom auditions for the day.
Unfortunately the Bard audition did not go well. She’s been playing her cards pretty close to her chest, but it seems like she must have been pretty invested in the Bard outcome, moving past being excited into full nervousness. I know she really liked her sample lesson there. She says she made an early flub and got even more nervous - managed to pull out a recovery in a later piece but then noticed that the panel was speaking amongst themselves on mute and got nervous all over again. She feels pretty sure she won’t make the cut and she was really bummed about it. I made her eat some breakfast and talk it through - she realized some changes she could make to feel more relaxed and better prepared. I also reminded her that those audition committees are sitting there on Zoom all day and it can’t be the most fun experience for them - they might not even have been talking about her or her playing! I don’t think she was convinced but I had to try - the Arizona audition was only an hour and 15 minutes after the Bard one.
Anyhow, maybe because of talking everything through (or maybe because of getting some breakfast in her! I could just kick myself for not making her eat before the Bard audition!), she thinks the University of Arizona audition went just about perfectly. She came out of her room smiling and relaxed afterwards. What a difference.
One or two more of these to go - and thank goodness, not on the same day again. She for sure has one more “audition” next weekend (actually it is a virtual interview). We’re still waiting for prescreen results from St. Olaf. I have no idea when those are supposed to come out. In past years they’d have been out by now.
You just never know. Sometimes the worst auditions produce surprises.
They have heard her play, have her resume/transcript…they understand nerves. If she pulled herself out of a tailspin thats good. I would not be concerned about the talking. It happens. I dont think that you can read into it. But i am glad she “fought” for the second audition. That’s the spirit. All musician have to be prepared for the “sinking” feeling and fight back. If you fight back you are still in the game. She did everything right. Congrats to her…and you.
Such a learning experience for all. You are such a supportive parent and good role model for all of us. Thanks for sharing the experience. It takes some practice to get over the nervousness. It sounds she is getting better with each practice. Sometimes I feel applying for too many schools is a bit waste of energy for both parties, but sometimes I also feel it’s a necessary practice for them to be better at going through the process.
Thank you for your kind words @bridgenail and @RachelParent. Definitely agree it was a learning experience for us both! She will be a pro at this before all is said and done, that’s for sure. We will keep moving onward and forward.
My son has never had major issues with the audition itself. He is always very confident in his instrument in all auditions and performances. However, the interview part sometimes gets a bit challenging since he is a slow and deep thinker. Therefore although he thought he did a good job he didn’t pass tough interviews such as MPR. Over time he is getting much better. He always told me no worries mom I have answered these questions so many times 
My family is a bit reversed in roles in that I am always the nervous rack whereas my son is always there comforting me “no worries mom I got this”.
Glad Arizona went well and hope she’s able to focus on that - is it UA or ASU? ASU remains very high on my D’s list - lots of flexibility re: types of VP and acting. I love ASU but don’t know much about UA. My D had a bad audition a couple weeks ago - partly rushed preparation, partly just a bad mood day, partly turned off by what she heard in the session before the audition - she doesn’t even want to go to that school now, but it still rattled her for a couple days. Impressive that yours got her head in the game so quickly. I bet it’s a rare 18-year-old who doesn’t miss once in a while. And as others said, it may turn out fine.
I wonder if we’re all about to see our kids’ rankings start to shift - my D and I did an online info session today for University of Oklahoma, which was only on her list because of academic scholarships, and we both pretty much fell in love with the music school. The presenters were incredibly warm and friendly and the resources of the school were amazing. I’d say it moved up many slots today. But my D also passed an acting prescreen that would knock all music schools off the list entirely if it comes through…
@stringbird I am assuming she was auditioning for the Bard Conservatory. If she loves Bard, is there any chance she might want to be in the college Music Program?
Music (bard.edu)
from the site:
“The Music Program is separate from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, which has a double-degree program and various graduate programs. The Conservatory’s primary differences are as follows: focus on classical music performance and composition; secondary major required; five-year program; and audition required to apply. Despite the separation, many performance opportunities involve both Conservatory students and Music Program students.”
We talked about that as part of the “chin up, all is not lost” conversation. She has not been willing to disclose much about her feelings yet, even though I have prodded considerably. She tells me she wants to wait until she has acceptances in hand to think about choosing.
She waffled a LOT about even applying to Bard. After this awful school year, she was not feeling all-in about the double degree. Honestly I was a little surprised when she ended up applying. In a way the Bard BA program would be perfect because the viola teacher she liked is the same for both the conservatory and the college - which is not always true at Bard - and she wouldn’t have to do the double degree. So we will see.
It is UA - and we don’t know much about it either even after today - because we could not get into their Zoom information sessions! This is a total bummer because if she is accepted it’s going to be really hard for us to visit from NC to get more information - and the school is so big, their online stuff is pretty general (I.e. worthless for us for our specific music questions). Anyway, the reason she applied is that she took a sample lesson and LOVED the viola instructor there. For some reason I don’t recall her looking at ASU - though I don’t know why she wouldn’t have. I know ASU is very popular here on CC.
And therin lies the good news… !! She had a sample lesson , which I’m going to assume went well. Adjudicators KNOW these kids are “nervous” during the official audition. I remember an audition last year where my kid came out of it crying, cause he thought he had really flubbed it. He received an email from the instructor, who was part of the four person panel, telling him he went to bat for him with the panel cause he already knew he could play and was just nervous. The instructors have a lot of clout in those panels for making the final decision cause they too have to decide who THEY would like to work with. Tell your daughter to take heart… it’s not at ALL a done deal. Hopefully she left the sample lesson on a good foot. Thank you cards/notes can’t hurt either. 
Kudos to her for having breakfast work in her favor and nailing the next audition. I always made my kid eat a banana (I learnt that here in CC) before his auditions to not only fill the hunger hole, but it also helps calm the nerves.
That’s my tip for the day for all : Send Thank you notes !! … for the lessons, for the auditions, for the interview… all of it. You’d be surprised at how many people do NOT do that and thus you who do, will stand out. My kid always got a kick out of seeing his thank you cards in instructors offices when he went to audition or even now… with his current instructor who still has it on his wall. His crafty momma did make some pretty good wall worthy cards. I believe those thank you cards left quite an impression cause they don’t get too many. Say thanks !! All other things being equal, it CAN be the difference between two qualified candidates getting in and not… in my humble opinion.
By the way the audition my kid came out crying from, he got in AND got a nice scholarship to go with in. So, you just never know !!
Send Thank you notes !! You just never know where they may show up. Emails are great… but a lot of people send emails (I’m guessing). A handwritten card received in the mail … unexpected and leaves a bigger impression!! .
This is such a stressful time for our kids. Music auditions on top of the academic challenges of virtual school and keeping up with all of the applications and audition stuff. There’s too much on them and some are determined to take it all upon themselves. I believe they will learn wherever they are and will be fine.
Does it make sense try to schedule additional lessons if she likes the teacher so much?Regardless of the end result, she would truly benefit from a teacher that suits her. Teachers appreciate serious students too. It will always work out if it’s something she truly wants.
My kids never wrote thank you notes
I know some musicians, who didn’t want to do the double degree required by the Conservatory, so did the Music Program BA at Bard. It is an unusual program in that they do have access to the Conservatory resources
( Oberlin recently enhanced their Musical Studies BA, which now also offers more of the Conservatory resources.)
University of Arizona has such a nice campus and I love Tucson!
As I clean up some old stuff, I saw some old thank you notes that were written after some of the top summer camps he attended a couple of years ago. The appreciation were adequately and genuinely expressed and a couple of them were for the same teacher. But they were never mailed. At one time I tried to train him the habit of writing the thank you notes as I also think it’s such a nice thing to do. He wholeheartedly appreciates what he learnt from the professors, but he seems to hold it to himself and doesn’t express it openly. With the little time I have with him, I will encourage him to reach out and express himself a bit more.
@BenniesMom1 as a family, we are terrible about thank you notes and we have not instilled the habit of expressing thankfulness in our children as we should have. But for the sample lessons she did write them. She meant it, but she would not have thought to write them if not for your mention in last year’s journey thread. So - thank you!
Thank you also for mentioning the fact that the faculty has heard her twice due to the sample lesson. My daughter said that they commented, “that is coming along nicely!” for the first piece she thought she flubbed. She couldn’t think why they would have said that. Well, maybe that is why! All is not lost.
Which is exactly my point AND my tip !! … folks can choose to use or not. YMV and all other such good acronyms I learnt on here apply. I’ve used that YMV LOTS in the last year… HA