I agree that the northeast is not the same as Minnesota. Where I’m from it is very cold (like southern Minnesota), and I have lived in NY and in Boston. In Boston that winter wind off the water just cut like a knife. But where I grew up I could not always have gotten away with dressing as lightly as I tended to dress in NY or Boston.
My daughter was born and raised here in the southeast. Her experience of Minnesota-like cold is limited to the time around family holiday gatherings. So she “gets it” - sorta - and she says she doesn’t want to make her choice based on weather. But I do think the comparison will be helpful to her.
Hey I live in Minnesota. It’s beautiful and mild here! 30 degrees this weekend. Perfect for snowshoeing on the lake and seeing bald eagles flying above…in the city! And the big snow storms out of the west usually miss us. We got no snow from the storm that went south of us.
Admittedly it does get cold…some years. If she is here for 4 years, there will most likely be a “brutal” few weeks in one or maybe two of the years. Otherwise you do get used to the cold (your body does acclimated) so 10 or 20 or even a balmy 30 in the winter with the right clothes is fine. People are in shorts when it hits 45 bc you feel warm. During the summer, you readjust where 45 would feel cool again. So if you come from a warm area for a couple days, it may feel really cold to you…while mild to anyone living here full time.
I’m glad that she is making progress. And I get the issue with the “last teacher is the best teacher”. That’s probably fine for now as when the offers come in…that will probably go away a bit. And using any resources to talk with students and/or teachers sounds great.
Remember in MN there is NO cold weather, only wrong clothing. Now, I’ll go back to snowbathing under the eagles…
This. The airport near where my sister lives only accommodates those tiny planes where you deplane on the tarmac and wait for your carryon… I remember waiting for my bag one January, there was this woman with her elementary aged girl crying in her arms because she was standing out there dressed in leggings and a sweater. It was like ten degrees out and windy. Poor kid! You HAVE to be prepared for the weather, even if you’re only going to be standing outside for a few minutes. But as long as you are prepared it’s okay.
I had such a hard time adjusting to the southeast summers because dealing with heat is so different. Well, that and the fact that if it’s even kind of hot here, businesses deal with it by turning the A/C up to “subarctic” and pressing go.
Anyway… yeah, visiting in the dead of winter would be the best method for my daughter to understand and make her own call on it. Without that available, we’ll do what we can.
Is it too early to schedule the trial lessons? We were told by the colleges that you should still have adequate time to pick the professor after the admission decision is made. Some decisions are made on the rolling basis so hopefully they don’t all coming in the same time. S has been busy with all the auditions and interviews etc. Since the most of that part is done at this point, now maybe it’s the time to schedule trial lessons?
I could be wrong but at this point in the process I think that most people wait for an admittance and then reach out to teachers for trial lessons. I couldn’t tell from your email if you were for sure waiting until after an offer.
In the fall, it’s fine to try to do trial lessons but now that he has auditioned…I would wait for the admission results. If he is accepted then YES it’s time to schedule trial lessons…and YES it can be a scramble…unfortunately that’s normal.
How long are the virtual auditions typically with faculty for music school (strings, woodwinds, brass)? We are new to this process and just curious. Thanks!
My son has done virtual lessons with studios since last spring. Once he is trying to decide he will do lessons with any studio he has not had lessons in.
He finally is finished submitting auditions!
Now he preps for his audition & interview with Northwestern and interview with Vanderbilt.
My S has always been very focused on his artistry training and less worried about everything else. He hasn’t been very active in trial lessons and doesn’t seem to be very picky in which professor that he has to study with although he has been doing some research online. I, as a parent, think there are so many great options for a single choice answer and the selection process is stressful. I do admire his ability not to get distracted though. I think he is quite clear with his directions and I just have to stay patient…
February is hard and March is harder…for some. There is a sense of “hurry up and wait”. I would suggest to continue to collect information, continue engagement…and good luck with the patience. When it all starts moving…early March…mid-March…or even the dreaded late March…you will need to move pretty quickly to a decision. There WILL be enough time but planning now (making spreadsheets!) for important questions/considerations/financials is good.
Kids do react differently than parents. Some times they know that they belong in these programs by viewing performances on-line so it is not uncommon for the kids to handle it better. They are often having more and deeper interactions that may be building confidence (not falsely). Also if they have passed a lot of prescreens they are probably going in the right direction.
Teachers may (or may not) reach out after auditions or acceptances go out. If teachers do not…it’s not bad. Every school, department and/or teacher is different on this point (and Covid may change that too…I don’t know). The head of the music dept can also help if you are feeling lost in getting a teacher. Admittedly some schools and teachers can be a “pain” on this…so buckle up!
It’s one step at a time…but the steps now are auditioning, engaging, preparing for decision time…and then waiting, waiting, waiting…
Yes, I’m surprising myself at how quickly I’ve personally pivoted from being grumpy about how much there was to do (prescreens, essays, apps, auditions!) to being grumpy about how long there is to wait with nothing to do. I’m giving myself an A+ in capacity for being annoyed about aspects of this process! I think my kiddo is finished with auditions, except for a long-shot acting BA and a Canadian school that is just on its own schedule, so “hurry up and wait” does feel descriptive. In the absence of campus visits and knowing that my own child will resist reaching out for lessons and chats, I’m glad for all the insights provided by this group - I think I will try to just enjoy all the time freed up now that I don’t have a second job as a teenager’s personal assistant!
The whole process, being long and somewhat stressful, is truly a great learning experience for both parents and students. For the students, it’s something that they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. It’s so good to hear everyone share perspectives and different experience. I sometimes try to resist the urge of jumping in and getting too involved because I feel it’s a learning opportunity for him. Then I “quietly” stressed out on my own Still, timely guidance and reminders are so important for each step along the way especially without a counselor. It’s hard for us as the first time parents. Thanks again for sharing.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
With covid this past year, my mind has been set towards a calendar date for a hopeful new normal - first it was before summer, then after summer, then the holiday season and the next was by spring break. This is when I thought that maybe we could visit college campuses for Student Admit Days, like my other kids did. I searched the websites where my son has applied and it looks like these events will most likely be virtual. I’m tentative about my son making such a big decision when the time comes without stepping foot on campus. And if we do, and no one is there, would that be better than not going at all? Many music programs have had opportunities to sit in on class and Q&A sessions with faculty and students. These have been helpful, some more than others.
My two cents … I hope things will be “normal” by the fall - but even if they are not, our children will need to get on with their lives.
We did two student led tours in the fall (Lawrence and Oberlin) and we felt these were helpful - but - we were glad we had spent time with their virtual materials before doing the in person tours. Then we could connect the dots between what we saw online and what we were (and were not) allowed to see in person.
One problem was that the students who led our tours were the only students we talked to. Therefore the student could make or break my daughter’s impression of the school. Pre-COVID when we had visited a few local schools, there were other kids to make small conversation with to broaden the impression. But that is not possible now.
We specifically opted out of a tour at St. Olaf, which would have been a “no one is there” situation, because the drive would have been so long for not enough of an impression.
Once my daughter has some acceptances in hand, we are going to try to get more creative. Someone upthread suggested reaching out to the studio and asking for a current student to speak with - I’m totally stealing that idea as long as I can get my daughter on board. She’s been acting a bit shy about the idea of contacting other students.
For the most part, the schools my daughter is applying to have only one viola studio so she can redo sample lessons and get a second impression of the teachers. This is not true at one of her schools though.
Lastly - if worse comes to worse, she decides, and then she realizes next year that she has made the wrong choice - she can always transfer. It’s not ideal - but I also don’t want her feeling like she needs to tie herself up in knots making an irrevocable decision this year. There is too much else to stress about with everything else that is going on.
Among the schools my son applied for, he went to three of them for summer schools / onsite tutoring and one for 5 years of pre-college. He has had quite exposure and loves all of them. I have never heard him dislike any music class or teacher. From my own observation, he is in haven as long as he is doing music. It almost doesn’t matter where or with whom. It also really helped with easing some of the anxiety during the application process. Every school has its pros and cons but it is hard to seriously go wrong with any of them. They may be different, but all excellent. By end of the day, it’s the student’s inner drive and passion that matters the most.
@Villandry – If it would be helpful, my son would be happy to talk to your student about his experience in the Thornton composition program and maybe help give a sense of the campus.
Chiming in from last year… now that I figured out how this new platform works, or doesn’t IMHO. Dislike. But anyhoo, hello to all the 2025’ers. I promised myself last year that when the new group was going through the process, I’d chime in and offer pearls of wisdom… or whatever was gleaned from that experience. A LOT. Unfortunately, with COVID, the process is soooooo super different, it’s hard to offer advice when it’s not something we’ve experienced. BUT, for this, I can offer an honest opinion.
Re: CMU - My kid (and I) LOVED everything about the Music Department… facilities, instructors (The instructor he had a lesson with was actually one of his favorites, but very old and he didn’t think he’d be there for four years - I should check!!) so there was that. Not a bad campus in a lovely area. BUT, he walked out of there and said… Nope!! Not going to pursue this. He HATED the campus vibe and said he got the feeling that " You need us. We don’t need you". My kid is all about the “vibes” he gets when he walks on a campus and while that’s probably not the best reason to choose a college, it was very important to his decision. And here’s the clincher… The Folks in the CMU Music office when we were leaving asked my kid how the day went. He told them that he loved the Music department and Tommy but got NO warm fuzzies from the overall campus. The lady at the front desk recommended he check out Mary Pappert School of Music @ Duquesne, which was NOT even on his list. Figured… what the heck. Since we’re already in Pittsburgh, why not. I was thinking… Hmmm… if someone from one University recommends another, that says something. So we scheduled a visit and tour. Make a long story short… that’s where my kid clarinetist ended up! From the first moment we went on campus, to his lesson with the instructor, to last Monday on his birthday when his Instructors serenaded and played Happy Birthday to him on various instruments (His clarinet studio class is one of the few virtual classes he has and I went up to surprise him for his birthday. We were in the hotel room while he Zoomed in to class and OMG… The Happy Birthday song his instructor played, complete with glissandos - which they were scheduled to work on that day was EPIC !! ) … he’s LOVED everything about that music school and university. GREAT instructors (several members of the Pittsburgh Symphony, including his clarinet instructor and Chamber Woodwinds coach… the bassoonist for the PSO ), staff, advisors… All of it. THAT school is a gem !! And CMU was at the top of his list BEFORE we visited.
If you’re still looking, I know they’re still scheduling auditions, as off last Monday when I visited. So, NO… it’s not late. I responded to someone around here who was asking but no clue where my post, OR the person is. They also have late admissions in general. Auditions and interviews are via Zoom with a panel… just like it was IRL. My little plug for MPSOM. It was THE perfect fit for the kid so thought I’d share.
Good luck to you all waiting for answers or still in the process. The journey was “special”. My FB feed keeps popping up with “audition season” memories. We were on the road…a LOT !! Hats of to you all. I just can’t even imagining my son making a decision virtually when he’s all about the warm fuzzies, you know. Tough times or maybe better since you save a LOT of money and can do many many more schools? Catch 22
I think my kiddo is finished with auditions, except for a long-shot acting BA and a Canadian school that is just on its own schedule, so “hurry up and wait” does feel descriptive. In the absence of campus visits and knowing that my own child will resist reaching out for lessons and chats, I’m glad for all the insights provided by this group - I think I will try to just enjoy all the time freed up now that I don’t have a second job as a teenager’s personal assistant!