My son applied for the same and we are on same boat as you are and feel the same way.
Best of luck to your son too!!
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It was sometime around now ONE YEAR AGO that DD first reached out to teachers/profs about arranging lessons over this past summer. I think the first live audition was even before pre-screens were recorded, back in Sept. @ScreenScoreMom, what a marathon indeed!! Hurray for all of us, just getting through it! Our kids are just incredible, aren’t they? <3
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You guys are such a supportive bunch, I am just hanging out in here from time to time to learn what to expect next year! 
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Is there a thread specific to music scholarship amounts? I can’t seem to find one
Only as recent as the Class of 2024:
thank you @baribassmom! I’ll take a look now
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I just finished my audition/interview at IU today (BM composition with a piano concentration). I think It went well and the professors and students were very friendly. The piano professors even asked me to play one of my own pieces after knowing that I was applying as a composition major.
The food in Bloomington is incredible. I almost forgot that I came here for an audition after yesterday’s dinner. It really felt like a relaxing trip.
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Hope you had reservations. We came to see my D in La Rondine (opera) and found everyplace booked for Mothers Weekend! We did find a reservation at Farm and it was amazing. The opera was also stellar! Great musicians and an amazing performance space. Good luck with the audition. Jacobs has a lot to offer as does Bloomington.
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You went to Farm…jealous! I’m so glad that you got to see an opera at the MAC. It is a really amazing stage. It certainly gets vocalists ready to be on any stage in the world.
For everyone else, at IU (and I assume other schools not in a big city), get reservations for move-in and special weekends in the fall right after your kid decides on a school! It sounds early but for some schools it is not. It may be your only chance to be near campus (and not in the equivalent of Indianapolis a good hour away!)
@songbirdmama-we got reservations for graduation a year in advance. I had put it in my calendar. It was like the Hunger Games trying to get reservations in Bloomington for that weekend…but I did it! With covid, it’s may be different but at some point it will heat up again.
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Is there an acceptance thread? Like you all, I came here because I didn’t want to miss anything important about this process. I got some good ideas for departments I hadn’t thought of recommending to my kid, as well. Now we join the waiting game.
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So here is an anecdote as to the importance of scheduling sample lessons, if you can. S18 is applying to graduate programs in classical voice. He has done a few sample lessons with potential teachers before his auditions, mostly by zoom. He recently had an in person lesson just a day before his live audition. The teacher asked him what he planned to sing for his first song. They discussed that, then the teacher asked him which of his remaining pieces he’d prefer the faculty panel choose for the second song. He told the teacher, and the teacher said he’d steer the panel to pick that song. Sure enough, the next day after performing the first song, he saw the teacher whispering to his colleagues and the panel selected the song he’d told the teacher about. Well worth the sample lesson.
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Might be different for grad- ? Good luck to your son!
That’s great news! Congrats
Following up on the sample lesson thoughts – can a HS student request a sample lesson from a local conservatory or university’s music department in order to get an assessment of how strong they are musically? Not for that conservatory/university in particular – just in general.
Thanks!
As long as they have time I do not see why not. Contact a music teacher directly. Most have private studios and may direct you there. You may be asked to pay a fee, usually $150 or so.
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Thanks!!
I wonder about doing this too early. I was thinking of having my S apply to a summer program with a few major college professors of his instrument. But having them meet him as a just 16 year old may go against them rather than them seeing him as a much more mature 17 1/2 year old.
The right summer program can be quite worthwhile. It can give your S an insight into his preparation in comparison to others on the same instrument and get to know the temperament of the faculty members. They will not judge your child as he was as 16 year old during the audition for admissions, and in fact, it may be helpful for them to see growth and development as a sign of how teachable he is. Besides, the faculty can articulate areas that need improvement which may increase chances down the road.
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Yes, totally agree on summer programs, I am only thinking about those where he would be the only 16 year old with college professors and a sea of 18-23 year olds. Similarly for @MMRose I would make very very clear with whoever you meet how old your child is. There is a ton of growth between 10-12th grade and not every kid is a prodigy. My son has been playing his instrument since he was 5 and was good for age, then great for age, then back to good, and now back to great, and the opinion of 1 teacher is always with a grain of salt.
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If he is competitive with 18-23 year olds for acceptance to the summer program, I would not worry about being the only 16 year old, except from a socialization perspective.
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