Such important advice! I am by nature a super analytical thinker and planner, so this process several years ago was very much outside of my comfort zone. Fortunately, I learned quickly to trust my son and his teacher with school choices, auditions and so on. I remember asking my kid how many spots were open at a certain school. His reply: “Don’t think about it that way…if I am the right student for a program, there will be a spot for me.”
He is getting ready to take his first job auditions. I asked him “what does it take to win a position?” His wise answer: “Hard work, some luck and about 30 auditions where you are not selected.”
Music performance is not at all a linear process or path. For most musicians, this is perfectly normal and comfortable. So I agree…trust the music gods!
Fantastic results!
Do the schools send notice if they don’t make it through the prescreen? One of the professors posted on Instagram they have finished their prescreen choices and congrats to those who made it through. My son hadn’t received notice yes or no so should he assume no? (This is for Frost).
Update:
Oberlin - yes
Jacobs - yes
UNT - yes
Rice -yes
UT Austin - yes
Frost - no news
Colburn - submitting this week.
This reminds me of the mom of my kid’s friend who said she was not going to let him drive her car, because he couldn’t even put his bowl in the sink. :
My kid was just telling me about playing with the professor at the Frost audition, and it made me feel good about the connection he made. And I have to add my agreement…a bachelor’s degree has a big value regardless of what the degree is, and happiness is key. I got my BA in theater arts, and I worked in theater for many years, but I also used that degree to do all kinds of other work that I did not imagine at that young age. It’s an amazing time in life.
My D heard from Eastman at midnight last night (a yes!) which shocked us, we weren’t expecting to hear from anyone else until after the new year.
Results so far (Voice MM)
University of Houston - yes
Rice - yes
Eastman - yes
Yale - no word yet
Curtis - no word yet. She may not be able to audition for Cutis is she passes prescreen, their audition weekend conflicts with her current university’s opera and after reading through this thread it seems they may not be flexible. The opera was important to her so she will have to make that sacrifice (Curtis) if it comes to that.
CCM was my D’s first heartbreak during the undergrad process. She got past the prescreen but was rejected after the audition. We live 15 minutes from CCM so it was heartbreak all the way around. Fast forward 4 years and CCM wasn’t even on her list for grad school. Anyway your daughter has a lot of great options to choose from!!
Thank you!
I think I am more anxious because my son’s fabulous but mostly retired teacher hasn’t been so helpful in helping figure out where he should be applying, though she has strong opinions about various teachers. “Wherever he wants to go is fine with me!”
We also had this problem applying to undergrad. Her teacher at the time wasn’t helpful but it was the opposite - he didn’t approve of any program she wanted to look at. Now, with a whole department of voice professors and also professors from the summer program she did - there are sooooo many suggestions that she could have applied 20 places.
Definitely adds a layer of stress if your kid’s private teacher is not able to provide adequate input. But know that your kid will end up with an option or options that fit musically, academically and financially.
Yes, they should give you results. If not, call to check on when to expect results. On rare occasion there could be an error.
I would guess that a teacher may have posted a “congrats” bc she/he is done…while the administration may still be working on sending out results. In an earlier post, I did say that you may have to ignore tardy or half communication…this is an example of “half”. I have no special knowledge in this case but I have seen similar experiences.
Hang in there! You should get the results soon…or I would suggest calling after winter break.
We had to email and call Frost. There had been an error. We then scrambled to get to the audition with a 10 day turn around time! I would recommend reaching out!
That makes me want to call USC today. We were lucky Frost came through or we might not have even known to call.
We still have not heard from Blair or Bienen. I’m getting nervous. Blair’s site says prescreen results will be issued by January 15 but it’s cutting it close!
My kid submitted a recorded audition today, and that means he’s completely applied to another school! Like, done and being considered. I feel like this process is moving now, albeit at its own slow pace. Two decisions will come in late January.
I also realized, thinking about this, that one of the universities he’s been accepted to has a non-audition track for several different music concentrations (e.g., history) that also include performance and would be a way to do freshman year. Or not go at all yet. As we’ve been talking about, there are many paths. Lots of jazz or contemporary musicians switch tracks or schools.
So that sounds like a good backup plan, if he would be happy there!
My D only applied to a few schools and will audition at 2 for grad school (vocal). She has said she is ok with a gap year if she doesn’t get what she wants
This seems very common for our voice kids. At my daughter’s current university, only 3 of the voice majors are applying for grad school next year, the rest are all doing some form of a gap. My D is afraid that won’t work well for her (just her own feeling about her own situation) so she’s hoping to be somewhere next year, but she’s also aware it could happen.
My son is interested in musicology, and one of the reasons he likes UNCG is because of their uniquely rich cello libraries.
One of the teachers he had a sample lesson with told him that it isn’t the worst thing in the world to transfer, that he had done it - twice! Goodness knows, I hope it doesn’t come to that! 