Ah thank you
1 Like
Yes. S24 is going to ED at one school but apply EA for several others. My understanding though is that the REA schools are not the same. You cannot ED somewhere and apply REA somewhere else and you are not allowed to EA to private schools unless they require it for their scholarship applications
2 Likes
Yes - yoi can apply outside the US and still REA
1 Like
Question about recommendations. S24 has a had the same teacher for the past 6 years at precollege who knows him very very well. For LACs and other schools with music supplements that donāt specifically ask for a music recommendation, is it good to submit one? He can also get one from a conductor who loves him and knew him as a little dude and as a high school junior. Is this over doing it? Should he ask the schools if they want it in common app or in the music supplement? He will submit for audition based programs since their directions are clear.
My kid is submitting a rec from his piano teacher for LACs that accept an optional arts recommender (and submitting the ones from his horn teacher and an ensemble director only for music applications), but if he didnāt have the piano teacher (he played piano first, so sheās known him the longest of anyone) heād probably submit the horn teacher recommendation in those cases. I donāt think an optional recommendation is going to hurt at all if the school allows it on the common appāthey wouldnāt accept them if they didnāt want to see them! Caveat that my kid is homeschooled so I always figure the more outside validation the betterā¦but I think it would apply with a kid in school, too. I wouldnāt submit a lackluster/generic arts recommendation just to submit one, but if thereās someone who knows the student very well and will say glowing things, I think it can only help. Ohājust saw that youāre asking about submitting two extra recsā¦I THINK most schools will only take one optional one on the common app? It should be clear on the common app how many they want/will accept.
1 Like
Thanks, my question was two part so you definitely answered the first part. Send one letter at least. I am also wondering if he should ask the school if they want it in the common app or the arts supplement.
My kid submitted two music letters of recommendation for BA programs at some very selective schools and I am sure they were key in her acceptances. If in doubt, I would ask the school what is accepted and how best to submit.
2 Likes
We are slowly getting through it, applying to 6 schools total, 3 conservatories and 3 colleges.
I do have a question: does anyone have advice or examples of how to format a repertoire list for a classical instrument?
I was thinking there should be categories (solo, orchestral, chamber, etc.) with an alphabetical list by composer under each category.
Or just one big alphabetical list?
That is how S24 did it. First solo (current then selected previous) , then chamber. He did not include orchestral
1 Like
Yes it is how DD24 did it too but she did include orchestral where the rep incl significant solos and/or when it was in major concert venues/national ensembles
2 Likes
DD24 has finally reduced her list to a more manageable 8 US colleges/conservatoires but they are all duel programme currently; ED for an Ivy (such a very long shot) is nearly ready with supplementary material to be recorded early next week . Itās such a busy term am not quite sure how we will get through it in one piece.
@kokotg DD has had her instrumental teacherās recommendation added to her overall recommender where a supplementary reference isnāt allowed. This has been a requirement for a couple of schools - the conservatoires have been easier to handle in that regard
2 Likes
My son only included solo works in rep lists unless asked otherwise. Solo rep was divided into categories such as concerto, sonata or piece with piano, showpiece/virtuosic, unaccompanied, and etudes/caprices. Alphabetized by composer.
This was for a string player. For winds/brass, listing orchestral solos may be important. I donāt really know! Itās definitely not necessary for strings unless you did something like the viola solo in Harold in Italy or the violin solo in Ein Heldenleben.
TY! D is double bass so most work is orchestral, a few solo and chamber
Itās been a long while since my son did his repertoire sheetā¦but he is a trumpet player. He included orchestral works where he was principal trumpet (and so noted it). Then did all chamber, and solo work as well.
He thought I was nuts because I kept all of his programs, but when the time came to do this repertoire listingā¦he was sure glad I had them.
Itās been a long while since my kid did his undergrad auditions, but I love reading the annual thread about the current musicians and what they are doing. Itās very exciting, for sure.
4 Likes
My sonās teacher last year told him that he should have name dropped her after he was not offered a lesson by a well-known pedagogue who is a friend of hers. She was peeved. It never would have occured to him to name drop in that context.
2 Likes
Visit report for those interested:
We visited Wheaton College on Tuesday. They did a great job of scheduling our day, and on the tour I realized some students even spent the night. We began with a general college tour followed by chapel (which is required, three days a week). Then, we had lunch tickets followed by a tour of the music school and a meeting with a composition professor. My son did not have to reach out individually for the appointment. When he scheduled the visit, the form had a number of questions for him to answer so that they could tailor it.
The music conservatory is impressive. They have a brand new facility; it reminded me a lot of Shepherd School of Music at Rice, just smaller, and it is beautiful. Wheaton values the arts, and it shows. The building had a number of visual art pieces that positively added to the feel of the space. The program is well funded as demonstrated by the new building and the fact that they awarded roughly $2M to the BM students last year! They are also looking to grow their program by adding to the number of students accepted/enrolled each year. At the same time, they have a lot of faculty and are able to keep the student to faculty ratio low. Though I canāt remember the exact number, it was definitely less than 10:1, and itās all undergraduates. The meeting my son had with the professor went very well, and we basically got the impression that if he applied, heād be accepted. Wheaton doesnāt do in-person auditions/interviews for Composition majors, so it was definitely worth the visit.
It IS a Christian school. We have a long-time friend who started there this year and we were able to meet up with her. She did comment that it isnāt as conservative as she expected it to be - that may or may not be a good thing for you and your family. But, I think it is worth mentioning. We found the students to be friendly, warm, and happy - teasing our tour guide as they passed by, hanging together in various places, including in the music conservatory building. In the end, it now ranks as one of his top choices. If Wheaton aligns with your values, I would highly recommend a visit and consideration.
We also visited New England Conservatory. The experience was a little disappointing. Son had tried reaching out to several of the composition professors (based on the advice from the admissions counselor to which he is assigned) without any response, so that was a bummer. It was the first school at which no one ever returned his emails. The tour guide was a first year graduate student so she really couldnāt answer the questions a typical first year undergraduate student might ask, not to mention it was her first semester there! Donāt get me wrong; she did a great job. But having a first year graduate student as a tour guide wasnāt ideal. Additionally, itās no surprise that the buildings are old. The first area we toured was the old residence hall that had been ārenovatedā to become practice rooms. I say renovated in quotes because it essentially looked like they had just pulled out all of the furniture and they must have installed some acoustic materials, but that was it. Fortunately, the residence hall is a brand new building, and it was bright and cheerful, and Jordan Hall is beautiful.
Weāll be visiting Curtis later this month, and then weāre done with campus visits. Neither Wheaton nor Curtis have in-person interviews and/or live auditions with Composition majors, so we felt it was important to visit them. The other schools to which he will be applying do offer in-person auditions/interviews, so we will wait until he is (hopefully) invited to tour those campuses.
Hope this is helpful to someone!
7 Likes
FYI, Curtis has free student recitals several evenings of the week starting next week. You do need to reserve tickets ahead of time on the Curtis website. Itās a great way to see the beautiful and historic mansion and recital hall. And the recitals are wonderful.
2 Likes
Thanks for the info! Weāll look into it. However, this trip is a quick up and back for us.
Back from a visit to UGA, which has, somewhat unexpectedly, risen to near the top of his list now. They put together a great day for him, with a lesson with both horn professors, sitting in on horn choir, horn studio, lunch and tour with a bunch of current studentsā¦Iām impressed that they devoted so much time to him when heās just a prospective student. Heās always said he wants a smaller school, but I encouraged him to think of the music school as a smaller school within a big school, and I guess that worked. Really hoping he gets in EA there (he should unless thereās weirdness about homeschooling) because heāll hear back about that before ED at Vanderbilt, so it would be a nice way to cushion the blow if he doesnāt get in there (heād still need to audition for music in January or February)
7 Likes
They shouldnāt be weird about homeschoolers. We are a pretty significant population here in GA. 
1 Like