Weekly check in. How is everyone doing?
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DS got a no on his Vanderbilt prescreen, so that was a bummerā¦but if he wasnāt going to get in, Iām glad he found out now instead of right before Christmas after going to Nashville for the live audition. Better to move on now! And then he heard that he got UGA early action later in the week, so that was a nice balance. Heās only interested in UGA if itās for music (he likes the smaller school within a bigger school thing that both it and Vanderbilt have goingā¦without music he just wants a smaller school period), so thereās still a music audition to deal with in January. And come decision time heāll need to do some soul searching about whether he really wants a performance major or not. But before thatā¦one million more supplemental essays to get done! Music-wise, heās still got the Oberlin prescreen out there, but he doesnāt expect anything to come of that (he also applied to the college, probably musical studies major with something else, which I think would likely be a good fit), he did St. Olaf EA, so heāll hear from them before too long (they donāt do live auditions at all as far as I can tellājust videos, so thatās all done), and then heāll apply to Lawrence and possibly College of Wooster. I think thatās it for places that offer BMsā¦and then a whole bunch of mostly small LACs. And Emory. I think he needs to do a music dept visit specifically with Emory.
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SO sorry about Vandy but agree that it is good to know early! S24 did the Emory thing and it was wonderful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. It was a wonderful experient.
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@kokootg that is a great list of school options. My kid also applied to both BM and BA programs and decided in the spring. Did the BA and then went on to doctorate in composition 
Many paths! At any rate great list for both options!
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That is a bummer about Vandy, but I agreeābetter to find out now than right before Christmas. However, his receiving EA from UGA is a big deal! As much as I hate to admit it (because I graduated from the rival in-state school), UGA has become very competitive. So, big congrats to him for that!
On our end, DS canāt get his log in to Jacobs to work which means he hasnāt even started that application. 
He contacted IT, but they said he has to contact Jacobs, which he has done. But, being that it is a holiday week, he probably wonāt hear back until Monday. DS should have been on it sooner, but he has been really sick for the past couple of weeks and is only now starting to feel better. So, heās having to catch up on school work on top of trying to get these applications completed. Iām just hoping they donāt have any āsurpriseā essays like Florida State Universityās College of Music did.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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My son was def high talent and did NOT meet their academic standards for regular admission. He would have not gotten in based on academics alone. Donāt get me wrong he was a āgoodā students but I saw the stats being waitlisted/rejected on the Miami thread and his were lower.
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My son got his Frost acceptance for EA the last weekend in Jan. If it were his first choice he couldāve cancelled 3 auditions
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Well at the absolute last minute S24 has decided to add Bienen/Northwestern. Thoughts and prayers here for getting the prescreen finished and the essays done, did not realize their deadline was 12/1! (while still finishing the Vanderbilt/Blair application, yikes!)
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Interesting. I had the impression from the past that it was heavily weighted toward both music and academic talent. I stand corrected.
My D was accepted at Miami for MT quite awhile ago (before EA was common for music). We did meet a recruiter who came to our area. We did not visit the school. She could audition for MT at unifieds in Chicago. I do remember the recruiter (who knew nothing about the arts) being unimpressed with my D and suggesting that she retake the ACTs to get her score up as she was at the bottom of their acceptance range. I tried to explain that the arts may be different but he didnāt seem to believe me (he was new). Anywho, she got accepted. I always hoped that he saw it somehow and maybe learned something. He seemed quite sure my D would not be accepted.
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TBBH I heard the same, told son NOT to get his hopes up, he told me he felt super confident after his audition, and I stand corrected. I was actually floored he got in at all nevermind EA
My S21 is an acting bfa student and he was told that Miami was a school that had academic standards (NYU and a Michigan were the two others). Maybe it is different for frost vs those programs?
Us too. It was on the bottom of the list bc we thought it was a long shot. She did have a really good audition and felt confident after. The MT group was super friendly and kept in contact with her. In the end, it was her top choice MT school. But she decided to go the VP route in the end.
We had a very good impression of the school from the audition.
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My information is old so itās hard to comment. Still, I think that many schools make accommodations for music students. You can always call music admissions and ask.
I think that itās important to point out that itās not because students are not academically strong. I believe that it has to do with the time required to excel in music. Many kids are doing Saturday music schools etc so they may take a lesser load of APs or SAT/ACT prep work. I still think that many of the big Us will look at your coursework/scores to be sure that you would be OK at the school. After that the audition becomes ākingāā¦and your test score will not matter much.
Andā¦I do also want to point out that I did see some kids drop out of their Universities bc they struggled with the academic portion along with a strong music program. You really need to do both. So your student should think about how they want to spend their time at college.
My D chose IU for many reasons (mainly the teacher along with the program). She wanted a well-rounded education. However she didnāt want super challenging coursework outside of music. She wanted to enjoy a literature class, not compete in it. The music courses (academic) and program (performing) were top-notch so that was worry enough for her.
Everyone is different. Just food for thought.
Oops noticed itās a bfa acting. I would call the admission office for that major. For any āartā there may be accommodations on test scores.
i was giving advice for others, he is a third year at a bfa program now
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I feel your pain - DD is adeing NEC in last minute - thankfully lots of the pre screen is on other lists except NEC want with piano and the other pre screen wanted it withoutā¦so new video needed (and a big favour from an accompanist)
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Vandy just added ā¦.
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Hahaha. Due on the first for scholarships!
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Spot on. My son wasnāt an average student bc he wasnāt āsmartāā¦he spent HOURS outside of school engrossed in music. He attended a high school magnet Arts program 40 min from his high school every day from 1-4 (not including the drive both ways). Sometimes the AP classes he should have taken were offered when he was out of the building so he has to take a lower levelā¦
As far as a call to admissions? Miami/Frost stressed how selective they were academically. Not in our experience. The audition definitely trumped that.
My son wound up at his first choice which is NOT crazy academically rigorous in terms of core classes BUT his music classes (6/8 courses) are HARD. He was well prepared musically and they are challenging. He has the time to spend on them thankfully.
Aside from all of this, most important to him was WHO he would be spending time with. He really evaluated the guitar professor as much as they evaluated him. He is so happy with his choice. There are other places he thought he might wind up but did not click with the primary guitar teacher.
Anf, yes, everyone is different!
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