Mine did his in early December. So just after pre screen results were announced. And yes, so hard to fit everything in! Luckily mine had worked with several teachers through master classes and festivals, so only had to schedule 2 lessons. This was in the pre-CoVid era so his were in person.
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I think it depends where you are located. We did not travel for sample lessons at all, just for half of the auditions, after prescreens were passed.
For flute players it is usually summer before senior year/fall of senior year when they would take sample lessons.
My D23 took a couple of sample lessons at BUTI, summer before senior year, because NEC and BU professors were there with BSO and gave master classes to BUTI kids/were available for lessons. We did not travel for sample lessons at all, my kid was comfortable with the virtual format, but two flute professors offered 1 : 1 conversations/sample lessons after her out of town auditions. I think they wanted to get to know her a bit better - talk to her.
Majority of her sample lessons happened during fall of the senior year, she took every opportunity to meet with potential teachers at all schools she applied to - I think she enjoyed it a lot. And after she was accepted - majority of professors scheduled online conversations/free lessons with her, that included some of the professors from non-conservatories/academic schools.
Because of the intensity of the prescreen repertoire prep and practice during the summer and fall of the senior year, I think there is a huge leap forward they experience in quality of sound and technique. Donāt rush in and trust your kidās teacher/mentor.
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We are in CA. His dream ED school is on east coast.
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we are international hence why DD is seeking on line rather than in person. she will do the auditions for places she is keenest on (and that she gets to final round for) in person
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So Yale super impressive - we saw the music school, halls the orchestra plays in etc. on to Juilliard tomorrow!
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@Jkb2 did you meet with anyone in the music department? Would your child study an instrument with a grad student? Apply for a double degree? Or is this a grad SOM application?
Another thing we looked at was how many classes undergrads take and also what proportion could be music. Based on those things, our kid preferred to apply to Harvard as the reach school for BA or double degree.
Hi DD has been in touch but itās quite slow - yes she will prob try for the joint programme but expects it may be something she has to try to opt in to later if she gets in at all! The orchestra and chamber is a big draw plus she is a chorister and sings acapella. So lots of opps to explore if and when - her list is long as there are v low admittance rates on most of her choices so far.
So I had reached out a few weeks ago to contact the music department about a visit for my S24 to a LAC since the timing was tight and I got no response. He responded when he got home from camp and got responses within 48 hours and also was able to arrange a trial lesson. Guess that even when time is tight the students should do all of the emailing.
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Dd sent follow ups to those who havenāt responded since April ā¦ still no response; she doesnāt quite know what to do with those not responding at all 
hum, hard, not sure, if they are conservatory based teachers did she contact the department? Maybe wait until after school starts?
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Iām having a hard time accepting that weāre really doing this again already; I needed a longer break between the last kid (whoās about to start his sophomore year) and this one. DS is applying to mix of schools with BMs (where heād do a dual degree probably) and (mostly) LACs, which sort of feels like the worst of both worlds right now. With his definitely-headed-for-a-BM brother, there were some parts of the application that seemed a little less daunting since we knew his audition would trump everything else. Currently bugging this kid to finish his common app essay, heās prepping for one more try at the SAT at the end of the month, and heās trying to set up a couple more sample lessons. And he needs to ask for letters of recommendation in the next few weeks. On my end (heās homeschooled) Iām working on the counselor letter and course descriptions, and Iām working on a master list of potential schools for him to whittle down. And we need some sort of spreadsheet with dates on it to navigate the ED, EA, regular decision, auditions and prescreens world.
We were traveling most of the summer and fit in visits to Haverford and Swarthmore. He was turned off of Swarthmore because the tour guide said all of the ensembles are open to everyoneānot audition based. Snobby kid 
But his reasoning is that there are a million SLACs and thatās as good a reason to eliminate one as anything else. With their 5ish% acceptance rate, it probably doesnāt matter much what HE thinks of Swarthmore anyway! Or Haverford, for that matter, which he liked better, perhaps because our tour guide never mentioned music ensembles, so he had no reason to turn his nose up at them.
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Good luck! Another exciting year for your family!
I can confirm that the longer, than 2 years break is needed! I started helping my HS sophomore niece to gear up for admissions, and it is too soon & too much for me! 
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Hi! This thread/category has been really helpful and interesting for me.
To introduce myself:
I have a D24 who plays the double bass. Sheās had 5 or 6 trial lessons with a few more to go. She wants to get a BM or go to conservatory. We feel very lucky that she has a teacher who is really well connected in the bass world and is helping us navigate this process.
We live in the Midwest. At audition time I know weāre gonna have to do a lot of driving with the bass.
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welcome!
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Maybe the professors are still in summer camps? Aspen has one more week, Meadowmount just wrapped up.
Maybe third timeās a charm?
If itās a professor she really wants to connect with or get feedback from, maybe include a link of her video?
Does she have a private teacher? Can the teacher help with the communication attempts?
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We are not in the US so alas private teacher has no connections; I am sure it will sort itself. Today she heard from one professor that they are going on sabbatical until Feb and an alternate hasnāt been offered. I think she will live audition where she can (and gets invited) to try to get a better feel. She has her spreadsheet of dates so all doable over a two week stretch currently! - we need to try to keep it to the two week side school and travel reasons.
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Welcome!
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Fellow homeschool mom in the same place as you. I have one who is starting his sophomore year of college and now Iām back at the process againā¦and I get to do it again in two more years! 
I guess the somewhat good news for me is that my other graduates (I also have a 25 year old) were just simple applications. This is a whole new world for us. Iām learning a lot as I go, and Iām enjoying the process.
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I have four, too, @MommaBerd ā¦this is my third time through (my oldest just graduated from college, so at least I have some evidence that itās worth it in the end 
), but I have a 7 year gap before the last one!
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Just to say BU confirmed DD24ās pre screen waiver today as she was at BUTI - think this may apply to some others on here
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