<p>We are in CA. My son's a guitarist, applying to combination of conservatories, university conservatories and liberal arts schools - other than UCLA and USC, most if not all are east coast. His gig schedule with his band and a summer jazz program at USC for the month of July make it nearly impossible for us to visit east coast schools over the summer. </p>
<p>So... since he will have to audition at most of the schools he's applying to (assuming he passes the pre-screen, and if not, it doesn't matter anyway), we are thinking why not simply do the visit when we do the audition? </p>
<p>It's not only practical timewise, it will save the expense of two trips to multiple east coast locations. Obviously, it means perhaps applying to a few schools he may ultimately not be interested in, but given the trade off, we're feeling that will be okay.</p>
<p>Are there any pitfalls to this plan that I'm not considering?</p>
<p>That is what we did. What it meant is that there were some schools that DD did not like after she visited them and we could have avoided them completely. We might have added others. She had to indicated studio preferences without any sample lessons. Took more research and luck. She went back anyhow to the top 3 acceptances and had the sample lesson before deciding. So it was 2 trips anyhow. Just not as many in the second trip. But this is what we could manage.</p>
<p>thanks, Singersmom07. It’s true there are some we might apply to needlessly, but then we’d kind of have to have visited to have determined that anyway! So it’s really just that extra application fee/DVD time.</p>
<p>And yes, I too can imagine a possible 2nd trip to one or two places to make a final decision, but I think that’s okay. I would imagine things look a bit different when you’re already “in”.</p>
<p>Is the benefit to a sample lesson more getting a feel for the teacher/school or getting more face time with the school in hopes of standing out in admissions?</p>
<p>Did that for one school only because of a time constraint, and it was a case of, had we visited earlier, we never would have gone back. The biggest pitfall I can see is that, when you “visit” during an audition period, you are seeing the school at it’s artificial best. Everything is glossy and shiny and the best of the best students are leading you here and there and answering questions. In general meeting sessions, someone always seems to ask a question so similar to the one you had that you feel stupid asking yours, or the group is so big that the director can’t even see your hand waving away in the gazillionth row. Going during the “regular” season is more relaxed and can also give your kid a chance to feel more comfortable and less jittery when audition time comes. Some places will even grant your student an “official interview” when you visit; that is something that may not take place at all during audition time, but which can provide a great opportunity to go one-on-one with the Admissions Director (or assistant). D really enjoyed that part of it, and when she returned to audition, she was one face that many staff and faculty remembered- that also helped her feel very comfortable.</p>
<p>The summer isn’t a great time to visit anyway, since most students (certainly at conservatories and LACs) aren’t even there. There are no ensembles to listen to, no classes to sit in on, and probably not many (if any) professors to meet. The fall is a better time, but it certainly is hard to do a big east coast tour, and then return for auditions only a few months later. </p>
<p>As other people have mentioned above, the best part of the initial visits, however, is to save yourselves time, money and emotional energy for the schools that are of greatest interest. Without an initial visit, you could be traveling to and having your son audition at schools which he wouldn’t even want to attend. But, at least with a pre-screen, you know your son will certainly be in the running for all schools at which he is invited to audition.</p>
<p>There are a few jazz guitarist parents here on CC, who might be able to give you guidance and support about teachers and programs.</p>
<p>We our in the process of touring for our DD in jazz voice. All indications I have received so far are that an in-person visit may or may not help you stand out. But an in-person audition is invariably better for your chances than a CD or DVD audition. </p>
<p>If there’s a #1 school in your son’s mind, however, then it might be worth visiting ahead of time, and creating a relatiosnhip with key faculty/administrators. </p>
<p>We incorporated college visits into our family spring vacation to minimize expense, schedule disruption, etc. Worked out fine for everybody but our youngest D, who got dragged along!</p>
<p>You have to inquire AT the schools. Our kid had lessons AFTER his audition at two schools. In one case, he had already had a lesson with the teacher a year earlier. In the other, the faculty OFFERED to give him lessons after his audition knowing he was spending the weekend there.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. If you are combining your visit with the audition, do invest in spending enough time there to get a sense of the college and its program. Also, keep in mind that the faculty you will want to take lessons with/talk with will probably be the same faculty who will be sitting in on auditions – so consult with them ahead of time to arrange to have individual face time with them either before or after your actual audition. You’ll also want to sit in on classes and rehearsals or performances. We have found that spreading a visit over two days really helped us get a good sense of a college and its program. One day becomes too much of a frantic overview.</p>
<p>We did this Jazz/Shreddermom. We had only visited two of the schools S2 applied to. The advantage of going then was (1) pretty much seeing the worst weather at all locations(!) and seeing students engaged on campus. We almost always (with one exception) arrived at each location the day before the audition and toured a bit on our own. S2 had definite preferences after the 10 day audition trip, but ultimately (because its such a stressful experience) had a list of schools he would have been happy to attend. We did not have the opportunity of lessons at any of the schools, however. My son was already pretty aware of the drum professionals at all schools.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend that you begin looking at guitar pre-screening audition requirements for jazz schools. This is an unique aspect of jazz application, and makes a two-phase approach one that has particular timing. Spreading a broader net, your son can submit pre-screen materials and then decline an audition if he passes the pre-screen at a school that he changes his mind about. </p>
<p>There are many jazz-experiened parents here–Allmusic was my particular angel this year–and we’ll answer any questions!</p>
<p>Thank you all very much. Yes, Spring break would’ve been a good time, but it just was not possible in our case. And since the list currently stretches from Miami to upstate New York, with lots in between, it surely couldn’t have been done in one trip. Also a good point about summer not being the best time to visit, but aren’t many still “active” in summer? </p>
<p>Fortunately, one of his first choices is right here - USC. Maybe we’ll try to squeeze in one fall trip to NEC, Berklee, NYU and the New School. A big maybe.</p>
<p>Yes, we have already started compiling a list of pre-screens, trying to determine what will cross over the most. And this site has been invaluable in narrowing the list down based on what we’ve gleaned about various jazz guitar programs. Without CC, waiting until auditions would’ve been impossible.</p>
<p>SJTH, how were able to get all those auditions neatly organized into a 10-day tour? Were all the schools close together? And I would imagine you don’t always get the dates you want. That must be tricky!</p>
<p>You know, it just worked. The schools were NOT close together–we went Baltimore-NY-Montreal-NYC-Oberlin. He did request certain dates for a couple of schools, but mostly they were assigned and we pieced the trip together. In our case, there was one “down” weekend, so we visited my oldest son in upstate NY. But it made more sense (and not just financially) to make it a 10 day trip rather than going back and forth. It mean missing a chunk of school, but the staff was very understanding. If you want to PM me, I can give you more details.</p>
<p>In the summer, many school applied faculty are not on campus. At some schools, they are involved in summer programs (either on campus or away somewhere else). Also the regular ensembles and students aren’t there either. Summers just aren’t a terrific time to get a good feel for a music program and they usually are not a good time for meeting instructors as those folks simply are not available.</p>
<p>Ditto Thumper’s comment about being there after the audition. When my D had her audition at her first choice school, all of the voice faculty were present, and one of them asked my Dif she was going to be available that evening as she would like to have her come back and “sing with her”. As it happened, we were staying over that night (fortunate, since we were then able to determine that the campus was really pretty covered in two feet of snow!), so the two of them spent some time going over D’s rep list and the music she had with her and did some singing. The prof then said she would be pleased to have her join her studio the next fall and that is exactly what is going to happen! Right place, right time…</p>
<p>Just an FYI for all of those reading. This does NOT always happen…the student doesn’t always get assigned to the studio where the teacher says “I’d love to have you in my studio.”</p>