Common App activities, music resume, recording help, please

<p>If anyone who's gone through this process would like to PM me and answer some questions, I would love that.</p>

<p>Some of my questions:</p>

<p>Since we'll be sending a music resume with the CA supplement, isn't it redundant to list music activities on the Common App? </p>

<p>Seven of the ten activities are cello related in some way (lessons, chamber music, symphony, community service, work, and so on, all involve cello). So, it will be repeat, though a resume will offer more detail.</p>

<p>Also, can my son put something that he knows is going to happen in early spring? He knows he'll be playing a solo with his orchestra, but it won't be until Feb.</p>

<p>And how exactly should the 10 minutes of recorded music be put together? Concerto? Unaccompanied Suite? Other song? Does the order matter? I understand it should catch them immediately. Should it be the hardest first? Or the most impressive even if that's not as hard?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help. My son's goal is to plan to record in October. He has decided he doesn't want to do live auditions far from home, so all schools will get a recording except the ones within driving distance if he decides to pursue that.</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me. I could probably also use help with making sure the music resume looks ok.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>It is not redundant to list everything on the CA and the supplement. The schools have general admissions as well as departmental/music school admissions, so the same people may or may not see the entire application. For the Feb gig (put selected to perform and the date)
Each school can have different and sometimes very specific requirements. Be sure you look at what they want instead of what you think they want. My D needed 5 songs to cover all the requirements at the 7 schools she applied to, but each school only required 3. The school will say on the information about audition requirements if it needs to be with or with accompanist. Be sure to record so that you can break the songs into individual files. For some schools you upload everything together and some you upload each song individually.
Also, many schools use the recording as a pre-screen but still require a live audition. Some recordings are audio only and some are video and some are either. Do not discount the value in a live audition. Teachers want to "see"for themselves your personality and how you might “fit” into the department.
I hope this helps.</p>

<p>Thank you, Scubachick. It’s really hard because he doesn’t know what schools he’s applying to. I did find out that some of the Christian schools that might end up on the list don’t have such hard, fast application deadlines, so we have more time for those. He’s preparing four pieces-two bach, a concerto, and an unaccompanied piece, but yes, I guess we need to go through every <em>possible</em> school to see what they need. (Yeah, hard to believe we haven’t done that, I know)</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback on the solo; I will do as you suggested.</p>

<p>I do know that some of these are pre-screening. The challenge is having him decide which schools he’ll be applying as a music major and which schools he’ll apply to another major.</p>

<p>For instance, UCLA has two strong majors of interest, music and Digital Media Studies. Both require extensive supplements, but he can only choose one. SMU is another one, but he’s likely to choose Creative Computing rather than music if he applies because of the live audition component, which he doesn’t want to do if it’s that far away.</p>

<p>He asked about traveling with his cello, which he’s never done. How does one travel with a cello? If you have to buy an extra seat, that seems crazy expensive. I never thought about it until now! I guess he can ask his teacher.</p>

<p>I guess we can go through slideroom and write down specifications for each school.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>To travel with a cello you can purchase, or rent, a cello flight case. Strings should be loosened slightly, and things like underwear should be packed around it, and possibly under the bridge. There are some instructions online you can find. Do not just check a regular hard case! My son has flown multiple times with his cello, and only once was it damaged. But, as you can see, it does happen. If your son has a really expensive cello, then yes, you need to buy it a seat - in the bulkhead row.</p>

<p>As for UCLA - do know if he applies to the School of Music, and is not accepted, he is denied admission to UCLA even if everything else about his application would make him a shoo-in for other departments and he cannot go back and change his major.</p>

<p>That is good to know on both counts, SpiritManager. My son’s cello is not overly expensive-valued at under 5K, but it’s the only one we have and certainly have no money for another one, so we need to be careful with what we have. He has a very cheap and rather broken case. I’ve been trying to find a good used Bam or something. I will look into cello flight cases and he can talk with his teacher today.</p>

<p>Good to know about UCLA. I think he wouldn’t want to go anyways if he wasn’t going to get into his major of choice. At UCLA, he seems to be leaning towards the digital media studies at this point.</p>

<p>Regarding the future solo performance, you can also add the word “anticipated” so as to be completely transparent and so any resume reviewers know you didn’t make a mistake on the year. My daughter had won a concerto competition at start of her senior year, so she noted it in her fall 2013 college applications under awards with the notation “anticipated performance, Feb 2014.”</p>

<p>Also if you have insurance to cover your instrument make sure it covers damage from a flight. We just recently purchased a new cello for my son and I researched insurance. We had previously had his cello on our homeowners but it doesn’t cover the cello if he is getting paid to play so it was time to go with an insurer that specializes in covering instruments. Some of the companies cover flights, some don’t. Some only cover if you buy a seat and some cover if it is checked only if you use a flight case. </p>

<p>We collected from our homeowner insurance’s personal articles rider for the cello damage on the flight - it was almost as much as the cello is worth. No deductible, no questions regarding whether it was for a professional gig or not. The only questions were regarding the release form that Southwest required my son to sign. (Be sure to keep it!) I was more than pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to collect. Haven’t seen what they’ll charge us next year, of course!</p>

<p>My son has a flight case which goes over his BAM case. However, he’s also borrowed and rented single flight cases from music stores and teachers. He’s traveled around the world with them and his cello.</p>

<p>I insured my oldest son’s violin via Total Dollar since he was going away to college. I may just do the same thing with my son’s cello. I thought it was reasonable. I’ll check to see how much it costs to add the cello. It’s due up at the end of this school year.</p>

<p>Also, many school use Decision Desk for the music application as well as the Common App. </p>

<p>We also use Total Dollar. We added a new instrument this year and the premium didn’t go up.</p>

<p>We also added a rider to our homeowner’s insurance for instrument, bows and case (violin, not cello). Quite reasonable but also doesn’t cover paid gigs including busking. We looked at Clarion as well, but they don’t cover instruments in lockers, including school and college instrument lockers.</p>