Communication issues or a "sign"?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>S is in the process of coming up with his "list" of schools to apply to. We're trying to plan for visits in the next couple of months. But something that has happened has me concerned. </p>

<p>One of the big advantages to visiting a school is having a sample lesson with a teacher. But twice now my son has tried to make email contact with a teacher only to have them not reply. In one case it turned out to be that the teacher has been on leave this year and wasn't available (we eventually contacted the admissions department who put us in touch with the department chair). But S emailed another teacher (at a different school) late last week about trying to schedule a lesson and hasn't heard back from them yet. </p>

<p>This last attempt at contact is with a teacher at a local school, but what happens when we try and do this with more distant schools? I'm a little concerned that we're never going to make useful contact with a potential teacher. In which case we might want to really think about our reasons for traveling 1000+ miles to visit some of the schools on his list.</p>

<p>I'm starting to wonder what the point is of trying to schedule lessons with teachers who don't reply to emails. Has this happened to other people? Are we doing something wrong? Is this just a couple of flukes?</p>

2

<p>My daughter has run into this little snag once or twice, but in our experience it’s been the result of the extreme craziness of teachers’ lives and schedules. Teachers, especially ones at top-tier schools, have so much to do and so little time in which to do it. If you are really interested in a particular instructor, I wouldn’t let this stop you. See if a call to the admissions office will help connect you to said teacher. </p>

<p>It is frustrating, but may be worth the trouble. Bon chance!</p>

3

<p>trumpetguysmom, there could be many reasons your son did not receive a reply. We’ve found that while some teachers are very responsive over email, some barely use email and may not check their messages even weekly. And, some are technology-challenged (yes, in this day and age, many middle-aged musicians and artists are still clinging to the 20th century) that they have trouble responding to a simple message. </p>

<p>Or they could have multiple accounts and have no forwarding from their school account (I can vouch this happens!), so you really need to track down the “real” email address. Or they simply don’t use email, so the best way to reach them is by phone. Then, there will be the percentage of them who don’t have answering machines. (We’ve had this happen as well), so even if you have their home number, you may have to call dozens of times before catching them by chance at their homes. </p>

<p>All of these things happened to my daughter, and more: there was the teacher who only communicated by fax. That’s right, fax. (I did learn that you can now send and receive faxes from your computer using an online service.)</p>

<p>Then there was the teacher who only communicates by postal mail. My daughter sent him a letter, but got no answer. This teacher was on the verge of retirement; my daughter actually finagled a lesson with the teacher’s son, who taught at a different conservatory but was willing to communicate with his father on her behalf, and was able to tell her, on December 1, the day that applications were due, that his father would retire that year (I think the decision had been up in the air) so she knew not to request his studio. </p>

<p>One year later, my daughter was woken at 8 AM by a cell phone call from the postal mail teacher, now retired, who was going through a stack of old mail. He saw the date on her letter (not noticing that the year was off by one) and called her as if it had been mailed only a week prior. After a very confusing conversation on both of their parts, it was determined that my daughter was now a freshman at the same school from which had retired. They rang off pleasantly, wishing each other a happy future.</p>

<p>So the moral of this story is to be persistent in your efforts to contact teachers. Don’t assume that an email will get through to them. Call the school office, write a paper letter, google them to find out if they have a professional website with a contact email different from the school email (this has often proven effective.) Have your son contact any of his friends who might study with these teachers and ask them how they communicate with their teachers. </p>

<p>And don’t be surprised if an email is returned 6 weeks after being sent-- that has also happened to us. The teachers are busy and may collect a list of potential students to answer all at once, when they are in scheduling mode.</p>

4

<p>We are still deciding where son is going next fall. However, we have found that the teachers who were the most responsive in the beginning of the process are still the most responsive now and vice versa. One teacher only responds to emails after you call admissions and then the email is returned. Hopefully, if son chooses to go there, he’ll fugure out an easier way to communicate with the teacher.</p>

5

<p>My daughter ran into this with some teachers when she was arranging trial lessons (with their not responding to her emails). Some folks responded quickly, some didn’t. Some responded WEEKS later, apologetically.</p>

<p>In some instances, I wrote to the teacher as well, and that worked. Or I called the music department, to verify the email address.</p>

<p>She was ultimately able to arrange lessons with (almost) everyone. And, while my D and I certainly felt ‘warmer’ towards those teachers who were email-friendly, she did not rule out a teacher solely because of their slow email response-time.</p>

6

<p>I’m assuming that your son has a “professional” email account with his name (johndoe at gmail or yahoo or something) and that he’s sent you emails to verify that the account is functional? In general, I would say if he emails someone and they haven’t responded in a week or so, then he should call the number listed on the school website and try for contact in that way. D3’s emails to some professors ended with them sending her their cell phone numbers and requesting her to call them directly. Good luck!</p>

7

<p>I would email again a second time, starting out with something like "i know you are so busy but…
If that doesn’t work call the music dept and see what they suggest. Maybe leave a voice mail or maybe there is an alternate personal email they have that they actually prefer.
One teacher we contacted took 3 weeks to reply by email, said he almost never checks it but sent his cell phone number. We left a voice mail on it and when he called us back he talked to me for an hour.
Do not be discouraged, the majority of profs my daughter contacted responded within 24 hours, some as quickly as 2 hours!</p>

8

<p>Prior to scheduling a visit or lesson, we would always call the admissions office and say… “I want to schedule a lesson with X, what is the best way to get in touch with him?” Frequently we were told how this person prefers to be contacted (phone or email), and a few times we learned that it would be a better idea to schedule a lesson with a different teacher …<br>
I think admissions office gets asked this question often…</p>

9

<p>^ Agree - we had problems getting through to teachers at one school and when we contacted admissions, we were given their personal email addresses. I’d say give the teachers the benefit of the doubt and ask for an alternative way to contact them.</p>

10

<p>My S ended up studying with a teacher who never responded at all, and whom he never had a sample lesson with. Never learned why we never got a response - crazy schedule? Missed email? Low priority? School refused to give out contact info, but said they would contact him. Perhaps they never did.</p>

<p>He was a fabulous teacher, and perfect match. He was also easy to contact, and serious about his students - gave all his students home and cell numbers. </p>

<p>Not exactly what I would have recommended to anyone; just a data point that what happens to an anonymous stranger wanting to “try him out” isn’t necessarily indicative of all that much.</p>