@JeJeJe , as I mentioned somewhere here earlier, my son and his roommate originally planned to find an off-campus apartment in Boston for the fall. We figured we had the whole summer to find a reputable R.E. agent and look for a good place. But since that’s obviously going to prove even more challenging now, they decided to hedge their bets and put down deposits to get on the on-campus housing waiting-list. That, too, now seems like a long-shot, especially for upperclassmen (and, again, the idea of close dorm-quarters before things are a LOT better is kind of…chilling!). So, if Berklee is able to re-open the campus for fall (my son will take the semester off if it’s going to be online again), we–and many others–are kind of at a loss about how it will all work. Especially, as you point out, if there is even LESS dormitory space due to distancing requirements for safety.
Frustrating much?!! 
Still, I need to keep reminding myself that we are SO much more fortunate than so many others during this time, and to try to just chill!
@Pl1277 the ACT is universally accepted. Many kids forgo the SAT and take only ACT. The June and July dates here in CA are already mostly booked. My older two submitted only ACT scores.
My feeling with test optional schools is that students should still take them. If you want merit money for your kid, it’s the best way to get it and will be required I would think. So many schools have gpa systems up in the air with current grading policies. A standardized test shows true ability.
@coloraturagirl , I think I have to disagree with you about standardized tests showing “true ability.” My son was, after nearly flunking out of high school even though we knew that he was highly intelligent, diagnosed with “slow processing speed” as a junior in H.S. His teachers would tell us that he demonstrated that he understood the material back and forth before taking a test, and then he would almost invariably fail or come close to failing the tests he had to take. He was given time-and-a-half on his school and standardized tests after the diagnosis, and things started to improve dramatically (thank God, because his failing grades were only exacerbating the depression he was experiencing).
Nevertheless, he was admitted to SUNY Purchase based pretty much entirely on his audition (his GPA from high school couldn’t catch up, and his SAT scores were mediocre), and later he got into Berklee, where he is doing really well, and last semester got on the Dean’s List. He simply learns in ways that standardized and other testing can’t measure. If we, and the schools, had taken his test scores and resulting grades at face value, he would never have had the chance to prove what he is capable of. He lives and breathes music; it would have been very sad if he hadn’t been able to pursue it based on testing.
Many schools are test optional. Temple is one of the public PA schools with a good music program to be test optional.
Auditions might have to be by video. But my S auditioned in February so hopefully things will be better by then?
Standardized testing is one way to demonstrate academic knowledge and test taking ability. In normal times I would say it’s best to have test scores, test optional notwithstanding, because most academic merit money processes take them into account along with grades. Academic merit can be more predictable and straightforward than music merit and it certainly helped out my son. This year may well be different, with so many test dates cancelled already, many students may be unable to get scores and the colleges will have to figure out other ways of awarding merit. It’s going to be an interesting year for admissions.
We are expecting an announcement from UNT next week regarding fall. Hearing rumblings from parents that they don’t want an online semester for their music students. The voice teacher sounded less confident this week than last week that there will be in person lessons this fall. Ugh. On the other hand UNT has so far released well-considered plans and adjustments as this has progressed, and I expect the same next week. I just hate the idea of more disruption to these kids’ educations. More coursework switched to online begins to have a serious detrimental effect on degree objectives and requirements for a music major.
@Parentof2014grad , some of those rumblings are coming from me. A semester’s worth (or less than half of a semester, in this case) of music classes that are more about music history, theory, etc., has been pretty much fine, given the amount of time the professors had to prepare to teach that way. But I just don’t believe that most music classes shouldn’t be in-person, collaborative experiences, with face-to-face interaction with the professors and other students. And Berklee also has ensemble requirements for the degree (I’m sure other schools do as well)–how can that possibly work online? I’d rather just hold off until those things can be done the old-school way!
@coloraturagirl she signed up for ACT in June after I looked into it. She will have to take the SAT in Sept, and got an email regarding sign-ups being tight because of the backlog. Should be fun!
@AsMother both SAT and ACT offer accommodations if necessary. When I taught high school, students often had 50% extra or even double time for testing if it was written into their IEP or 504 plan. Students with different learning styles can be assessed then as well. Given that many districts across the country have moved to credit/no credit for this last part of the year, and the same could potentially happen next year, students heading into college will need to demonstrate stronger academic potential (this is my opinion). I have two who have gone through this college admissions process now and two more to go. It’s a gut feeling on my end to add extra support to their transcripts with outside classes and high test scores to make them more attractive to colleges. We will want as much merit $$ as possible. Of course not everyone has to go that route- it’s a choice. I can only say what has worked well for both of my older kids and what I plan to do with my younger two.
My son’s school sent out an email today. Traditionally, all sophomore should have completed dorm sign-ups by now but it has been delayed this year due to Covid-19. They are currently working on several different plans. We should hear about fall semester plan(s) and housing plan(s) in mid-May. His school “requires” (guarantees) all freshmen and sophomore to live on-campus housing (double or triple rooms). But I am pretty sure that they will need to reduce total numbers of on-campus students for social distancing requirements. Room selection / roommate requests will happen in June. We prefer him living on campus. But we may end up looking for an apartment online with some small photos and google street map. I hate the worst case of scenario but it’s still better to have in-person classes at campus than online classes at home.
Also- my experience with former students with slow processing speed and other learning issues is that the ACT tends to be a clearer test with regard to language arts-just more straightforward. My students with learning differences almost always did better on the ACT simply because it is less tricky in the reading and grammar sections. My older two took both test and both also did better on the ACT (even though both despised the science section).
@AsMother it’s unfortunate that it took as long as it did to find the issue with your son because junior year is already crunch time. With larger classes these days, I can see why teachers don’t notice everything right away. I used to teach at both public and private schools; there was definitely a difference that the class sizes made.
My second daughter was offered admission to many schools based on her audition; for her, though, the best offers in terms of $$ came from schools where test scores were required. I believe that the financial hardships from Covid-19 put many parents in more dire financial straits at the same time that universities are losing money as well. Awards will be more competitive in the coming years. A strong test score should help if a student can attain it.
If the school says they are TO, they are TO. My D20 got terrific merit from two TO LACs and did not submit test scores. There is no reason to second guess this process.
@murray93 it depends on the University and the competition to gain admission. The reason for second guessing the process is a)the process isn’t the same for everyone depending on the school list and b)current high school juniors and sophomores will be applying with huge gaps in their transcripts because of the current credit/no credit policy. There are schools that are having not just quarter, but entire semester grades wiped from their transcripts and converted to pass or fail. This can definitely have impact upon admissions for those students.
It’s up to parents and students in the end, but I’m a believer in hedging the bet any way possible.
@fivethirtyfive How did it go? My daughter emailed one prof and got an almost immediate response. Her sample lesson will be today. I still don’t know how I am to make payment though.
She will try to make contact with a couple more today and tomorrow.
We talked about how we thought the sample lesson would go, we have no experience with this. Anyone on here care to comment? We thought it might be part interview, part lesson. I asked her to think about how she would answer a couple of common interview questions and what she might want to ask the professor. She’s already spoken online to some of the students at this school and she asked them about the practice rooms, the ensemble audition process once you are accepted, etc. Is it acceptable to ask the professor for prescreening and/or audition tips?
@coloraturagirl , I was commenting solely on your observation that a “standardized test shows true ability.” I agree that one should do whatever works best to achieve the optimum situation for your children as they head off to college. My only point was that a student may have the worst testing record in the world (my son did get time and a half for the SAT, by the way, and was in a relatively small private school–his “issues” just didn’t start to show up until late in middle school, whereas previously he’d been a pretty much straight-A student, and there were a lot of factors I won’t go into here), and still prove to be extremely talented and prepared to do well in his or her chosen field, particularly if it’s a passion, and the school is the right fit. (I also suspect that there are some who ace the standardized tests and nevertheless do poorly in other areas–we are all very different!).
So please don’t take what I said as a criticism to your approach, at all. I’m all for whatever works (as long as it’s ethical)! And I’m in complete agreement that these bizarre times and economic uncertainty for schools, parents, and so many others is going to make finding ways to be especially competitive even more important. For my son, however, if GPA and standardized tests had been the only measurements used, he’d be flipping burgers somewhere and sitting in his room with his guitar during his free time!
This discussion of test optional options is off-topic, but here is the incredible list of schools that either are test-optional or don’t emphasize tests:
https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
One of my kids, in the performing arts, applied without any testing and did just fine with admissions. She got financial aid. One LAC said scores were needed for merit aid but I’m pretty sure she got it anyway, based on what she was awarded.
They MEAN it when they say they are test-optional.
Wonderful news, @stringbird, about the quick response from the professor! Always a plus when they seem willing and engaged. Most were, in our experience. But every now and then we came across someone who was hard to contact, or took a long time responding. I hated to feel like we were bothering them, but this is not to say that they felt this way. Some are busy with work and travel, are email-adverse, etc. It’s part of the job, though, and they’re used to it. (Not sure I could do it!). Some just seem more receptive/ responsive than others.
In our experience, these sample/ trial lessons were often part lesson, part conversation. The teacher is trying to get to know your student and his/ her playing, and your student is trying to get a feel for what it might be like to study with this teacher. Definitely good to go in with a few questions in mind–just in case they ask. My D. had a few where the teacher told her what to prepare in advance, and at least one where she was quizzed on theory and asked interview type questions. This was not the norm, however. Mostly these lessons ranged from 30-60 minutes, and involved a nice back and forth between student and teacher. Do make note of the teacher’s comments/ suggestions. It’s possible they’ll remember your student come audition time, and will be listening to see if suggestions have been implement and how the student’s playing has grown and progressed. D made sure to mention at least one particularly helpful interaction/ suggestion in the thank you note she sent after each lesson. It was useful (for her) to look back on these notes during audition season as well.
We typically inquired in the initial email to the professor about lesson fees/ payment. Most were very direct about amount charged. Some later refused to accept payment following the lesson. Some simply pocketed the money. Theirs to decide! We never assumed anything going in. In this day of ‘virtual everything’, I guess I would just inquire about which method of payment would be best (PayPal, Venmo, etc.). Although some professors have steep rates, in our experience it was ALWAYS worth taking the lesson. Even if it ended up ruling out a school, better to have that information now than later. Chances are, your student will gain valuable information about the school and teacher, and will feel empowered by the interaction.
Good luck!
@AsMother I totally get it - I’ve seen such struggles over the years with last students and my youngest may forgo testing altogether when it’s time for her applications. Situations are all different and for the kids who have been accepted, there isn’t the worry that there is for those still in high school. I relay my and my kids’ experiences only to inform others. I don’t take it personally at all.
Re: TO schools- Boston U is test optional, but last summer an admissions person told D and I specifically to our faces to submit her test score for the best chances. BU was one of the strongest offers she received.
note on the fine print on the Fairtest list of test optional schools:
“NOTE: This list includes institutions that are “test optional,” “test flexible” or otherwise de-emphasize the use of standardized tests by making admissions decisions – without using ACT or SAT scores – for all or many applicants who recently graduated from U.S. high schools.
As the endnotes indicate, some schools exempt students who meet minimum grade-point average or class rank criteria; others require SAT or ACT scores but use them only for placement purposes. Please check with the school’s admissions office for details”
Some of the schools on test-optional lists are truly test-optional and some aren’t.
And for merit aid, many truly test-optional schools, scores are required for merit aid. Not for financial aid. @coloraturagirl not sure which you were dealing with, with BU.
I might speculate that larger schools have more of a need for scores and base decisions more on stats in general. Just speculation. Schools with more holistic admissions might be more truly test-optional, but that takes time and resources for evaluation. With music, of course, talent/audition count.
DS wound up just contacting one prof this week. In that email he said he’d like to have a private lesson and talk about the school/program and also asked for instructions on payment for the lesson.
The prof (of a prestigious and popular program) replied within a couple of hours. He already knew of ds (someone else had already emailed this prof an introduction, of sorts) and was wonderfully friendly. They have a lesson next week when it’s most convenient for both of them.
He isn’t charging anything for this lesson.
DS wanted to wait on the other two until he had knocked out a trouble sport or two in the pieces he’s currently working on. lol Since they’ll be “cold turkey” with no introduction, really. So- he’ll send those out next week.
Seems like perfect timing - the profs have been forced to learn what methods they prefer for online instruction So they are perhaps even more willing to make time for a private lesson!
I’d not hesitate to ask the prof for audition/screening tips! NOT in a way that indicates that the student is trying to CHANGE herself to be what she imagines the prof is looking for (a common error), but in a curious, “is there anything I should know heading into this process?” sort of way.
Good luck to your dd!!! Hope it goes well!!!