Mom of a bass-baritone who was accepted everywhere he auditioned with nice merit money: Posters who mentioned singers develop a bit later are so correct. My kid has been singing professionally since fifth grade (boy soprano–sang often at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, etc). His voice change, however, was long and not easy. In fact, his voice is still changing. He attended a choir school in elementary and middle school and a performing arts high school, with Saturday preconservatory classes. He had a voice teacher at his high school, and one at his preconservatory program. And both said that as a male with a low voice (these often take many years to ripen), he absolutely should avoid competitions. So we avoided them. It was really difficult though–so many of his classmates were involved in competitions and the weekly school newsletter was filled with congrats to his classmates who had won this competition or that. He definitely spent a lot of his high school comparing himself to other more developed singers. (He did do All-State and the school operas and musicals.) We were also told not to worry about summer courses until the summer between junior and senior year, when his teachers felt it would be helpful. So he did Oberlin Vocal Arts and Tanglewood last summer. He did say that the boys at Tanglewood were, for the most part, still working with their changing voices. And the staff saw that as normal. My son is a whiz at ear training, theory, music history, keyboard and all those other musicianship that help. And his grades are good. His SAT was good (not crazy-amazing, but certainly good.) And his recommendations were glowing. Oh, and he had a gig singing at an episcopal church each Sunday. All of those things helped him.
Like @coloraturagirl , we did the twice-a-week lessons, which I think were very helpful. His pre-conservatory program also gave him a lot of opportunities to sing in front of people with recitals, solos, etc. He also had a very wide-ranging repertoire thanks to church, choir, school, Saturday program, etc.
One interesting note: Early on in our admissions journey, I thought it was essential to have a connection to a school (doing a summer course at a school so you can meet the teacher). At the end of our journey, I realized I had been wrong. My son ended up at was a school where he knew no staff members: Eastman. In fact, he got into several schools where he didn’t know any of the staff. And he got into schools where he did know the staff. I also know kids who did summer programs at certain schools, applied to those schools and didn’t get in. So… I no longer think knowing a professor is as important as having potential. That’s just my two cents, though. Someone else may feel differently.
We were told by his vocal teachers that the combination of a strong audition, strong recommendations, strong grades and yes, strong aural and theory tests, are what got him the merit money. Kids are told that the aural and theory tests are for placement and doing poorly on these won’t hurt a person’s chances. And I do think that is true. But I also have been told that a kid who is strong in everything (including aural and theory) is more likely to get merit money. Oh, and niceness. My kid is really respectful. Shows up in a suit, is comfortable speaking with adults, is not pushy, holds doors open, stands when someone enters a room, and in the group interviews that a few schools had, he behaved himself. (There were, supposedly, a few kids who were bragging or monopolizing the conversation or name-dropping in group interviews.)
All the above adds up–more than competitions. You really don’t need them. You need potential (which includes the ability to be coached), and you need commitment to excellence (which grades are a part of–they’ll be especially important next year, I have a feeling), and a play-well-with-others personality, and a love of performing. Focus on the prize, not the shiny objects that can be so distracting!