<p>Hello! </p>
<p>I'd love some help with this as I'm not really sure what to do. </p>
<p>Yesterday I got a call from a teacher (Prof. A) at a conservatory before I got an official acceptance from the school. He says he'd be delighted to work with me. The prof. I really want to study with at the same conservatory (Prof. B) had talked to me right after my audition (five+ weeks ago) and told me that I did a terrific job and that he'd like me in his studio. </p>
<p>I had requested prof. B as my first and only choice in my application.</p>
<p>I need to clarify two things: first, if there has been an official acceptance (not sure whether the school has accepted me yet). Second, I need to figure out if I'm still in the running for Prof. B's studio. Does the call from Prof. A mean Prof. B didn't have any space for me or is Prof. A just being proactive?</p>
<p>Do I call Prof. B? I wasn't sure about studying with him when I auditioned but now I really want to. His studio is really hard to get into & wasn't sure I even had a chance. Should I let him know? </p>
<p>Do I ask admissions what my status is? </p>
<p>Aaaaah!</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Studio assignment methods vary from school to school. Some admit students directly to a particular studio, others admit a general pool of students and sort out the studio assignments over the next few months using one of several different methods.</p>
<p>You should have an admission decision very soon. You cannot assume that you will be admitted because of the call, but I would say your odds have improved. I don’t think it necessarily means your are out of the running for Professor B. It could very well be Prof. A trying to snag a student whose playing he liked.</p>
<p>My advice would be to hang in there and wait for the official acceptance before worrying about the studio assignment. At that point, if accepted, you should first find out about the studio selection process either from admissions (if they happen to know, and in some schools they will not) or from the head office for the music department (it may be a Dean, a department head or one of their administrative assistants that you need to talk to). [Hint: Try to start off and remain on a good footing with the administrative assistants. They are the ones who really run the day-to-day workings of the department.] Once you understand the studio selection process at this particular school, you will then be in a much better position to contact Profs. A and B in an appropriate manner.</p>
<p>My guess (and that is all it is) is that it is likely you will get admitted if two teachers have shown interest. Without knowing the program (as one poster said, some programs, like Indiana, admit you and then you find a teacher, others, like Juilliard and some others, you indicate preferences on your sheet, and if any teachers indicate an interest and you pass the admissions level, you get in (might not be the teacher you indicated interest in, though)). No guarantees obviously, maybe these two people liked you and everyone else hated you, it is possible (but not likely IMO).</p>
<p>I agree with others, wait until the official admits come out and see if they indicate which teachers agreed to teach you, and if B, your choice did, choose them, if not, see what the alternates are and make a decision at that point. It wouldn’t hurt to try and contact professor B and see if he still has openings in the event you got in, at the very least might make you feel less anxious. To be honest, I wouldn’t contact the admissions people until the official decisions come out, they probably are inundated with people asking those kinds of questions and they probably are swamped. Once it comes out, and if for example you don’t see professor B on the list, then it would be wise to contact them and see what they can do:). You don’t want to get on their bad side, and more importantly, if you are good with them it is really a good thing to have them think favorably of you, they can do a lot to help if help is needed.</p>
<p>BassDad, musicrpnt, as always you are both <em>incredibly</em> helpful. Thank you so much for replying. </p>
<p>BassDad: I felt quite reassured by your comment, thank you. I’m pretty sure I’ve been accepted since I got yet another call from Prof. A and some specific information about my application that tells me that. Would it be best in your opinion to call or email admissions to ask about the teacher selection process?</p>
<p>musicprnt: I followed your advice and after much agonizing I contacted Prof. B; I didn’t directly ask him if he still had openings. I just told him how much I wanted to study with him and said I still hadn’t heard from the school. I completely agree about being on the right footing with admissions, thanks for advising that again.</p>
<p>Update: </p>
<p>I got another call from teacher A two days ago. </p>
<p>I finally called teacher B this morning and while he didn’t give me any information about whether his studio is still open or whether he still wants me, he said he would figure out what’s going on and said to call him again. </p>
<p>I’m worried that I’ve been assigned to Prof. A (not necessarily a bad choice, I just really wanted to study with Prof. B), since he can probably see from logging into my application who I’ve been assigned to? Is that how it works?</p>
<p>How easy is it to change studio assignment once it’s been sent in an official email by admissions? </p>
<p>This is so stressful.</p>
<p>GoldenLynx-</p>
<p>Without knowing the school you are talking about I can’t say anything for sure, but of the programs I am familiar with none of them assign students to teachers. In some programs the student goes and finds a teacher after being admitted, in most of them it is like you mentioned, when you audition you indicate which teachers you want to study with, and the admissions people try to give you one of your requests, if possible. If none of the teachers on your list have an opening and/or wish to teach you, but there are other teachers who indicate an interest, admissions will normally from what I know have you meet with the other teachers and see if any of them are a match. </p>
<p>I suspect when you get the acknowledgement of admission, if it happens, they will tell you whether B was a match and prob will tell you any other teachers that are open to teaching you, then it will be your choice. I have never heard of a teacher, like your teacher A, telling admissions “this person is working with me” and that is it…knowing what I do of admissions, from what they have said and from what I have seen and heard, I think few teachers have that kind of power over the office…put it this way, normally the ‘big teachers’ have so many students wanting to study with them, with usually limited space, I can’t see any of them wanting a student so much as to basically ‘poach them’…</p>
<p>I think you should be more happy that it sounds like a)you have a good chance of getting in, taking some of that anxiety away and b) that you have two apparently decent teachers willing to teach you…and that whoever you end up with, sounds like you have choices, which is never a bad thing. In many ways, you are in a lot better then the kids out there who auditioned and are waiting to hear anything from the school, you have signs that at least 2 teachers liked you, and as they say in some blues songs, that ain’t a bad thing, no how:)</p>
<p>There are some schools that will assign students to a particular studio,based on the input received from both the teacher and the student during the application process. In such cases, that information should appear on the acceptance letter. If it does not, it is important to find out before agreeing to attend. Since you have already spoken with Professor B, I think your best course of action would be to give him a week or so to do what he said he would do and then call him back.</p>
<p>When the assignment is made by the school, changes in studio are generally handled on a case-by-case basis with the knowledge of both teachers involved. Depending on the personalities involved, this can result in anything from no big deal to a major hissy fit. My daughter was able to change her teacher assignment with no hard feelings between her acceptance and May 1 when the decision was due. You may find that you will work with both teachers anyway, if your curriculum includes repertoire classes.</p>
<p>When you have the acceptance in hand, you can investigate these thing further.</p>
<p>Just one thought - where are the parent(s) in this discussion?</p>