I am currently a sophomore in a BA program at college and I am planning to transfer to a music school to pursue vocal performance. I want to apply to the vocal performance programs at USC Thorton and UMich SMTD, however my academic stats are pretty low when compared to their regular admission standards. I was wondering if they will straight up eliminate you from the pile when your grades aren’t up to standard, or that you may still have a chance if you have submitted a great audition tape. I’d really appreciate if anyone can shed some light on this. Thanks a lot!
I do not know anything about Thornton, but Michigan was once on my kid’s longer list of schools and yes, the academic standards are lower for the UMich SMTD (School of Music Theater and Dance) than for regular admissions. The talent standards are of course extremely high. See here for the minimum academic standards (transfer info is on there too): https://smtd.umich.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/admission-guidelines/
Do be aware that every music school is different and each one teaches subjects a bit differently so transfer students may require extra time to graduate. My son transferred from one Bachelor of Music program to another after freshman year and the new school taught Music Theory very differently and in a different order so despite a 5 on the AP Theory exam in HS and A’s in first year Music Theory he had to start the Music Theory sequence over from the beginning. A number of his freshman year classes didn’t have equivalents so only counted for elective credit and the new school had a lot more Gen Ed requirements so he will need a full 4 years at the school he transferred to. He is doing very well there, however, and does not regret the transfer.
Good luck to you! There is a music major forum here at CC that is very helpful, please check it out.
Over the years, we have seen kids from our high school who were talented get into Michigan, even though they never would have qualified on the basis of their academic record.