<p>Assuming you have chosen with care and have some high level schools, a few middle of the road and one that is maybe not so hard to get into how many do you think is the correct number to apply to? Son is a rising senior planning to be composition major with cello focus or with cello performance double major. We visited 14 schools. He has 6 picked out he plans to apply to. (Except we have not seen the 6th yet but will when he returns from music camp in a couple of weeks. ) Given that we have heard there is no safety school for music do you think he should find a couple of others to apply to? The 7th school he was thinking of applying too is also a hard to get into school and no we are thinkinng it a bit. We were hoping he might try for 7 because scheduling the auditions itself is tricky. I feel like he might need a couple more that are mid level but we are having trouble finding other school in this cateogry that he really likes. He is really only trying to apply at schools he really likes. Thanks. It is so hard to know.</p>
<p>It sounds like 7 is a good number for you and your son and that you’ve chosen with care. Also, be certain to have some financial safeties on the list too. (Usually one he is well qualified for or over qualified.) Son’s top choice turned out to be too much of a reach for us financially even with a 50% tuition scholarship. Son did 6 auditions and it was exhausting traveling for him keeping up school work and all the music groups he was in.</p>
<p>7 sounds perfectly reasonable to me. S applied to 6, D2 to 6 (should have been more), D3 (musician) to 10.</p>
<p>It is worthwhile to see if any of the schools have early action. It may eliminate some auditions with an early acceptance. For example, my DD started apps to 6 schools, was accepted early to one so she withdrew one app and ended up with 5 auditions. If she hadn’t been accepted at the first school there would have been time to add one or two more schools.</p>
<p>The amount of financial assistance (merit + need-based aid) will influence your decision. If you need none, then 6 well-chosen schools should be sufficient. The more assistance you need, the more schools I would suggest applying to–mere acceptance is not enough for many people at many schools: they need considerable financial assistance to make attendance possible and the financial assistance amount is much less predictable than acceptance is (yes, many call acceptance into a music program a crap shoot–I would argue that music financial assistance is several times as crappy a shoot). </p>
<p>The other factor is how many of the schools require prescreens. If most of the schools require prescreens, then I would advocate adding a couple more schools for two reasons: a) if your son does not pass 4 or 5 of the prescreens, then his choices will be very limited if you stick with 6; b) if you son passes all of the prescreens, then you have some evidence that he will almost certainly get admitted to at least some schools, and you can drop a couple of the least desirable schools from your list. Usually it is the more selective/competitive schools that have prescreens, so passing all of them indicates a high level of talent that usually will result in admission to less selective programs.</p>
<p>The consensus is that 6 or 7 live auditions is the maximum that most students can handle (and some would say that 5 is a better number, particularly if all of the auditions require extensive travel and if the student’s high school program is rigorous).</p>
<p>Son’s teacher states that with flute it would be best to stack the deck and apply at about a baker’s dozen. This sounds impossible. Thoughts?</p>
<p>That seems like a awful lot to me. I have been looking at the audition dates. How could you schedule that many? Does the student have schools at several levels? (reach, likely, safety-if there is such a thing in music schools.) </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies to my question. We are leaning towards 7. I think 4 or them have pre screening requirement so our plan is to have several other to add to the list in case he is not invited to audition.</p>
<p>Flute is very competitive, but 13 live auditions would be very difficult in several ways (missed school, missed orchestra/band rehearsals, stress, missed practice due to travel, health, financial outlay). </p>
<p>Perhaps the flute teacher intends that recorded auditions be submitted to several of those schools (some schools accept recordings, especially when students live a distance from the school; however, most of the better schools absolutely do not accept recordings in place of a live audition). </p>
<p>If schools are well-chosen in terms of: a) the applicant’s ability level; and b) personal fit for the applicant, then I don’t think that 13 schools should be necessary. Even just the expenditure of time and money on applications will be quite large for 13 applications.</p>
<p>D applied to 11 schools and had 8 live auditions for vocal performance. We tried to schedule auditions for schools that didn’t require a pre-screening CD in November, December and early January. Schools that require a CD usually schedule their auditions late January - early march, which was manageable.</p>
<p>Always keep in mind that audition season is in the dead of winter, so unless you are limiting auditions to West Coast schools, you’ll be traveling through bad weather somewhere, sometime… It’s often impossible to reschedule, so begin making a spreadsheet, listing prospective dates and work from that.
IMHO, 13 schools are too many, if all of them are going to be “Live”.</p>
<p>If by applying to 13 it is meant as getting through pre-screening and maybe an early rolling admission or 2, then whittling it down when some results come in, it may be a decent plan. It is not a good plan if all 13 are highly competitive audition based admissions with Jan-March auditions. So, make sure that you have a safety or 2 in that list that are less competitive or not admission based but where you would like to go anyhow. Then see if you can get 1 or 2 early auditions at a rolling admission school that will let you know results by Christmas. Then plan no more than about 5 to 7 Jan-March auditions if you do well on the pre-screening. You can reduce the number as results come in. DD eliminated one of hers and did not do the audition when she realized after a few auditions that she did not really want to go there. Or do some that are DVD only as mentioned above.</p>
<p>I started out in a good music department of a large-ish community college and then applied to three conservatories, one by tape, two by auditions in person (combined into one trip). I was accepted by Indiana and Peabody, rejected by New England Conservatory. Peabody offered some financial aid, but Indiana still came out cheaper, so that’s where I went.</p>
<p>In those days (mid-seventies), applying to three schools was the sensible thing to do. I know times have changed.</p>
<p>Even so… if you have financial constraints, then I wouldn’t apply to more than two schools in the top-notch-but-costs-an-arm-and-a-leg category, unless the extras will take a recording, and you don’t mind the extra application fees.</p>
<p>Please do make sure you have a solid fall-back option.</p>
<p>In particular, given your son’s interest in cello, I would suggest Indiana (Bloomington) or U Michigan (Ann Arbor). You also have to think about what size of music school your son would do well in. The advantage of large is that there are so many options to choose from, so it’s easier to find the right match of teacher. The advantage of small is that there are more performance opportunities.</p>
<p>There are plenty of other constraints to consider – how easy or difficult it is to travel to/from the location for visits, whether you need/want a car on campus.</p>
<p>Also you should take a close look at the degree requirements, and consider how much interest your son has in non-music courses, and how much choice he wants to have over what classes he takes.</p>
<p>I have read that the best way to visit a school is for the student to go without the parents. It would be great if you could arrange for your son to shadow someone for a day or two, and stay in a dorm, at each of the two or three final choices. A trial lesson with a cello teacher would be ideal.</p>
<p>I applied to 5 music schools this past admissions season (as a contemporary & jazz vocalist), and all but 1 required prescreenings. The outcome was ideal. I wouldn’t go over 7 if I were you, especially if they’re in various cities/states and he plans to audition live at all of them. If your son is well qualified for the schools he really likes & prepares thoroughly for auditions, he should have no problem getting into at least a few of them. I know you’re inclined to have more options for some form of safety net, but don’t pressure him into applying to any he wouldn’t be genuinely happy to attend.</p>