Importance of the tour and "lesson" at a music school before the application is sent in?

Hi all. I am new to the forum and grateful for this group, as the music application process is so different from the traditional process! My question is about the need to tour a school and schedule time with a professor.

We haven’t toured many music schools in large part because of the on-site audition requirement. We were thinking the audition would give my son a chance to see and visit the school. I’m now wondering if our failure to do a tour and schedule the “lesson” that so many people recommend will impact whether he gets asked to do an audition. I could fit a couple of tours in before summer is over, at least to the top school choices, if it’s important. Any thoughts on how important it is to show this level of interest and try to schedule a lesson before he submits an application?

Thank you!!

As an aside, I have read the other posts about lessons and whether they are important. My question is more narrow - whether it is important to have a tour to show interest or for a lesson to happen before the application is submitted. I think the lesson and tour makes sense before committing to 4 years… I’m just not sure if it’s important on the front end.

Thank you all!

I only have an N of 1 for music so my experience helping my D may not be generalizable. However, It seems to me that what really mattered was the audition. My D had three schools that required a prescreen for audition and she did not demonstrate any interest prior to sending in her videos. All three offered her an audition. Admission decisions after the audition did not seem related to interest either. “Interest” issues seem to pick up after the audition and the acceptance.

Some colleges also have high academic standards (USC, Northwestern, etc) too. But that should not be seen as lessening the importance of the audition. It just means there are two hurdles at some programs.

Honestly, no. Showing interest is nowhere near as important as an excellent prescreening recording and an excellent audition. It can be helpful to have a lesson beforehand, but not necessary. And showing up, touring, etc. is not meaningful for a music conservatory the way it can be for a traditional college.

I know I’ve said pre-audition sample lessons seemed to be important during my son’s search. But he did not have a pre-audition lesson at the school he ultimately chose to attend. I still think you should do it where possible, but not if time or money is an issue.

^^exactly!

You may not find it easy to find teachers available for lessons in summer or even early fall. Many of them are away at summer festivals- or on vacation- until classes begin and the first 4-6 weeks of classes are filled with auditions for ensembles, winter productions, etc. Also, in some schools, students assistants handle the scheduling and correspondence for profs. If you can manage it, trying to do your tours in October is great!

Thank you all! That is helpful feedback for sure.