Hi all, I’ve been accepted to some really great schools for an undergrad music degree (which, unfortunately, I don’t wish to name on a public forum for privacy reasons), and it’s thanks a lot to this forum and the ever-helpful folks here! So big thank you to everyone.
Anyway, since being offered admission, a few of the professors - whom I actually have no personal connections to - have contacted me to either express hope that I will attend or otherwise offering help in making my decision. The email seems quite personalized. Does anyone know if this is common practice? I’m curious to know whether I was singled out, or if most or all accepted students are similarly welcomed.
As explanation, I am trying to gauge how much I ‘matter’ to the schools, as I would prefer to attend a school in which my professor fully believes in my potential.
If a professor does not contact you that does not mean he does not believe in your potential. The fact that you were admitted means that the professors at the school believe you have the potential to make it. I definitely think that if the professors have contacted you, you should talk with them because you might learn more about the program and also get some clarity about what it is you want. Not sure if money is at stake but sometimes a professor is calling to see how much they need to “court” you. If you are unsure about their offer they sometimes throw additional money into the offer.
Thanks for clarifying that. One teacher my son really liked hasn’t really been in touch so not sure how interested they are in him. They gave him a decent scholarship not overly generous. It’s hard to determine.
Thanks for the quick responses. Money is indeed a huge factor at one, and part of my reason for asking is that I wasn’t sure whether mentioning the cost issue would be acceptable, since that particular professor has not mentioned cost at all - I don’t quite know if I should be the one to bring it up (how does one even go about that? “Hi, can I have more merit money from your school?”).
But StacJip, how would one go about showing that one is “unsure about their offer” to imply the need for more financial aid?
Glassharmonica why do you say that? There are many reasons faculty might not contact a potential student. One could simply be that they are on tour or busy with other things. I would not equate lack of contact to mean lack of interest.
Glassharmonica, I was beginning to wonder if you got taken over by a pod person, but then I re-read the post in question and yeah, it was kind of confusing lol.
It isn’t unusual for teachers to reach out, but the fact that a teacher doesn’t reach out may not mean anything either. Put it this way, at a place like Juilliard or the like that get so many top level students applying, it is probably rare for a teacher to reach out, in a sense it is kind of a seller market (with the school the seller). Other schools that are trying to attract top students often will reach out to see if they can induce the student to coming to the school, to beef up their studio and/or the school’s profile, it is a buyer’s market where the student is the one buying and the school trying to ‘make the sell’. If that is the case, then talking to the professor if you are interested and saying “I would love to go to your school, but right now we can’t afford it with the offer we have” can get the teacher involved and possibly get you good money.
I think the key thing is not to take too much from getting contacted. I know of one program that will send out e-mails from the teacher to the people who auditioned, that are in effect form e-mails (“Hi, this is Joe Smith from the conservatory, just wanted to tell you I enjoyed your audition, and hope you will think of studying with me”) that are nothing more than marketing pap, others it is real interest, and it never hurts to try and use that to try and get better aid, assuming you like the teacher.
It is normal, especially when you haven’t indicated a professor of your interest on your application, and of course, being contacted by a professor prior to admission means you are 90% in…
I beg to differ with you @pianonaip- being contacted by a prof prior to admission does not “mean that you are 90% in”. In fact, it may have no bearing at all on whether or not you are admitted, as many on this forum can tell you, and which you can read for yourself if you poke around through the threads. Kids have been “assured of admission” by teachers, only to find, when the emails arrived, that they were turned down. A lot goes into accepting a student- things that the studio teacher does not have access to, such as grades, test scores, etc, and those may keep a student out of the running. Also, there may be others who audition on the same instrument who are better or who are a “better fit” for the needs of the program, and some of these things can’t be assessed until everything is in and brought to the table for discussion.
Bottom line is, you’re never “in” until the acceptance is in your hand, or inbox!
I only spoke from my experience. I was contacted by the professors from two schools and have gotten in both very early (mid Feb). It has been the case for my friends, too. I think one can tell from the tone of the professors in the emails. Some professors have more power than others, too. Yes, there’re many factors to be considered here, but I have been going through auditions many times with friends, all from the music world. I don’t know how good an indicator it is to see forum members being turned down after being “assured of admission” by teachers. In fact, the professor would NOT guarantee anything in the emails, so if you hear anyone talking about being “guaranteed admission” but did not get in, I would not trust such info. I was just saying, normally, if a professor initiated the contact with you, you are pretty much in. It’s quite black and white. They are so busy during the audition season. If they do not intend to admit you, they would NOT initiate such contact.
Each conservatory and program has its own admissions system. In some schools teachers do pick their own studios. In others the auditioning committee votes. I’ve seen it happen many times that a teacher will want a student for his or her studio, but the student will still not gain admission because of the faculty vote. And sometimes students are declined academically.
If there is one thing I have learned about the world of US college admissions is that the is no such thing as black and white. It is more like a world of gray.
While my son did get admission and got emails from teachers, the emails were after admission , but my son knew them before the audition so that could be why they contacted him. And a teacher that was very enthusiastic at his sample lesson and got my son a decent not overly generous scholarship hasn’t been very interested since. It’s so confusing. I think it is good to be cautious until you have your acceptance and scholarship in hand.
The question is about being contacted after admission, so this discussion is irrelevant. And it IS better to not assume anything, just like in a relationship, I guess…
But okay, just for discussion’s sake…
I was only speaking about the scenario where a teacher INITIATES contact with a student PRIOR to admission decision. This is extremely rare. There’s a difference between “the professors showed interest/have been in contact” and “the professor initiated contact prior to admission”… Normally it’s the student who contacts the school and is lucky to receive any kind of reply from a teacher or the contact happens after admission… huge huge difference there!
I agree with GlassHarmonica and BCviolinmom, there is little that is black and white, and it really depends on the program. In a program where there are only 1 or 2 teachers on the instrument, especially when there is only 1, such contact will weigh a lot heavier I suspect then in a program where they use an audition panel, there are many teachers, and the one teacher can be overridden who contacted the student. Sometimes a teacher will contact a student they like, but then will be told by the administration they have too many students (and yep, that happens) and they can’t accept the student… I don’t think a teacher contacting a student is a negative, it is a positive sign, but as others have said, the fickle finger of fate is at work in the admissions process, and sometimes the best intentions in the world get turned into what seems like someone giving cruel hope…as that great philosopher, Lawrence Peter Berra, said “It ain’t over till its over”
This might be the case when students contact the teachers first and the teachers show interest in the replies. This is majority of the cases anyway. But if a teacher does not have a say in admission, he or she normally would not contact a student without him/her contacting the teacher first. It’s so commonly known. Is the population on the forum that much different from the real world I live in? This forum tends to be a bit too politically correct. The more conservative, the better huh? It’s one thing not to give most people false hope, another to prevent any clear opinion that might mislead those that fall into 10% reject region on the curve. Nowadays documents get longer and longer with all those terms and conditions. You would wonder why…
