<p>If one hopes to do "something" with music and that "something" requires an audition, is there really such a thing as a safety?</p>
<p>Sort of… In our area of the country there is one school that many music students use as a safety and a warmup audition. However, they still don’t accept everyone. Ask around and then read the college’s website for audition information. Usually, the more selective the school the more rigorous will be the audition and application process plus they will usually have more fees. Another clue would be to see if the seats in their orchestra and/or band are open to community members. If they are, then that’s a sign that it will be a less rigorous school. My older son who is not a music major attends a school (not a music school) that requires an audition to be a music major (BA) but the audition is more to see if you have any talent and whether or not they will offer you scholarship money to play in an ensemble.</p>
<p>The answer is no, auditioned music programs are never guaranteed, there is no way of knowing what the result will be. Even with ‘less competitive’ music programs, there is no way to assume you will get in. Put it this way, kids who have gotten into high level music programs like Curtis and Juilliard have been rejected from ‘lesser’ programs…(lot of debate about what that happens, was it because they knew the kid was that good and wouldn’t go there? Was it they didn’t like the kid? Who knows). The biggest reason is even more then academic programs, who gets in and who doesn’t is subjective, it is based on an audition and what they panel hearing it likes or doesn’t like about the student, there is little objectivity there. At least with academic admits, you have some sort of objective measurements, you have grades and gpa and test scores, with music, all you have is the audition (what competitions you won, what pre college program you went to, what ratings you got on some rating systems, all state, etc, mean little or nothing). </p>
<p>Now I am going to say something that may ruffle some feathers, but the other question here is assuming there is such a thing as a safety school, in terms of wanting to pursue music, is there much value to going into music when all you can do (hypothetically) is a safety school? What I am driving at is given the instrument you play or if you are a vocalist, if your only option is a safety, one that is known for being a less competitive admit, and given how competitive music is, how hard a sled it will be, are you good enough to overcome and become a professional? </p>
<p>Before anyone accusing me of saying that only the ‘best’ music schools give their students a chance of succeeding,that if you don’t go to Juilliard Et al you don’t have a chance, I am not saying that, I am talking about the concept of a ‘safety’, which implies it is an easier admit…which in turn implies that someone getting in there is behind the curve of other students…and then raises the question about how good the program is, that they have relaxed standards…What I am trying to drive at is instead of seeing music schools as a ‘safety’, looking for a program where you can ‘easily’ get in, it may be better to look at music programs for their program, see which ones seem to teach well, and then apply to them all with the assumption any of them would do well for you. There are a number of programs, for example, on instruments like the violin that have very strong teachers, but are ‘less competitive’ because they don’t have ‘the name’ that let’s say NEC has, so they don’t get flooded by hundreds or thousands of kids from around the world. </p>
<p>There are also music programs that simply aren’t that great either on a particular instrument or in the whole program, that could be pretty easy to get into if you are halfway decent, that may in fact be useless, where the program and teachers don’t drive you forward, and if you chose them as a ‘safety’ would not work. In the end, the name of the program you went to doesn’t matter in terms of being a working musician (it might if you want to become a teacher directly) by itself, it is what they are able to get out of the student and that needs to be the focus,simply having a BM degree from a college means nothing, it is what you can do as musician that matters. In some ways it is like academic programs, in most jobs where you went to college stops mattering once you are out there working, it is what you do that matters, and it is the same way in music,having a degree itself means nothing and the name has limited value, it is what you do musically that is going to matter. If that is true (and I believe it is), a school easy enough to get into classified as a ‘safety’ might very well be worthless. Kind of like what groucho marx said about not wanting to be in any club that would have him as a member; in this case, you may not get any value out of a program ‘easy’ enough to be a safety so what would the value of going there be?</p>
<p>Some would argue that for auditioned programs in music there is no such thing as a safety. I think it is safe to say that some auditioned music programs are considerably easier to get into than others and that for a strong player the chances of admission at those schools is very high. </p>
<p>Certainly music admissions are less predictable than academic admissions and therefore the degree of safety is not as high in music as it is with academics. </p>
<p>Obviously the quality of a student’s performance at an audition is somewhat unpredictable (we all have good days and bad days), but more importantly, the following factors vary:
a) number of openings for an instrument;
b) number of applicants in a given year;
c) quality of the applicants in a given year; and,
d) most importantly, faculty response to an audition.</p>
<p>There are many students who apply to music every year and who have such weak performing skills that there is no safety for them. Even the schools that are most generous with music admission (i.e. those with the lowest bar) have standards which are higher than many students and their parents expected.</p>
<p>I think you need to differentiate between instruments and voice. Voice takes longer to develop and having a different undergraduate degree while studying privately is not an uncommon path. In that sense a good academic/financial safety with ability to continue studies is fine. Successful vocal performers come from all kinds of backgrounds. I think to succeed as a performer instrumentally you need a higher level of skill when you enter college.</p>
<p>Also there are many “somethings” in music. We assume performance, but if that is not necessarily the case, then there may be fine teachers/programs that do not have the same audition requirements and still provide the training necessary to succeed. DD found some nice liberal arts colleges that had small programs but a good teacher and they did send their students on to good programs.</p>
<p>Ds is a pianist, but he does not feel that he wants to be a performance major. I have looked at audition requirements at some schools, and, he is playing those types of pieces right now. His academic stats will likely be good (he will only be a sophomore in Fall 2011 and obviously things could go downhill). He did earn a 33 composite on the ACT as a freshman. I don’t know how much academic stats matter for music majors. He seems to want to go into music production/business/engineering…something along those lines. He has, however, been classically trained. Some (most) of the music business programs do seem to require an audition but not all do. Perhaps I should do a spin-off thread. I struggle with his going somewhere for music business that does NOT require an audition, when he has the ability to <em>do</em> an audition. I’m not sure why. But, then I wonder how much <em>true</em> music he needs if his inclination is more music business, kwim?? And, selfishly, I always want him to play. It’s hard to find the right balance. Okay, I’m rambling now. 
Thanks, again.</p>
<p>One of MANY options is that he could enroll as a business major with a music minor plus a performance certificate program. I don’t know how many colleges have that option, but my sons college does. The music minor does not require an audition, but to be accepted into the performance certificate program does. It seems like that would fulfill everything that both of you are looking for - he would have his business education, he would take the pretty much the same core music classes that music majors do (theory, aural training, etc), plus take private performance lessons with the piano studio professor for the performance certificate.</p>
<p>Or he can do the BM in anything, and minor in business or music business (my sons college is really pushing a “music entrapanureship” minor which is more aimed at owning or creating your own music business than working for someone else). Or an easier route may be a BA in Music with a business minor or a double major BA music and business - in either case he could take music recording/engeenering/production clases as electives (BA programs will generally allow for a lot more electives).</p>
<p>There’s a million routes that will all pretty much take him to the same conclusion.</p>
<p>Especially, as strong as your son is academically, he will likely be accepted academically to a lot of really good schools, and worst comes to worst, if he is rejected on the audition, he could still enroll in a non-BM program, and still continue to take piano classes despite the rejected audition. I mentioned in a post like week that I had recently met a student who was so nervise during his audition that he “froze up”, he was still accepted into the college, but just not into the BM program. He enrolled as a BA Music student and is planning on auditioning for the BM program during the winter again.</p>
<p>As far as your origional question, my son applied at 4 colleges, three of them had well established music schools (althought they are fairly small programs and relatively unknown), the fourth was his “saftey”. We didn’t feel that any of the three established programs were “safe” at all. Although the fourth school still required an audition, we felt pretty “safe” about him getting into the program because their music program had just been accredited the year before and they were hungry for students. At his safety, he was accepted academically and musically and they basically begged him to come. They gave him a VERY nice music scholarship package (a full ride when combined with a state sponsored academic scholarhship).</p>
<p>Your son’s ACT score is well above the norm for my son’s “safety” so I would probably look for a school that is at a higher academic level, even if the audition part isn’t a safety. To a certain agree, at non-conservatory colleges great academics can offset a weaker audition, and visa versa. Don’t get to uptight about it, he will do great, apply to 4+ great colleges and he will be fine.</p>
<p>
Hogirl, I too am/was leery of programs with no audition component for a variety of reasons, including the value of being among like-skilled peers.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where you’re located, but you may wish to tell your son about the University of Michigan’s School of Music Performing Arts Technology degree. It can be a BMus or a BFA or an Engineering blend (there are actually four streams catering to each). His academic profile is in range. The beauty of the program (to my mind - biased; my kid is there 
is that it is even handed in terms of classical, contemporary, popular or experimental genres; it includes elements of composition, performance, programming and production (an outright engineering via the COE - Bose recruits there) and still offers all the benefits of a strong school of music in terms of performance, opportunities; caliber of studios, composition, etc. It’s one of the few programs we liked that seemed well suited to a contemporary artist/producer with a strong classical background and a desire to both compose and produce electronically and acoustically. It seems most of my son’s peers are also very high academic achievers as well, and a 33 ACT is in that range where he’d be competitive in the engineering stream as well. Does he also like calculus, physics, and object-oriented programming, by any chance? </p>
<p>At any rate, if you’re interested in an OOS school of music (i.e., funding it ) you might want him to review the program and portfolio requirements. The BMUS stream of PAT requires a live audition (plus portfolio) but the BFA and ENG streams require the portfolio plus recorded playing plus interview. </p>
<p>If he decides this type of option is of interest to him, feel free to pm me with future questions.
Cheers, K</p>
<p>Ooops, meant to give you the link:
<a href=“http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/pat/auditions_ug.htm[/url]”>http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/pat/auditions_ug.htm</a></p>
<p>I sent you a pm :)</p>
<p>Take a look at CIM’s Audio Engineering program; 4 years for just that major, or 5 years if coupled with a performance degree.
[CIM</a> | College Studies](<a href=“http://www.cim.edu/conservatory/specialized/audio.php]CIM”>http://www.cim.edu/conservatory/specialized/audio.php)</p>
<p>It’s not too early to begin your research and list making! Feel free to send me a PM if you’d like to talk further.</p>
<p>I LOVE the idea of a 5-year double major, but I am not sure if he would be able to make the cut for the performance part. Pretty stiff competition for piano, I am sure.</p>
<p>Hoggirl, would a “5 year double major” be better than a 5.5 year Bachelors plus a Masters?</p>
<p>I’m not suggesting that an extra year for a second major isn’t a good thing, but I just have to wonder if that extra time wouldn’t be even better invested in grad school.</p>
<p>A VERY good point. Sorry I did not reply to your earlier, very thorough reply. </p>
<p>I do think he has a lot of options. I wonder about the straight business major now that there are several options that are industry specific to music. The straight business major seems “safer” to me as a mom, but given this economy, I don’t think there is safety in any profession/occupation/track right now. But, we do seem to moving more and more to a world of specialization, don’t we?</p>
<p>The reality is that I am not sure he will wind up going the music route at all. But, I want to be supportive regardless of what he decides. I just fret about ALL of it so much. I think I am gripped by the fear of his making a mistake. They are so costly these days given tuition costs, etc., kwim?</p>
<p>One thing his piano teacher has told me which I really need to keep telling myself if that if he <em>truly</em> wants to do music, he will not be satisfied with anything else. </p>
<p>Thanks, again, for your thoughtful replies.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply.</p>