Ithaca audition dates - earlier regional audition vs. last on campus audition date?

DS plans to apply to Ithaca and the School of Music web site says specifically “It is in the applicant’s best interest to choose an early audition date. Space in each studio and degree program is limited and admission becomes more competitive as the admission season progresses.” Ithaca is one of the few schools that has an Early Decision option for the music school, so that may be one reason why studios could fill up.

The problem is there is only one on campus date that will work for DS and that’s the very last one - he has music-related commitments on two of the dates already, and a third is the only workable audition date at the best of his financial/admissions safeties. He could do the January regional audition that is closest to us, or the last on campus audition date in February.

I have read here on CC that Ithaca is serious about wanting applicants to show interest. DS has visited and done a sample lesson and campus/music school tour, likes them on social media, has a MyIthaca account and uses it, clicks on emails, etc. DS would prefer to audition on campus, especially since his first visit was during the summer, but he doesn’t want to be at a significant disadvantage if he waits until the last date. On the other hand, video-recorded regional auditions may put him at a disadvantage, too, since coming to campus is a great way to show interest. If there are few or no spots left in the studio, though, showing interest won’t get you very far.

Thoughts?

Seems to me that college now has a higher priority than his high school music commitments. My recommendation is that where there is a conflict, the college audition process should win out, not the other way around. I know he would be disappointed, and probably protest at first, but it’s time to make choices for his future and not just his present.

That’s true, college is more important. I’ll talk to him about it after Tuesday. He is in maximum stress mode right now trying to get a few apps in by 11/1. The other Ithaca date with a music commitment is only one week earlier than the last Feb. audition date, and could mean two trips to the same region in an 8-day period instead of just one since we were planning to combine two schools in one weekend.

Accidentally cut out part of previous post and it’s not very clear- the Dec. date might be possible (that’s what I’ll talk to him about), the other Feb. one doesn’t help much.

I hope this is somewhat relevant.

My D visited Ithaca (about 6 years ago) for VP and MT. She had a great visit and liked it a lot. My D was more focused on MT then so she did not audition for VP there. She did however audition there for MT at Chicago unifieds. She had just finished a MT and VP audition at IU which went really well. Her first unified audition was MT for Ithaca.

So she walked into the room and she told me the guy had a picture and comments about her from her visit (I remember them taking a paloroid of her there). It’s the only school that seemed to pay serious attn to the visit - others really seemed more loose about it all. She then told me the conversation (based on notes from her visit) went something like … So you are auditioning at several schools…who are you excited about? She had only auditioned at IU and took the question literally so she explained she had just been at IU and really liked her experience there and thought it was a really good program. Then the guy said something like…what about Ithaca? Oops. She said it didn’t feel right after that. Needless to say the rejection letter came pretty quickly.

So…yea…I would take them at their word. I never coached my D about what to say…and still think honesty is the best policy. This is the only school where she felt the audition didn’t go well. And…who knows…the rejection could have been unrelated. But there’s nothing wrong with sharing experiences.

FWIW, my son’s high school jazz director (who has an impressive record of placing his seniors in top music schools year after year from a public school music program) coaches his students when it comes to applications and auditions to always go into every single school with the attitude that this is one of the top schools on your list. He tells them not to over-think it, especially about “honesty”, but just to believe it and act accordingly – from the application through auditions, all the way until you have that acceptance letter and scholarship offer in your hand.

The level of interest that a school believes you have may not only affect admissions and studio spots, it can also affect merit scholarship offers.

In retrospect, I think my son wishes he had heeded the advice a little more carefully. He ended up deciding to go to his “safety”, that he had decided to apply to at the last minute. He didn’t put much thought into his prescreen submissions; they had no specific requirements, so he just uploaded videos from performances since he hadn’t yet prepared any formal prescreen recordings. I think there was an opportunity to provide additional material later, but he didn’t bother because he had his audition in hand. He got a decent scholarship but now that he’s there and mostly playing with the “presidential scholarship” crew, he regrets not having put in more effort. (Of course, his regret is just a competitive one; mine is the $20K per year room and board bill!)

The lesson for us was that what he thought to be the order of school preferences in October, didn’t end up to be the case in April… precisely why the advice given by the experienced music director…

Just remember, the December audition date is ED and IC expects you to accept if you are admitted. My S did ED there and was even awarded a music scholarship. I only tell you that because traditional thinking is that if you apply ED you won’t get a talent scholarship because you are saying you will attend the school essentially no matter what. Our experience with Ithaca was definitely one that showing the love was of extreme importance. You can PM me if you have any questions about IC. My S is extremely happy there. It is a high level program that is nurturing as well. The staff really cares about the student’s musical growth as well as personal well being. All that being said, I don’t know what to say regarding your scheduling predicament. If there is any way to make an earlier, in person audition that would be best. Although, because your S has already had a sample lesson, another idea would be for him to contact the Professor of his instrument and let that person know of his absolute interest in IC but circumstances prevent him from an early audition time while thanking them for the lesson–just a thought.

@momsings - actually we were told you do not have to apply ED to do the December audition date. The professor mentioned this in the sample lesson and said some people just prefer the earlier audition even if they aren’t ready to commit to ED. On the audition request form you tick a box to say whether you are applying ED or not. However, I decided to read every page on their admissions section this morning, and according to the page about prescreening (which I hadn’t read because it’s not required for his instrument), apparently we can’t do the December audition after all because DS’s application and supporting documents will not be there by 11/1, and if you want the Dec. audition they have to be whether applying ED or not: http://www.ithaca.edu/music/admission/auditions/prescreening/. I wish I’d read the part about auditioning early before - here I thought I had every possible bit of info in my spreadsheet… Thanks for your offer to share info about the school - I may very well take you up on that :). The nurturing atmosphere at Ithaca definitely appeals to him, but he is not sure yet which school is his top pick so ED doesn’t make sense for him.

Good advice @ScreenName48105 and I have given my son exactly that advice before visits and sample lessons and before he emails professors - approach each school as if it was one of your top choices, whether it is at the time or not. My son’s list has shrunk from about 16 schools this summer down to 6 or 7, and right now he could see himself attending and being happy at all of them. There is a nice variety of conservatories, small to medium schools, a couple large publics, and varying degrees of selectivity in each category, and a few that are within a 2 hr radius of home if he decides later that is important to him. I think it’s a good list for him, and I think he has a good chance at all but one extremely selective school, which should allow him to change his mind about what type of school he wants multiple times between now and May 1 and still have options.

Thanks for the clarification! I didn’t realize that you could do the audition at the early date and opt to be considered for regular decision. I wish you and your S all the best this audition season!

Have things changed? D3 auditioned in December and applied in the “regular” cycle.