<p>Violadad raised many good points, and comparing programs or dismissing one as ‘too easy’ is far too simple an answer, and like many simple answers, isn’t true. My observation would be “it all depends”, as in 'it depends on what the student is performing on, it depends on what they are looking for, it depends on which teachers they do well with" and the list goes on.</p>
<p>Yes, Juilliard pre college is difficult to get into, it has a name that especially in strings and piano space is literally a global brand, so the competitition to get in is difficult (I know for a fact that with piano, they get roughly 120 students who send in screening CD’s, and they choose to audition 40, and maybe 10 get in on a given year). </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that MSM or Mannes is wishy washy or ‘too easy’, it could be that those schools may not be as intensely desired as Juilliard is in some quarters (and again, I don’t know for sure), so they may not attract as much interest, for example, from foreign students as a Juilliard would, so they may not have 130 kids auditioning for 10 spots (then again, it is possible they do…). </p>
<p>I also suggest that you look at the websites of the schools and see who teaches there, you will probably find that all the schools have high level, well known teachers,some teach at several of the schools. You might find that a the program at one of these schools fits your needs better. For example, you might find that although program A is reputed to be ‘the best’, that you feel that you would get better attention from a teacher in program B; maybe one program is geared towards finding ‘jewels in the rough’ while another is aimed at polishing students already at a high level. </p>
<p>My recommendation? Talk to teachers who know the programs involved, look at posts from other people who have been there (and be careful, if you are a pianist, find someone who is a pianist, or better yet,more then a few. One thing to take out of this is that the experience in a program varies according to the instrument, someone going through Juilliard on violin is going to have a different experience then someone on piano, or a woodwind player and so forth). Once you get an idea of the program, and what people’s perceptions of them are, then weigh your skill set, what level you are at, and more importantly, what you want out of such a program, and then make decisions.</p>
<p>And Violadad hit the nail on the head, the audition process is a crapshoot, there are a lot of factors that go into who makes it and who doesn’t, and believe it or not there are people who, for example, get accepted to Juilliard Pre college and get rejected by MSM. There is no magic computer with auditions, there are a panel of people who decide your fate, and from what I have both seen directly with my son’s experience getting into Juilliard Pre C on violin and from what others have said, there are other factors that can come into play. You could score highly on the audition, for example, but if none of the teachers indicated they would be willing to take you on as a student, you won’t get in as far as I can tell, or if a teacher indicates a willingness to teach you but they are told they don’t have an open slot by the adminstration, you won’t get in. Also keep in mind that the level of audition required to get in changes; for example, due to shrinkage in the program size, getting into Juilliard pre colege today for the most part is much more difficult then it was 3 or 4 years ago, so what someone told you from X years ago might not apply today. </p>
<p>One other thought, if you want an evaluation, you may want to arrange some private sessions with teachers who teach in the programs, and see what they think. They will probably tell you if you are in the general ballpark, where your strengths and weaknesses lie and so forth. I would argue that if you are in the ballpark, or even somewhere close to it, there is no reason not to try, even if you don’t get in, you gain experience in auditioning. And if you get into a program, and find out that it doesn’t work for you, you can switch to another program, I have known students who moved from Mannes to MSM, MSM to Juilliard, Mannes to Juilliard and so forth, so it is not uncommon, and nothing is set in stone, either.</p>