<p>How competitive is it to get into the Manhattan School of Music for vocal performance? I am looking to transfer from Columbia University. I am also applying to Juilliard and Mannes, but MSM is my preference, and I know Juilliard is a long shot for anyone. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help!!</p>
<p>It is very competitive. It requires a prescreening CD before you are invited to audition. From where are you trying to transfer and what is your voice type?</p>
<p>As I said, I am transferring from Columbia University. I am a mezzo soprano.</p>
<p>There is probably a little less competition for Mezzos than for Lyric Sopranos??? but it is SUPER competitive regardless.</p>
<p>Hey!!! I want to transfer to MSM as well! I'm from Tulane (tenor) Is it easier for tenors to get in even by a fraction!? lol -- andi understand the unbelievably immense competition msm has.</p>
<p>I am sure that they hear fewer male singers than female singers, but it is still highly competitive. They will hear far more singers (both male and female) than they can accept.</p>
<p>According to the College Board web site, the Manhattan School of Music had 211 transfer applicants last year and accepted 60. Not great odds but not hopeless either. There was no breakdown by major or voice part.</p>
<p>Mannes accepted 23 of 90 transfer applicants and Juilliard accepted 28 of 295.</p>
<p>I've never heard of Mannes. Where is it?? And as for juilliard, it wouldn't even CROSS my mind to audition there haha. I hateeed it when i visited (And it was only b/ci was in the area so i took pictures andi was like woah i went to juilliard for a day!)</p>
<p>Mannes School of Music is in Manhattan. It is associated with The New School.</p>
<p>Mannes School of Music
150 West 85th Street
New York, NY 10024
(212) 580-0210
<a href="http://www.mannes.edu%5B/url%5D">www.mannes.edu</a></p>
<p>Mannes is much harder to get into than MSM because they only take about 6 vocalists a year. My daughter got into both and absolutely loved Mannes.</p>
<p>does Manhattan accept transfers halfway through the year or are they kind of a full year transfer school? (if you do haa)</p>
<p>Mannes has a great opera program (as does MSM) and for those looking to transfer to the New York area, SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Purchase also have programs that share some of the same faculty as Mannes, MSM and Julliard...</p>
<p>From ABlestMom: "Mannes is much harder to get into than MSM because they only take about 6 vocalists a year. My daughter got into both and absolutely loved Mannes."</p>
<p>I had no idea Mannes was this competitive. </p>
<p>Just how fiercely competitive is an audition/admittance (not just limited to MSM & Mannes)?</p>
<p>What is the percentage of auditions to admits? Particularly strings/cello.</p>
<p>Are there more openings in a college music program vs. conservatory? Or is it the opposite?</p>
<p>If one is of average talent, it would seem impossible to be up against the creme de la creme.
These students almost sound as if they're already at a professional level by the time they audition.</p>
<p>There are schools for every level of talent, it's just a matter of matching the player or singer with the school. The conservatories are most competitive. It is even more difficult to earn a living as a professional musician; only a fraction of those who graduate from Juillliard manage to do it.</p>
<p>That said, there are so many careers associated with music that someone really motivated should go for it. A liberal arts program with a music major is not competitive, or rather it's only as competitive as the school is academically. Most strictly liberal arts colleges do not require an audition for music program. My S is majoring in music at a LAC; three of the frosh went out for the violin section of the student run orchestra; one player is a little better than my S, the other almost as good (in his estimation and seating seems to bear this out.) So I think he's in the right spot. None of these students were admitted to the semi-professional orchestra the school also fields -- more proof that they were not ready for a conservatory, but something to aspire to. My S wants to focus on theory and compostition but eventually pursue another career he has in mind.</p>
<p>rudy'smom- Mannes is very competitive. Many of the Mannes faculty teach or have taught at MSM, Juilliard, Yale, Rutgers, Curtis, SUNY Purchase and others. </p>
<p>It's an alternative to Juilliard or MSM for serious study in NYC. </p>
<p>How competitive varies by discipline and pool of applicants, but to put it at the level of MSM, Eastman, Oberlin, Indiana, Peabody, Michigan, McGill is probably pretty accurate. </p>
<p>The audition process is unforgiving. Everywhere. It's a crap shoot. Mistakes, glitches happen. Go back and look at last year's Master List of Acceptances thread... there's a few "surpises" there, with rejections at "lower" level schools and acceptances at "top" schools for a few individuals. It happens.</p>
<p>The key is to knowing whether you are competitive within the field of applicants. This is where an honest professional assessment (or 2 or 3) of skill level is highly recommended. Another indicator is exposure to higher level national or regional camps, programs, and festivals. It gives your student an idea of the varying levels of competition.</p>
<p>The vast majority of students auditioning at the top programs (and this is a broad number, not 2 or 3 schools... for instrumentalists, I'd ballpark the "top" schools at 25-40) are playing at pre-professional levels, and in some cases are already professionals, a few with active solo or ensemble careers.</p>
<p>The need for reach, match and safety in selecting school choices should reflect the applicant's skill set. </p>
<p>As for number of openings/acceptances per instrument- if the info is not available on a school's website, I would suggest speaking directly with the school. In many cases, it makes perfect sense to know going in what your chances may be. It may make no sense to apply at a particular reach school if there are 2 openings across 150 applicants unless your specific talents would result in a reasonable chance of success.</p>
<p>There is a pretty big difference in voice, however (op). We found good foundations were important, but no pre-professional, camps, or summer programs were needed to be accepted into pretty selective programs if you have the underlying talent and sound they are looking for. DD had only been studying seriously for about 2 1/2 years when she auditioned. But they expect voice not to be as technically developed as instrumentalists are at this stage. Of course she had a fabulous private teacher that got her where she needed to be and did those assessments of talent vs programs. We actually did not believe him until she was accepted into those programs. He told us later he was humoring us on the safety :)</p>
<p>She has found the same to be true at school. The instrumentalists have all been studying a long time, gone to summer festivals, etc. Only 1 of the voice students had done those things.</p>
<p>Singersmom07 wrote: </p>
<p><no pre-professional,="" camps,="" or="" summer="" programs="" were="" needed="" to="" be="" accepted="" into="" pretty="" selective="" if="" you="" have="" the="" underlying="" talent="" and="" sound="" they="" are="" looking="" for.=""></no></p>
<p>I didn't say preprofessional camps, festivals, etc. were a requirement for acceptances... I indicated that they were an important tool to measure a candidate's skill set and chances against a pool of peers.</p>
<p>Just a clarification.</p>
<p>In a top conservatory, you are competing with musicians from around the world so the competition is fierce! I would say an average talent should look toward a university with an excellent music program (a.k.a private teacher) where they can continue to develop without the enormous pressure cooker environment in a conservatory. In Mannes, they take a lot of their vocal talent from Korea - you can look on their website and you will find their diversity from their international %'s - it was pretty shocking for us to see who the minorities were, lol. What is great about Mannes instrumentally is that ALL of their instruments are used in the orchestra - they limit their enrollment to fit their orchestral needs. Perform opportunities abound from the second you enter. Of course this makes it even more competitive. Fabulous school if you definitely want music 24/7.</p>
<p>I think this is a great page to gauge how well suited you are to the typical student profile. Of course these are all averages and there are always exceptions.</p>
<p>As far as Mannes goes, the required music theory courses are NUMEROUS - their graduates are reknowned for their mastery of theory and frequently test out of theory in graduate school. Everyone (including vocalists) take the same rigorous theory classes as the composition majors who live for this! This was the only school that my daughter was in tears when she walked out of the theory placement test. She really felt like an utter failure and never thought she would be admitted. I don't think they have many expectations from vocalists theory wise, lol. Even the students in pre-college Juillard/ MSM and Mannes felt the same way about the test.</p>
<p>My daughter also got into McGill's Schulich School of Music as well, which is a really wonderful conservatory with a great location and about 25% of the cost of the other top conservatories.</p>