<p>I am sure others on this board have had more positive experiences, but I just have to rant a little and share my son's big audition miscalculation (and I totally blame myself, as I should have known better). I'll explain. My son is a violinist and he had lessons last summer with a teacher from Eastman -- and he just loved him. His dream for years has been to attend Eastman. He applied very early, had terrific recommendations and musical resume (for a 17 year old). Since we live on west coast and have limited financial means, we opted for the 'regional audition' in our state. BIG MISTAKE! First of all, it was in early January. If he had flown to Rochester, he would have had another month to prepare. Also, it was his first audition. He was nervous and tired from riding in the car for nearly 6 hours. Then he had to enter a room where the admissions officer was the only person there, with a hot light shining on son and video camera stuck in his face. It was extremely uncomfortable and he played poorly. Meanwhile, he auditioned in person at three other schools and did very well. He was accepted at all three and will be offered some scholarships. But his heart is still fixed on Eastman. Yesterday he phoned the professor who told him there was no chance he'll be accepted because his audition tape was lousy. End of story. So 10 or 15 minutes can make or break you. He had also made comments about how son had not auditioned in person. My question is this: Why do they even HAVE regional auditions if they put students at a disadvantage? I wish they would just have a level playing field and make everyone audition in person for the faculty and audition committee. My son performed the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto in February 3 days in a row with our local youth symphony. He sent a DVD to this teacher and he was very impressed. But, as you can guess, he said that admission was based on the audition tape, and so his Tchaikowsky doesn't count. So, to sum it up and to just give a word of advice... if you have a first choice school, but sure to prepare, prepare and prepare even more, and visit and audition in person!</p>
<p>violinmom: I'm so sorry about your son's unfortunate experience with the regional audition. It does make me wonder why some of the big-name schools even bother with regional auditions when they seem to have no shortage of applicants at the live events. The fact that this was his dream makes it even harder, I'm sure, and I wish him much success for the future.</p>
<p>My D did two regional auditions, knowing full well that she would be less likely to be accepted. She was not accepted for either program, but was accepted at schools which are generally considered more selective. Could be just a coincidence but I doubt it.</p>
<p>Thanks mommab for your sympathy. I am feeling really guilty because my son really wanted to go audition in person but I kept telling him that it was just too expensive to travel back there and 'why would they have regional auditions if they weren't going to take your application seriously?' Of course, there is no guarantee that he would have done much better in person or ultimately would have been accepted. However, he would have at least known that he had done everything possible and given it his 100 percent best shot. Now, he'll never know. He just knows that he blew his chance at Eastman, at least for now. It's tough being a parent and knowing you screwed up!</p>
<p>I'm so sorry, Violinmom. You're right, it is tough being a parent of a performer. My S tells me he never worries, though, because I do enough for both of us. :) I'm sorry the regional audition went so poorly. For the record, my S did a regional, taped audition for CCM, and got in, (didn't go there, though) so some schools at least DO take kids from regionals. I don't know Eastman's policy -- but it seems to me that I remember reading things from some schools that say up front that they prefer you to audition live, and to use regionals only if absolutely necessary. In your case, I don't think you should second guess your decision. You might have paid lots of money and sent your S there, only to have him choke at the live audition. I do believe that having Eastman as his first audition - regional or not - handicapped him. It gave him no "practice" auditions.</p>
<p>Hindsight is 20/20, but congratulations on the 3 acceptances and scholarships! You just have to trust that these things happen for a reason, and get rid of that load of guilt! Hopefully, he will fall in love with his second choice, and not look back. Eastman will still be there for grad school - or maybe something even better (like a job ;) ) will come along.</p>
<p>A good friend of my son, applied late to college and went originally to a school in Canada. They knew right away it wasn't for them and they auditioned for Eastman. They are now there! And happy! So if he really wants to go there and doesn't find things to his liking at the other choices (he might you know really like where he finds himself) there is always next year, prepared and in person.</p>
<p>violinmom,
Congratulations to your son on his acceptances and scholarships. I am so sorry to hear that the Eastman audition didn't go well for your son and that he had to hear it from the professor himself. The audition process is extremely stressful and exciting. While you feel that the regional audition may have worked against your son having his best performance, he could have easily been thrown by a long flight to Eastman or have been scheduled for the first Rochester date in January. There are so many factors that come into play, it's really not fair to second guess yourself. It's very much like the olympics where one wins or loses based on this miniscule snapshot of their career. My son was not totally sold on his original choice of school so we did support him in his desire to explore other schools and take transfer auditions, including one at Eastman. His three auditions did not go as well as he had hoped. He had the stomach flu at one, and a memory trainwreck at another. Suddenly he's feeling quite fortunate to be at his current school with a scholarship. Trying to transfer isn't the most difficult thing to do, but my 20/20 hindsight is wishing that we had encouraged him more to "love the one you're with" rather than continuing to search for the elusive dream school. Yes, this is all about the teacher for performance majors, but one has to think that there must be more than one perfect match for your son. Hopefully he will find that teacher at one of those schools that has already said they really want him to come and they are willing to help him get there by offering a scholarship.
My heart goes out to you. It's so hard to celebrate the successes when one's first choice is no longer an option. What I've gleened from CC as a long-time lurker is that the kids bounce back and end up even happier as college freshmen because they had to sell themselves on their eventual choices, and did not enter with unrealistic expectations. Hopefully this will be true for your son.
Chris</p>
<p>violinmom-
Just wanted to send some hugs your way. It is sooo hard to see our children disappointed. We have a student musician (sophomore college) son who was pretty devastated when he was rejected from his first choice school two years ago. Live audition, so we (he) can't even suppose it was the regional thing that might have worked against him.</p>
<p>I with the other posters......another door will be the right one for your son, though probably too hard to see that right now. Our son has had two amazing years with a wonderful private teacher and has progressed enormously. He has had numerous opportunities through this teacher he might not have had elsewhere.
He reauditioned at that 1st choice school last Monday and is waiting to see hear the result. Either way, he has a plan mapped out and will continue his studies. Life will be continue to be good!</p>
<p>Congratulations on your son's acceptances...... terrific that he has 3 choices and $$$ also.</p>
<p>I, too, am sorry the regional audition went poorly. At Interlochen, where my daughter went to high school for her last two years, they stressed the importance of going TO the schools to audition, even though a lot of the top programs came to Interlochen to audition kids. My daughter did do her Oberlin audition AT Interlochen, since it wasn't high on her list. She thought it went terribly, but was accepted anyway. On the other hand, she went to Julliard in person and blew the audition (which I silently was glad to hear). Audtions are tough- one problem being that the regional person is likely to not be the teacher for your instrument! One of the things that sold my daughter on Rice was how nice they were AT her audition! They invited her to come sit down around a table with them (the teachers) and chat. She said it was very welcoming and warm.</p>
<p>Violinmom - Let me add my condolences as well. And I want to add that my son did do the regional audition for Eastman and was accepted. We had been out to Rochester in October and he had had a lesson with the teacher he wanted. With trying to cram in everything else, we decided to do the regional instead and it worked out for him. </p>
<p>I am telling you this not to point out that my son got accepted and yours didn't but to show that Eastman DOES accept students from regional auditions. As stated above, your son could have just as easily bombed had he gone to Rochester. The competition is tough and there is not a lot of room for mistakes. I do think students should try and audition in person if possible, but I would not beat yourself up over this. Even when they audition well, they don't always get in due to limited space. It is a tough world out there.</p>
<p>And my son says a number of students transfer in each year from other schools, so it is still possible. But I also agree that your son needs to feel at home where ever he decides to go and not always be looking for greener pastures.</p>
<p>Sometimes this things work out for the best. My D really wanted to be accepted at Eastman. It was one of her first auditions and did not go well. She was waitlisted and finally rejected. In retrospect, she probably did not belong at Eastman. The audition results were probably correct. She was not quite ready for Eastman. In addition, had she been admitted, she would have needed a full time commitment to music and would not be able to do a double degree.</p>
<p>Sorry about Eastman, violinmom. Auditioning is indeed an expensive proposition in money, time and effort. Unfortunately, it will continue to be something your son has to do for a number of years if he hopes to go to top summer programs, grad school(s) and eventually land an orchestral job.</p>
<p>My daughter did not get into what she initially thought were her top three choices. Those particular studios took a grand total of four undergrad students on her instrument that year and she was (and is) friends with two of them. Nevertheless, she has fallen in love with the school she now attends and is probably happier there than she would have been at two and possibly all three of the others.</p>
<p>Besides going in person whenever possible, it is also a good idea to schedule that first audition at a school further down your list.</p>
<p>VIOLINMOM --
I too am a violin Mom. Three years ago my daughter, who was a pre-college student at the Juilliard School, auditioned at Juilliard and was waitlisted. She was devestated since all her friends were accepted. Since they took no violinists from the waitlist that year, after four long, long months we packed her off to another conservatory (she really had no second choice). At the encouragement of her NY teachers, she prepared to auditon the next year -- learning all that extra music in secret and flying home almost every weekend in Jan and Feb. She played well at her auditon and was accepted, and is now a third year student at her "dream" school. </p>
<p>She is stronger and more determined than ever. We have all come to terms with the reality of a career in music performance. The situation with auditions is representative of the many challenges your musician will encounter throughout life: competitions, grad school auditions, juries for grades, job (orchestra) auditions. The lesson is to not take a disappointing result so personally, sometimes results depent on circumstances beyond your control such as politics, who knows whom, who doesn't like whom, style issues, number of openings, etc. This winter my daughter auditioned for two prestigious summer chamber music programs: accepted to one (great audition) and rejected by one (bad audition). The key is to do your best and then move on, loving what you do and networking to improve your chances at success. We are already thinking about and strategizing for her grad school auditions which will occur next year. Believe me, it never ends.</p>
<p>Auditions...and rejections are a way of life for most musicians. The reality is that there are FAR less schools, summer programs, fellowships programs and, yes, jobs than there are talented musicians. DS has auditioned for three summer programs. He knows one of his auditions was bad...he said it was bad. Re: regional auditions...DS auditioned at the colleges except for one school which is a huge distance away and he sent a CD (well recorded, and allowable) and it was the only place where he didn't receive any merit aid where most thought he would. His teachers all said he should have flown to the school for the audition.</p>
<p>I look at as part of the weeding out process. It is far easier to get into the top school of your choice than it will be to win an audition for a job after graduating. So not making into a school maybe part of the process that tells you a job playing that instrument probably isnt going to happen.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>So not making into a school maybe part of the process that tells you a job playing that instrument probably isnt going to happen.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>That's a bit of an overgeneralization, don't you think?? There are students who don't make it into one competitive program who make it into another. AND there are students who continue to develop and sometimes surpass their fellow players as they continue to study and practice in college. AND there are LOTS of different types of jobs for music graduates. Of course not all will be in famous symphony orchestras in large metro areas. Plus...even very talented musicians have bad auditions from time to time.</p>
<p>Violinmom is totally correct.</p>
<p>I attended a performing arts college faire at UCLA last fall. I met the head of admissions for Miami (Frost) and she said to adition in person at your top schools. Since Miami wasn't one of my son's top schools, he did a regional audition and was accepted anyway. He was going to do a regional audition for Oberlin (one of his top choices) until a friend of mine who is on the faculty (but for a different instrument) strongly suggested that my son audition in person. He told me that it was always "a leap of faith" for him to take someone from a tape (which is what a regional audition is, minus the outtakes). Also, he said that it was important to meet the auditioner to make sure he fit in. He told me that he has turned down some very talented students because he felt they wouldn't fit in. I am waiting to find out if my son was accepted. I urge anyone who auditions next year to do so in person at their top choices.</p>
<p>Just to throw out a slightly different experience. My son could not afford to fly around the country to auditions, since he was applying many different places, all of them far away. He did two regional auditions (accepted by one, rejected by the other). For the rest, he sent a tape he made at school with the help of a friend. (The band director forgot he had said he would help with the tape and did not show up.) With the tape (or CD, actually), he was rejected at a conservatory--but he would almost certainly have also been rejected even had he auditioned in person, since that was a real reach for him. </p>
<p>He was, however, using that tape, accepted into four universities with excellent music programs. It is actually entirely possible that he would have been rejected by Indiana had he auditioned in person. The story behind that acceptance involved what we believe to be God's grace--a professor who was uncertain about the tape, but took the time to call my son's private instructors and find out more about him. My son is now very happy at Indiana U and growing rapidly in his musical knowledge and skill.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that auditioning in person gives distinct advantages, but I did want to leave those who, like us, can not afford to fly their kids around the country to auditions, with the hope that good things--and wonderful acceptances--can happen to their kids, too.</p>
<p>I also want to add to a post I made above. I stated that my son had done a regional audition for Eastman and had been accepted. However, he had also had lessons twice with the teacher for whom he was interested in studying with. One of those lessons was in October of his senior year. One reason he decided to do the regionaly is because he had already spend over an hour with that teacher just 2 months prior to the audition and we figured the teacher had a reasonably good knowledge of my son. I would not recommend a regional if you have not had face to face contact with the teacher before hand.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the best way to get information on college voice teachers? My daughter would like to plan some lessons with various teachers over break but I'm having problems figuring out which of the faculty she should have a lesson with. I've done searches and know who has red flags associated with them and we'll stay away from those teachers. Are there any sites that you can check for this kind of information?</p>