Hi all,
I’m a violinist & I applied to Blair ED for violin performance & felt fairly confident about my prescreens going in & my application as a whole, all while working hard to raise my ACT significantly (which i did). Anyway today I was informed I didn’t pass my prescreens & i’m feeling quite bummed and a little shocked, and my confidence is a bit shaken.
I believe I did everything I could to improve my chances of getting in there…but now I feel as if like my prescreens were actually bad ?? In my heart though I know I worked hard to get good recordings and my teacher felt great about them too… I know violin is a competitive field however and you never know who is going to apply.
asking for some suggestions on other GOOD schools for violin performance. So far I am interested in SMU and Umiami Frost. my biggest concern is time and how many I should be applying to without missing too much school and youth orchestra which is on the weekends. It’s stressful …some guidance on the whole process of auditioning and acceptance/rejection would be helpful too, thank you.
Vanderbilt is a tough academic admit - we thought it more selective than USC or Northwestern based on the admissions session. Maybe your recordings were fine, but Vandy could afford to be super picky for ED on the overall application?
Talk things over with your teacher and figure out your next steps, which should include a variety of schools to apply to, and then get your applications in. This will keep you very busy over the next few weeks.
If you are like most kids, you MAY miss some school and some performances during audition season, but you can figure all that out later, once you pass your prescreens and get invited to audition.
That sounds like a terrible blow to your confidence, but I think that in music ED is more difficult than in academics. If your teacher felt good about your prescreen recording, that’s an important vote of confidence. I’d suggest casting a wide net in terms of your applications, especially given the results of this one. Does your teacher have suggestions of where else to apply? Look into programs like Temple U, Shenandoah, Dusquenne, etc., where your ACT score is a match. Some schools do not require a prescreen, which might work to your advantage. Prescreens are good, however, in that they rule out expensive audition trips in cases where admission is unlikely.
Hang in there @suzukigirl ! My son, who was a NMF with a 35 ACT and top grades, also did not pass his prescreen to Blair. He was later admitted to schools like USC-Thornton and Miami-Frost with large music and academic scholarships. The process is so subjective. Don’t doubt yourself. There is a great school out there which will appreciate your talent and drive.
One other thought: it may not be you but them. They simply may be heavy with your instrument type and taking very, very few auditions. As some have said above, talk with your teacher. See if you need to add another school or two or three. But DON’T panic yet. It is sooo early in the process. If your teacher thinks your pre-screen was fine…hold on to that…and just wait. As you start to get yes’s, your confidence will return. Very few people get all yes’s … it just stinks when the first one is a “no”. I feel for you…but I still think you are fine.
My sympathies. It’s really demoralizing not to be invited to a live audition, but it does happen to many wonderful musicians (and for a variety of reasons you’ll never be privy to), and one result (as indicated above) is not necessarily an indication of how you’ll fare elsewhere – especially since you applied ED.
Looks like you’ve got two potential schools on your list at this point (Frost and SMU) – but GOOD music programs is a bit of a moving target. The most selective schools you probably know about already, but some good music programs that could be worth checking out, in addition to those already mentioned – University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (some great faculty, Jupiter Quartet in residence), U. of Wisconsin Madison, UT Austin, Florida State University, University of Colorado (Boulder), and Lawrence University.
Also, I would add – since, as mentioned, not getting the nod from Blair does not automatically mean you wouldn’t pass elsewhere – that it could make good sense to speak with your teacher before eliminating an entire tier of selective music schools from consideration – schools like Northwestern, Michigan, Indiana, Eastman, Boston University, etc.
Hi everyone,
thank you all for your very kind words. Vistajay - your words helped me feel better! bridgenail you are pretty much correct. Today I got some inside scoop on the Blair admissions process for this year from my violin teacher (who personally knows one of the profs there) - they did not take any violins for ED this year and apparently the opening for violins is very slim this year due to program changes, etc.
still a bummer - but I am feeling a bit better on all of this plus the violin prof at the school there I had worked quite well with was rooting for me in this admissions process (heard thru my teacher), it just so happens that it didn’t work out fully.
I’ll be moving forward with the next steps now, thank you stringpop for your suggestions. my goal is to now really push myself and work hard to shine on auditions at other schools. will let you guys know in the future what occurs! I believe things happen for a reason.
couldn’t thank you guys enough for your words - they mean quite a lot! it’s been a bit of a hard day today but coming on here to read the messages has lifted my mood a bit.
I am sorry you did not pass. I know it is disheartening. But I wouldn’t worry. As @compmom said you could have been a top contender. I remember when I was researching it said their music program had a total of 200 students and that if they aren’t accepting your instrument that year they will return your application. I know some of the mentioned colleges aren’t as well known but I can say that the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign is a school that has a phenomenal music program. A lot of their faculty are people with doctorates from Ithaca as an example. My son did a summer program there and was truly impressed by the faculty. He has a different instrument so worked with different people than violin but I’d still stand behind it. Lawrence as mentioned is also an amazing school. I heard of it from this site. Researched it. Drug my son kicking and screaming to it and he fell in love with it. We have been twice now and it’s his first choice. They have great academics, dual degree programs and the conservatory is wonderful.
