Hi–my son submitted his prescreens to Northwestern. He’s been invited to audition everywhere else but not here yet. I am wondering if that means he won’t be invited? We are trying to book our tickets to another school that is near there and were hoping to combine the travel. Anyone know? Do we ask or is that a faux pas?
Somewhere over the last couple of days, there was a post that said that this was the week for NU/Bienen. However you should call Bienen and ask as well, esp. since you are going to be traveling to the area already. It won’t be a problem. Actually, last year, when we hadn’t heard from them, and we called them, we found that they had missed sending the email to my S !! so better be safe than sorry.
We are waiting on NW as well. Haven’t heard anything.
I called them. They have not sent out audition invites yet. They say it will be this week.
Pre-audition decisions go out “by tomorrow,” we were told by an admissions rep.
My S just passed. Got the email this evening around 8pm est. Very excited!!
What instrument DVmom?
Voice - Bass/Baritone
Congrats @DVmom18 S!!
Passed for violin! Does anyone know how selective/competitive NU is with their prescreens?
@thefirebird It’s going to vary considerably by instrument. I got rejected for saxophone, but I passed pre-screens at Indiana, Michigan, and Vanderbilt.
Related question about Northwestern… my son just got an invitation this week to audition on campus. Do they do any academic review before sending out invitations? His academic scores probably wouldn’t normally make him competitive for NU, but he passed the music pre-screen anyway. Does this mean acceptance is at least possible if the Music School really likes him? Have they done any initial determination on the likelihood an applicant can get accepted by the university?
I believe each of the various schools at NU, including Bienen, does their own admissions, so I think you can be confident your kid’s academics aren’t disqualifying.
Makes sense, they would not want to waste their own time, as well as yours.
There’s another thread about this very topic- each school does it in a different way. Some (Michigan) prescreen for academics, and some do it after the audition (BU).
So we are gearing up for our trip to Northwestern. Had to go clothes shopping as we are southerners and we are
ill-prepared for the climate. I have been told to dress in layers that can easily be removed as the buildings are often kept pretty hot. He has had a couple of auditions already and they were pretty straight forward. I just feel like Bienen is doing things differently from other schools. There is no morning program, introduction, talk with the Dean, coffee and donuts type of event that I know about. They haven’t said anything about sight singing or a music theory test and based on other audition reports, these seem to be often scheduled throughout the day of the audition. On their website it just says arrive 15 minutes early to your audition room as well as warm up rooms will be provided upon check in. Does anyone know how the process at Biene works? I feel like I missed a memo somewhere.
D18 who’s a current VP student at Bienen reports that they didn’t have any theory test or sight singing at her audition. Do try to get a tour of the building, it’s amazing. Best practice rooms of any school she applied to, and it makes a difference for VP. Good luck to your son!
@DVmom18 : No frills at Bienen. You check in at the music building (new one), and get a practice room. Warm up, go to your audition - last year, for violin, it was just two professors, in an office. When you’re done, you pack up and leave.
My S had a terrible audition, with the shoulder rest coming off while in his main piece. Didn’t make it. The good thing was that Bienen wasn’t high on his list.
FWIW NYU is the same. Show up 15 minutes early, warm up, allow 10 minutes. And you’re done. After passing the prescreen and doing two additional essays, seems a bit anticlimactic…
This is from D’s audition a few years ago: While the VP audition at Bienen itself was short and sweet, they had a presentation by the full VP faculty with Q and A and a small student recital, followed by an informal social hour where the faculty were also present. I recall my D sat in on an aural skills class on day two as well.