<p>hello,
1 am 19 years old and i am planning on becoming an opera singer.
I have been taking voice lessons since i was 7, and i just graduated highschool this year. I used to go to Mannes pre-college of music in Manhattan for 2 years.I applied to michigan and rutgers this year.
Because i didn't want to go to just a 'music school' or conservatories.
I have really bad grades, and both of the school told me that my gpa and sat score was way too low for them to accept me. They liked my singing and asked me to take classes during the summer and then apply again when my grades are better. So basically, i didn't get into any colleges. I can say that i am good singer.But i have horrible grades, my gpa is around 2.0 and i got V380 M420.Where can i apply to get in? What schools are willing to see my ability but not my grades? my dreams so big to become a musician but my grades are so bad its just terrible..</p>
<p>my advice is that you're going to have to go to a conservatory and hope that they also don't care about grades. or do as they said-take more classes to pull your gpa up and retake the SAT after a practice course.</p>
<p>You might want to look into attending a junior college for a year or two and then transfering to a music school. This will give you a chance to take some classes and improve your grades. It will also allow your voice to mature a bit more before you start taking big auditions.</p>
<p>A junior college is a great idea. Your SAT scores are pretty low - they will be a red flag to most schools. I don't know that it's possible to retake them after graduation. You will need to have some other evidence of ability and intelligence, or some explanation, eg. a learning disability. </p>
<p>Not caring about academics is not an acceptable answer, because schools want to see evidence of being able to work hard and be successful, even if it's something you don't like. (The opening night of a new show is thrilling -- a couple months, or years, of the same show, night after night, becomes somewhat less thrilling. Somebody who isn't willing to work hard at the less fun things probably isn't going to be successful in the long run - no pun intended.)</p>
<p>A Junior College will be your chance to show that you do have some academic ability, and will give the schools a reason to disregard (or less highly regard) your previous academic performance.</p>
<p>Contrary to a lot of people's ideas about music, it really is a cerebral undertaking. Even conservatories want to know that students can do more than match pitch. You will read a lot about trial lessons with instructors, as well as things that happen at auditions. In both situations, one of the things teachers are looking for is how easily you learn, accept new techniques, fix problems, understand methods, communicate ideas. Academic scores and standings are one way the school can see that.</p>
<p>It will also be important to establish a good relationship with a private teacher (I'm thinking you probably already have this?) who can go to bat for you. Hopefully, that person would present you not only with talent, but with drive, teachability, and the skills necessary to learn. Talent is pretty common. Hard work is less common. Rare is the combination of a motivated, driven, passionate, hard worker, who also happens to be talented.</p>
<p>Mannes is an incredible school for vocal performance. With your current situation, since you are a pre-college student there, couldn't you spend a year there, keep your grades high and try for a university next year?</p>
<p>I cannot tell if you are a male or a female. It makes a difference as to how much slack even a conservatory will cut you about your grades, sorry to say. If you are an incredibly gifted male singer, it would help your chances. Mannes has a very demanding theory entrance exam process, and if your musical background, except for singing, is poor, that would hurt your admission chances even there. </p>
<p>A university functions to educate and give degrees. TO accept you into a music degree program, they have to be able to believe that you can pass the academic work to get a degree. I am more concerned about the SAT scores, because they would indicate that your basic skills in language and math are very poor. If you cannot score at least in the 500+ range, you would have a very difficult time passing any college level general courses. Music theory is a difficult subject, and it requires advanced math-type thinking skills. Music history is very demanding. Singing classical literature appropriate for a degree will require the ability to work in other languages, not just parroting the pronunciation, but understanding the text and its significance in a historical and cultural setting.</p>
<p>Your best option is to spend at least a year in a community college, get very good grades, study music (voice) privately, and then reapply. Both of the schools to which you applied are very demanding academically, and the standards are high. I am puzzled how it is you auditioned at Michigan...it is my understanding that they do not schedule auditions for anyone who has not been admitted academically. Is there something else involved in this? </p>
<p>Of course, there used to be singers who have no formal education who had great careers, but it is not going to happen to day. Directors and conductors expect a great level of sophisticated musical preparation. Do all of your homework, if you want to succeed.....good luck.</p>