Question about the Eastman School of Music Auditions/Admissions

Hello all,

So I’m in a bit of an internal conflict and I was wondering if any of you would be willing to provide me with answers about this whole thing. So I applied for Eastman as an Undergraduate Bachelors in Music for Violin. However, I selected the Regional Audition, due to an extreme unforeseen circumstance that really left me with no choice but to do the audition down in my city. However, there were few applicants that signed up, so I was given the option to do the audition by recording, which I honestly had no problem with, and I think that it went well. I could definitely play those pieces I selected differently now, but the quality I think was good.

Now, the reason I worry about this is because I have been looking at various websites and it seems like every time a regional or an audition by recording is brought up, it usually says that it gives the faculty and admissions directors the sense that I don’t really care about applying to that School, which is SO far from the truth - Eastman is one of my top choices and I would absolutely love to study there, especially with the Violin Professor Mikhail Kopelman.

The reason for my inability to attend the live audition is because I live in Houston, Texas, which was hit incredibly strong by Hurricane Harvey. My family literally lost our cars, furniture, other valuables, our house - pretty much everything. We are still recovering, but I had hopes of attending the live audition in Rochester - but due to these extreme and wildly unforeseen circumstances, I was not able to.

Do you think that if I was able to let the admissions directors or even the faculty know that I pretty much lost everything in a Hurricane which damaged my family’s financial state so severely, that they might have a bit more mercy? I am not trying to make excuses at all, I accept my recording for the recording it is and that is all - but reading all the forums about how they look at people who do regional auditions and auditions by recording as people who aren’t really interested - would it be wise to inform them so that they can possibly take that into account?

Basically" What should I do?

Any help would be immensely appreciated. Thank you very much.

If it’s any consolation, my kid did two regional auditions and one recorded–not for Eastman, but for competitive programs–and was accepted into all three with merit. I’m not sure that the impression you’ve been given is all that accurate (if it was, why would programs even offer these options?).

That said, if you’re truly concerned and want to cover your bases so you don’t have any regrets, you can always reiterate your intention and enthusiasm and share a brief summary of your story with admissions.

So sorry for all your family has been through and wish you the very best!

Hello @nshaefer100 - there’s no reason not to reach out to the strings admissions officer to affirm your interest in the school and to let them know that you had hoped to audition in person but family and financial circumstances made it impossible for you to do so. Here’s a link where you can reach out to the strings admissions person via email. https://www.esm.rochester.edu/admissions/contact/ Since there’s a pretty large international student population at Eastman, I would imagine that many students aren’t able to travel to Rochester to audition in person. You should feel confident that your recording will be fairly evaluated. Make sure that all other elements of your application are in, including your FAFSA. I hope 2018 is a better year for your family and best wishes to you.

I think you will feel better if you communicate the circumstances of the hurricane and its effect on your ability to travel. If you do it by email, make sure you get an answer because sometimes when things are busy email isn’t the best way to communicate. You could also call admissions but don’t talk to a student, get an actual admissions person on the phone.

I am the parent of a current Eastman student. I agree that the large number of international students means that Eastman probably has a great deal of experience evaluating recorded/regional auditions. Also, given how respected Eastman is, I think their admissions staff probably assumes that the school is high on many people’s list. But I agree it can’t hurt to communicate with them about it.

We were told on audition day that at Eastman, after auditions (live and otherwise) each professor or department sends to Admissions a list of those deemed qualified for admission as well as a target number of spots to be filled in the studio or department. From that point, the admissions dept. looks at the entire application, recommendations, etc. and offers admission to a subgroup of the qualified applicants, allowing for expected yield. The example given was if the prof selects 10 qualified students and the target is 4 incoming freshmen for that studio, admissions might offer admission to 6 out of the 10 who had the strongest applications. They may put a couple more on a waiting list.

Good luck on your auditions and good luck to your family as you rebuild your lives after Harvey!

Hello all! I do not know if you will ever see this but I think my fears were just me overthinking things, I found out on Friday that I was accepted to Eastman on a $42,000 scholarship! I’m so happy!

Wonderful news! Welcome to Eastman! My daughter is very happy there.

Congratulations on getting into Eastman!

If you don’t mind me asking, what time during the day did you find out?

Nvm I got my acceptance status update

Anyone heard anything about violas?