<p>I was auditioning for Lawrence University this weekend and was talking to another girl who applied to Oberlin and didn't get an audition...she said that the Conservatory had received 2000 tapes and only accepted 50. I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration, but what do I know...has anyone else heard anything about this?</p>
<p>Thankfully, I found out yesterday that I did get an audition, but it would be nice to know what the competition will be like...</p>
<p>The numbers don't stack up, or they do but in a roundabout way. If they got 2000 applications for voice alone, that would make them far more selective than Juilliard or Curtis.</p>
<p>They have 600 or so students in the Conservatory and admit about 150 freshmen a year plus a relative handful of transfers. Their yield is about one in three, so they accept something like 450. Their acceptance rate runs 25% TO 30% overall, so they must get 1500 to 1800 applications across all majors. Perhaps that is where the 2000 came from - close to 2000 applicants to the Conservatory for everything - voice, keyboard, orchestra, composition, conducting, early music, jazz, etc...</p>
<p>They have about 100 voice majors at any given time and admit about seven of each voice part per year to allow for a few that drop out. That means that they must accept 60 to 80 singers (they have a really good voice department, so I'm gussing the yield is a little higher than for the whole Con) and they probably hear on the order of 200 auditions per year to get that many. That would yield about 50 tapes accepted for live auditions per voice part, probably a bit more for sopranos and a bit less for tenors, so maybe that is where your friend's numbers came from.</p>
<p>The competition will neverthless be tough. I know an excellent soprano (three years all-state in NJ, twice all-Eastern with an incredible audition CD) who did not even get a live audition last year. She is now happily at St. Olaf. This year, I know a great soprano and a really good tenor who had auditions in December and were rejected outright, not even deferred until the RD round. He had even been to their summer institute last year and had teachers encouraging him right and left to apply. They seem to be looking for some very specific voice types, so give it your best and just maybe they will accept you.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your expertise and input. I thought 2000 sounded really high, but I wasn't sure what to make of it...Northwestern said that about half of their 1500 auditionees are voice, and Otterbein receives 1500 tapes and only accepts 7 or 8 students a year for musical theater. I know statistics like that exist, I just hadn't placed them in an Oberlin context.</p>
<p>I guess all I can do now is to be thankful that I've been given an opportunity and do the best I can...how nervewracking.</p>
<p>In the MT world, I would believe crazy numbers like 7 or 8 accepted out of 1500 applicants. It is still tough, but not quite as bad for conservatory voice majors.</p>