For UG students, how do you select a professor or studio? Is that done as a freshman or later - or can it/should it be done before you even select a school? I am sure it varies from school to school, but I am curious. I am specifically interested on how this works for composition students, which may be different than for performance majors.
Do you enter the school knowing your advisor/prof/studio (what is the correct term?) Should a student contact the professors ahead of time to make sure the professor you identified as the one with whom you want to work is available and equally interested? If so, any thoughts on how to reach out and what to actually say? What should you know about the prof before doing it (I am assuming the student has met the professor in person, as in our case)?
Any thoughts on this topic are welcome. Thanks!
On my son’s instrument there is generally only one professor, even at large schools, so yes, we considered the prof first and foremost before S made a list of schools. S’s private teacher was a great resource for identifying professors who might be a good fit for S based on what he was looking for. We visited schools/programs that looked promising and S did sample lessons in order to narrow the list further. Summer programs also were chosen in part to get exposure to and experience with specific professors to see if they were a good fit. S listened to any recordings or masterclasses he could find for the professors or their studios and streamed some of their recitals/concerts online as well.
Sorry I’m not more help with your individual situation or for composition in general.
S’s schools have been very good about offering Skype lessons if he didn’t have a chance to do a lesson before he applied. I don’t know if a composition lesson would make sense on Skype, but perhaps a Skype call to talk about his areas of strength, weaknesses, and goals would help?
Composition is quite different - and each school will be different. Often one is assigned to a different professor each semester (or that was the case for my son’s programs.) In his experience one could request, usually in the last weeks of the previous semester, over the summer, or at the beginning of the new one. But other schools probably operate differently - indeed, for some, there is no private composition teacher for the first year or two. It is a good thing for composers to work with multiple teachers, in my opinion, because they bring a different perspective to the work. But, of course, the teacher/student relationship often works better with some than with others…
@SpiritManager Thanks. I guess he needs to ask each school how manages its program. I personally would favor not selecting one person until at least sophomore or junior year, but the approach of each program may help differentiate them. Thanks again!
Knowing that composition students often work with most/many/all of the composition professors in a department emphasizes the importance of liking the tenor of the overall department - and of there being more than one professor with whom one would like to study.
For some conservatories, for composition, you put your first and second choice down on the application, and the school lets you know which studio you are assigned to, with the acceptance. Some have students study with a different professor/mentor each semester of freshman or freshman and sophomore years, and then the students and teachers decide the best fit. Some do as Spirit Manager described. And some have classes for composition with tutorials (very small or one on one) in the last two years. In addition, many conservatories and colleges have composition seminars- but not all.
Along with this variation among schools, there is a good deal of variation among students as to their preference, and some even prefer not to have weekly lessons but to have someone they can go to for advice from time to time. Obviously, at a conservatory, there will be weekly studies with someone, at least at all the schools I know of.
I would not contact any professors. You could, however, call admissions and ask when your son will find out the studio he has been assigned to and when and whether he should contact the teacher or the teacher will contact him.