<p>As a rising senior in high school, I'm narrowing down my list of colleges that I plan to apply to in the fall. My question is, should I not even bother to try for very high-ranked schools (for example, New England Conservatory), when I know my chances of getting in are fairly slim? I'm definitely going to be applying for some "safety" schools such as UMass Amherst and Lowell, which I know have strong music programs (I'm planning on majoring in music ed) and I know I will be accepted into. What is the general consensus on applying for reach schools, how many you should apply to, and whether it is worth applying to a school where you have very slim chances of getting in? Thanks in advance for any help.</p>
<p>There is never any harm in applying, the worst case senario is that youll be rejected but at least you’ll know. And there are a lot of rare cases where things as trivial as essays, the adcoms mood, or some other random factor turning a sure no into a conditional yes. Just look around the schools forums, or the statistics on grade distribution if you mind getting a mountain of rejection letters. (which I personnally dont).</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC</p>
<p>Are your applications dependent on auditions? If so, the preparation is time consuming and demanding; your current teacher should be able to guide you to your best options. Regardless, the answer really comes down to resource management. How much time and energy do you have to devote to your college applications? Apply to a broad range of options, but make sure you keep the list manageable so that you do a very good job on each app. There’s no point in applying to 10 reach schools if you’re too drained to do an acceptable job on your safety school app.</p>
<p>The number that I’ve seen that seems to work best is 8 schools - 2 safety, 4 match, 2 reach, but your mileage may vary. Good luck.</p>
<p>You might get good information on the music major forum. In general, no auditioned program can be considered a “safety” since you could mess up the audition that day. </p>
<p>Many of the “elite” music schools require a prescreen cd application, and only permit you to audition in person if you pass that. My own opinion is that if you have a “dream school” like NEC or Juilliard and you will spend the rest of your life wondering “what if?”, then you should give it a shot.</p>
<p>Also (you may know this already), it is important to note that music schools generally have a Dec 1 deadline rather than the later one that most other schools have.</p>