<p>D is a rising senior, now very committed to the application/audition process for vocal performance. We've done some visiting/sample lessons, have one more scheduled, will likely make a few more local sample lessons/visits. Then, D will be off to arts boarding school, so future visits will be for auditions, and perhaps a post-acceptance visit if necessary or possible. So, we really won't be able to have sample lessons at many of her schools before the applications. We've done lots of research, and still the list is at least 12 deep and growing! She's confused and overwhelmed. She is quite open as to location, wants a very serious, challenging program, but really doesn't know whether she wants conservatory, university, or LA school. So she wants to hopefully have a variety of options come May 1. Of course, as a soprano, the competition is fiercer, so more applications are necessary. How many is too many? I'm thinking her teachers at the boarding school should be knowledgeable about her chances at specific schools, so that will be helpful. But the stress of doing all those applications......! Even with common aps and unified aps, there are still all those supplementals. I'm thinking at most 8 applications, but how can you really narrow it down without visiting first? Even that seems like way too many. The one long distance visit we made has caused her to rule out 3 of the 4 places we saw. I don't envy any of these young people trying to get into college these days--especially the musicians. Any advice from the experts on this board?</p>
<p>My suggestion: Look through that list to see if there are any slam dunks. In this business, any audition program is a risk, but some are easier than others, and you may well know which ones they are. Perhaps the teacher is begging her to audition there, and already making promises. Or maybe it’s a non-audition program that happens to have a great teacher. Schools like that are about as close as a music major ever gets to a “safety.”</p>
<p>Safety in this case is more like a “pretty sure.” But you want something in your back pocket.</p>
<p>After that, look through the list and find the dream school - the one she would attend if she had a magic wand and could make it happen. </p>
<p>And then try to round out her list with a few more on the continuum of love it / stand a chance.</p>
<p>Vocal students and parents can chime in here with how many auditions a voice major can reasonably prepare for. Keep in mind this is going to be time off from school, and travel expenses. You may want to start with a slightly bigger list. As the year goes on, perhaps she’ll get an early acceptance, or become more clear about something she does or doesn’t want, and that will pare the list down. Or perhaps she’ll send in pre-screening CDs and not get any further. </p>
<p>Just because you send in the written application to all these schools doesn’t mean you have to follow through and audition, so start big, and weed as you go.</p>
<p>Does your D have a clear “favorite” among the schools? Does she want to fit music classes in among a liberal arts curriculum or does she want to spend as much time as possible learning and honing her craft? The second question should help sort out the LAC, university, conservatory tangle. Even then, there is the question of the size of the school, as even with conservatories, the number and configuration of students (undergrad/grad/artist diploma) can vary quite a lot. An entering class of VP majors could be 6 or it could be 36. I would certainly use her voice teacher at boarding school as a resource, but they are not always on the money since they will only have your D for a few months before this process begins, and often, wishful thinking and reality collide.Are you using her previous voice teacher for a reference? She/he may have some thoughts too. Some of us with daughters that have just been through the audition year and are getting ready to take them to college made the trek to a dozen auditions while others kept it to four. Again, it’s a personal choice, based upon what she really wants from a school, what you can realistically afford to lay out for application fees and audition trips and how her voice will stand up.Can she sing 10 auditions in 3 months, while staying healthy and in good voice- does she want to-is it advisable? All questions to ponder. I can only speak for us and to be honest, it was a breeze. My D and I had been doing research since the end of 9th grade and worked closely with her voice teacher to have her rep solid and as perfect as it could be. She fell in love with a school during a visit in October of her junior year and despite the fact that the teacher she liked left the school just before her senior year started, she kept in touch with people there. She chose a couple of other schools- one safety, one close by, but her top choice remained firmly in first place. They didn’t offer EA or ED, so she auditioned at her safety EA and had an acceptance just after Christmas. School #1’s audition was in January and the remaining school, in February, so even with the terrible winter weather in all 3 places, it was very manageable. Things went well everywhere and we will be heading to her “dream school” next Tuesday- which I’m not sure I’m ready for! If there is anything that we can help you with, please feel free to PM- if I remember correctly, in addition to my D going to CIM, there is opera-mom’s D off to SF Conservatory, don9992’s D to Eastman and KeyofH’s D to WCC. I may have missed other’s and if so, I apologize, but you can check the acceptance thread. I know that we can give info about the school’s ours have chosen and what the audition process was like at the schools we all visited, if you’d like it. Perhaps you’ll meet some of the girls this winter as you two are going to audition weekends. I know that my D will be helping out and would be open to talking to other kids and sharing what she has experienced as a new student this fall.
Good luck- the journey is fun, really it is- take the time to enjoy it and your D! Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, which teachers actually gave your D a useful piece of advice/information that she has since put to use? Keep them in the mix.</p>
<p>I suspect the teachers at the arts boarding school will be extremely helpful. They are acting 'in loco parentis", and particularly when it comes to applying to conservatories, are likely 99% more knowledgable than most parents (until they find CC that is, ;)). I would expect that your D’s voice teacher at school will have enormous influence on “the list”.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether your D has gone to boarding school all along, or just for this year, but the intensity of that experience, along with any summer programs, should reveal to her whether she wants a straight conservatory or a more integrated program. There is such an enormous difference between a BA music major at an LAC and a BM in a conservatory, that that should be sorted out first. I would use the information from the schools she nixed to help shape the list. Did she dump conservatories or music schools in universities, and why? What kind of experience is she seeking? Does she want to play/study/live music all day long, or wish to live and study with students who are pursuing different areas of study?</p>
<p>Personally, I think 12 applications/auditions is too much, even if she only submits audition CDs to some of the schools and doesn’t live audition everywhere (yes, I am aware that some people do a huge number of auditions, but it isn’t the norm, and is very expensive and stressful). I hope that the arts school personnel will be extremely helpful to your daughter in narrowing and refining a list to a more manageable number of schools, based on her talent, interests and goals. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>DD did 7 live auditions between November and March. That was a lot and we had dropped #8 when she decided she did NOT want a strict conservatory but wanted some university experience. More than than would have been counterproductive. I think fatique sets in. Agree to have the closest you have to a “safety” in before Christmas. Reduces stress. She too had a scatter in level and types of programs. </p>
<p>Her teachers at school should be able to help sort out the schools and their teachers. Does she have a tesacher at home that can help too? DD did not have her sample lessons until after acceptances since we could not schedule them before that. Then she did her top 3 based on money, teachers, programs. Some she eliminateed at the audition. I guess we could have saved the trouble had she visited before, but some of it was sorting out what she really wanted as she matured through her senior year. .</p>
<p>Agreed with above advice. Your DD should look at her favorite school and keep that on the list. If there is a school she really likes with an early audition date, that would also be a good one to keep on the list (so as not to stack ALL the auditions at the same time…and perhaps to have an early acceptance and an audition under her belt). </p>
<p>DS applied to both conservatories and conservatory type programs within a university setting. His total was 7 school BUT he only had to do four auditions in February. Two were done early (Nov/Dec) and one was done by special arrangement the previous summer. I have to say…even those four auditions in the same month were a LOT of work. I can’t imagine doing more than that.</p>
<p>It’s ok to have a variety of school types on your D’s list when she applies. To be honest, that was actually advised to my son by many professional musicians…their theory…a LOT can change between applications and May 1…it’s nice to have options.</p>
<p>Narrowing down the list was easy for DS. He had one very specific criteria…a big city. AND the second criteria was an applied teacher he felt would be a good fit for him. His 7 schools fulfilled those two criteria.</p>
<p>Another part of the puzzle to keep in mind is sorting through acceptances post-audition. I’ve posted before that I thought that that part of the process would be a pleasure…hmmm, which of these wonderful desserts would we like most?..but it was almost more difficult than deciding where to apply. </p>
<p>Though it might not be possible, I agree with the advice that you try to identify whether it’s a BM/conservatory route you want or a BA/uni one and throw more of the applications in that bin. </p>
<p>My D, btw, will be beginning her sophomore year as a VP major at a conservatory. She applied to four programs (two conservatories, two university-based), auditioned at three and was accepted to three. Even choosing among those three was tough!</p>
<p>All this being said, keep a cool head and don’t stress over these decisions too much. Step back from the process every once in a while, take a deep breath, and go back in. You’ll be fine! ;-)</p>
<p>This has been such a great thread. It’s so easy to get myopic and think that each choice is your final one (hence my last week’s post). This is a reminder that this is a growth year and keep your options open. But added to that, this a a practical guide to actually getting started! THANKS!!!</p>
<p>I honestly can’t think of anything to add from our experience, as son’s harkens back to the '01 cycle for '02 admit. These past threads may have a few experiences and thoughts you may want to consider. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/565405-only-4-schools-we-nuts.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/565405-only-4-schools-we-nuts.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/248498-since-hindsight-20-20-what-would-you-have-done-differently.html?highlight=hindsight[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/248498-since-hindsight-20-20-what-would-you-have-done-differently.html?highlight=hindsight</a></p>
<p>It’s tougher for sopranos? I would think mezzos would have it the worst, but that’s only my intuition.</p>
<p>Mezzos are generally more sought after than sopranos. Dramatic sopranos are more sought after than other sopranos, but typically, in undergrad, one cannot tell if she will develop into a dramatic. Unfortunately, sopranos fall into the “dime a dozen” category in undergrad. The male singers are the ones who are really sought after however. Their experience with auditions and choices and even merit money can be completely different then the experiences of the girls.</p>
<p>Interesting. I knew the male/female bias, but I’m surprised that mezzos are preferred, given opera’s bias toward sopranos.</p>
<p>This has been very helpful, thank you very much for the responses.</p>
<p>It’s NOT a bias towards sopranos, it must have something to do with Puccini, who seems to have something against mezzos and hated to write for them!! Mozart, Handel, Rossini, Saint-Saens and Offenbach all wrote wonderful roles/music for mezzos and of course, there was Bizet who came up with the great Carmen!</p>
<p>All I can add is that an early-admission program can be very helpful in limiting the list. For example, Oberlin Conservatory and U of Michigan School of Music both have early winter audition dates with a guaranteed response before the end of December. So if you do one of those auditions and are accepted, you might be able to cross less-desired schools off your list.</p>