<p>I'm the mom of a conservatory applicant, and I suspect I'm watching the mail even more closely than he is. This is difficult!</p>
<p>It's murder, but it will come. Patience.....</p>
<p>From the parent's perspective, I found waiting for results to be the most difficult time of the entire process. This, too, shall pass. Trust me, the time between receiving the last notification and dropping your kid off at the chosen school positively flies by in comparison to March.</p>
<p>Wise words, BassDad!</p>
<p>My son is currently running home daily at his free period, and checking his email--the kids are going through a lot right now. All of his schools seem to have notifications coming not before April 1, if we go on when applicants heard from those schools last year.</p>
<p>Another distressing wait is from the acceptance letter (which usually includes talent/merit awards) and the complete financial aid awards letter which details FASFA methodology aid, and maybe a nice surprise or two.</p>
<p>It's almost over all. Don't pull out your hair and stop chewing your mails. </p>
<p>As BassDad said, you'll be amazed how soon it will be before you're seeing them off.</p>
<p>May your wishes and expectations all be fulfilled.</p>
<p>I am definitely chewing my "mails" (and my nails ;)). Fifteen days is going to drag! This is the most nerve wracking part of a process that has seemed to go on for a very long time!</p>
<p>I found this time of year really difficult when my son went through it. The hardest part was that his #1 choice did not come through until April 11! It was agony for me. He was very busy with everything else so I don't think that it was as difficult for him. But hang in there... Just like pregnancy it comes to an end eventually! You survived that, you will survive this. ;)</p>
<p>So I suppose the more selective schools take longer due to the number of applicants, (or maybe they like to be fashionably late? ;P)</p>
<p>Indiana is very selective for violin and my son heard in a week. It depends on the school.</p>
<p>It may be the number of applicants for the tiny number of openings--also, I know that, for example, Purchase had to reschedule a bad-weather audition day and that could put them behind schedule. There may be other schools with that issue--Oberlin?</p>
<p>I know that Oberlin and Rice are April 1st. Eastman says mid-March (ie: any day now). CIM says it has rolling admissions through the month of March. Michigan told those auditioning with my son (mid-february) that they would know about now and they've kept that promise. Others I don't know about.</p>
<p>hmm, as I recall, yes, Indiana was indeed quite prompt, and, of course, everyone knows they are very selective</p>
<p>Indiana has to accept a massive amount of people because it's every good violinist's safety school. Everyone I know auditioned there for undergrad, and my friends doing grad all audition there, none of them with the intention of going. They have a problem getting really good violinists right now. The level is not so great compared to years back. I heard that they send out way more acceptance letters than they have positions, partly because of this issue of being the safety school.</p>
<p>Is it a factor at Indiana that the string players have to do all the opera services? I have heard string teachers "dis" CCM for that reason, too much holding back in the pit, tightens the technique.</p>
<p>Vieuxtemps - my son is thrilled to go to Indiana and does not feel it is second best at all and we know other extremely good undergrads there. If Curtis is your measuring stick, then perhaps I would agree. Otherwise, there are few schools that have the depth in their violin faculty that Indiana has.</p>
<p>no Indiana has a very good faculty but there's too many schools competing with it now. When they had Gingold it was different.</p>
<p>Before they were competing with Juilliard and Curtis for top players but now they're below those schools as well as NEC, CIM, Rice, Colburn and maybe MSM. It doesn't mean it's a bad school it just means that string players who (probably quite foolishly) only think of solo playing right up until the time of getting a career, aren't attracted to Indiana because their output of those kinds of players have been quite low since Gingold died. Part of a really good music school is being around really great peers, and when you have less stars or people around that level going, the standard starts to drop. Now they have a couple people like Liana but for the most part she's an anomoly.</p>
<p>In the end it's all what you make of it. I know a few violinists who have come absolutely out of nowhere, so you could do so much worse than IU. I'm just saying it just isn't on people's lists anymore, if you're considering ENCORE/Aspen/Verbier people at least.</p>
<p>One can argue the virtues of any of these places, but you should be careful categorically putting a school down when there are tons of CC-ers who are thrilled to be accepted by a school of this level. I'm glad for you that you feel you're in a better situation, but not everyone can get there so fast. Certainly, coming out of IU is not "coming out of nowhere". Also, honestly, most of you violinists are not going to have solo careers and IU is placing people in fine orchestras and chamber groups all over the world just like the other top schools. In fact, my son was invited to go to Aspen (he's not going this year) by a teacher from 2nd or 3rd tier school who teaches at Aspen in the summer. I assume he takes some of his students there too. My son isn't ready for Aspen yet, but maybe next year.</p>
<p>I'm ridiculously anxious to hear from everywhere. Juilliard listed in detail what's happening every week between auditions and mailing of letters, so I know there's no hope of getting an early letter of notification. No other school let us know about exact timing, but I would be so grateful if any of them decided to go ahead and jump on it.</p>
<p>Stringfollies;</p>
<p>I've read several posts on this forum in the other sections because I've been considering academics as well... people are incredibly frank so I did not think it would be innapropriate here. People don't bat an eye saying that Harvard is better than Duke, so I don't see the problem.</p>
<p>A) I didn't put down Indiana, I simply said that for violinists it isn't a top consideration anymore, just like how Duke might not be at the absolutely top of most kids' lists who are into academics. That doesn't mean it's not a very good, very competitive school.
B) Most of the people winning major auditions today trained mostly as soloists. In fact, a lot of the most recent winners (friends of mine or people I know) won competitions and had mid-level to even major solo engagements. It's just a fact that a lot of eventual top orchestral players won't start doing excerpts until a few months before they give up solo playing. I've seen it in my studio and with friends so many times it isn't even funny, and they're beating kids who slogged at Tanglewood for like 3 summers. These are for NY, LA, Philly etc... not necessarily for Fort Worth symphony or what have you.</p>
<p>Just don't be so quick to put down the "solo" thing. That's how violinists get their base. Incidentally, Indiana probably sent the most people to top orchestras out of any school (besides Curtis) in the 80s and early 90s.</p>
<p>Harvard is better than Duke? Who knew?!?</p>