My first question is: should my daughter have a private lesson with the Bassoon teacher at Harvard if she eventually wants to apply? She LOVES music and has been in an incredible NYC saturday music program for many years but both she and her sis (tuba) told me they don’t want to go to conservatory sniff…But they both want to play in college and minor in music. Thank you.
The fact that her potential private music teacher is at Harvard will no to almost no influence to the application to Harvard – especially since H has one of the tiniest admit rates around.
The best thing you can do for your daughter is to have her think broadly about a wide suite of colleges that meet her needs. Try the SuperMatch tool on the left panel of this page.
“Named” schools like Harvard or Yale or Williams, etc. are “reaches” for everyone – i.e. practically no one who applies should expect an acceptance.
Thus, while it might be nice to drop an application into one or more of these, the bulk of her energies should be focused on “match” schools.
@T36E4 Perhaps you are not aware that this is standard practice in the music world? I am certainly aware of Harvard’s admit rate, that is not news to me or anyone really. Lessons with a teachers are standard, and not necessarily related to her admission but rather, a way to determine fit/chemistry. Perhaps you mistook my characterization of “clueless”? I meant clueless in terms of Harvard. She is quite familiar with many of the other colleges on the level with Harvard and very much has the stats that meet their admissions standards including grades/tests/varsity sports and obviously music. My question was whether or not these lessons are common like they are with conservatory admissions.
I doubt whether taking a bassoon lesson will help you determine fit and chemistry for a school with many thousands of students
I don’t think the lesson will matter but do it if it’s informative to your kid (not to Harvard). Supplementary materials - generally tapes of performances and the like - are evaluated by regular faculty but there are perilously few performance faculty. The person who might offer you a private lesson is relatively unlikely to be the person reviewing tapes.
While true that this is standard practice in the music world, Harvard is not a conservatory and one cannot get a degree in music performance. So unless she’s planning on applying for the dual degree Harvard/NEC program, the only benefit would be for her to evaluate the fit between her and the teacher.
Unlike a conservatory music school, it DOESN’T MATTER who a prospective applicant has studied with – it could be a teacher at Harvard or a world renown Juilliard bassoonist. What does matter, truthfully, is what the Harvard music teacher might say about a prospective applicant. If the Harvard bassoon teacher were to submit an additional recommendation that said @bassoontuba’s kid is by far THE BEST musician I’ve taught since Yo-Yo Ma – well that’s going to go a lot father than saying: yeah, I took the money and taught this mildly talented kid.
You might want to ask music questions on the excellent music forum under “majors” here on CC.
Harvard does not have a staff of instrumental instructors. Instead, students locate a private teacher in the area, often from one of the local conservatories . Look here: http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/music-teachers Note that names can be obtained on this link.
So there is no Harvard bassoon teacher to meet with : )
If your daughter were to get into Harvard, then she would try to find a good teacher in Boston or Cambridge. If that is relevant to her decision to apply, she could investigate now. Often NEC teachers are a good choice.
While it is true that Harvard does not offer a performance degree, in recent years there has been more support for applied arts, including music performance. Some music classes will include performance, and credit is given for lessons and for certain performance activities.
The best way to include music in an application is to do an arts supplement. For music, this can include a recording or video (ask if they want it cued to the best 3 minutes), a music resume, letters of recommendation (one or two) from music teachers or directors, repertoire list, and possibly concert programs if significant.
One thing to be aware of: you need to go to the Office of the Arts site as well as the Music Dept. site to learn about Harvard music. This confused us at first so giving you a heads up we didn’t have.
Visiting the music department is possible: though we waited until after acceptance, I know others have visited beforehand.
Harvard now has double degrees (BA/MM) with NEC and with Berklee.
Thank you this is very helpful!