<p>Really, there is no right and wrong way. There are some ways that are better than others, but when your son finally gets to school, he is going to be among kids that did everything by the book, and kids who didn’t do any of it.</p>
<p>(I’ll slip in what we did in parenthesis after each question, as my goal is to show that different things work for different situations.)</p>
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<p>You can. Have you had your spring break yet? You may be able to visit one or two of the furthest away during spring break. Call in advance to try to schedule a sample lesson or meeting with faculty. You didn’t mention instrument, so I’m speaking generally.</p>
<p>You may find that your own plans for family vacations get put on a back burner during junior and senior years, unless your dream vacation is visiting college towns.</p>
<p>(My H and S2 visited Juilliard junior year during spring break. My D didn’t visit anywhere until senior year, because we lived abroad.)</p>
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<p>You can. Many music teachers teach at summer festivals, so if your goal is to meet the teacher, you may have to go someplace other than the school. If your goal is to see the school, be aware that many schools scale things way down during the summers. Fewer students, fewer dorms open.</p>
<p>(I took S2 to visit CCM during the summer. We were able to meet up with the teacher and S2 got a lesson. The teacher gave us a tour. The place was mostly empty, but we did feel we got a good idea. S2 also visited NEC during the summer. He’d hoped to meet two different teachers, but one was on the opposite coast for the summer. This tour didn’t go so well - dorms were shut up and locked, and there was some construction or building maintenance going on, so we didn’t see much at all. S2 also had visited Curtis a couple summers earlier when S1 was visiting UPenn. Never had a teacher lesson there, nor at Juilliard.)</p>
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<p>During auditions, many schools have tours and information sessions available for the parents while the students are auditioning. The students themselves may find themselves too busy or not want the distraction. Teachers are occasionally available for lessons or meetings, but I wouldn’t count on it.</p>
<p>(My D’s teacher did meet up with us after her audition at Miami U Ohio, and showed us around campus. It was my D’s second visit, but my first. I got a tour of Juilliard during S’s audition, but he was too busy. No tours at Curtis during auditions.)</p>
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<p>Many schools hold auditions on weekends. Yes, you must apply prior to auditioning. Different schools have different processes, but a very general one is that you apply in the fall, in some cases with a pre-screening CD. About January or so they contact you with an audition date and time. January through early March are the bulk of the auditions.</p>
<p>You may want to look at the school calendar and see when teacher workdays are. Our school district has one Monday a month off. You may be able to arrange visits around scheduled days off.</p>
<p>The other question is, what is the penalty for missing more than 3 days? Is it something you can live with? You may find that the rule in writing is flexible if you talk to the right people in advance. “Visiting” schools may be one thing, “auditioning” may be another, with different rules.</p>
<p>(My D did all her visits on weekends and Mondays in the fall. All her auditions were on weekends as well. She missed the week of Thanksgiving (2 or 3 days - can’t remember) and we were able to visit 4 schools in PA and OH during that time. My D and my S both auditioned for one school apiece by DVD. Both were accepted at those schools as well.)</p>
<p>You can read BassDad’s Music Major thread, stickied above, for more insight on the process. And read through the current audition experience thread, too.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>