Wow, I’m away from this thread for 3 days and it’s exploding! Congratulations to all for the wonderful news that’s come in over the past few days.
Such exciting news @SpartanDrew and @willrogers ! Can’t wait to hear about the final decision.
D is STILL waiting to hear from 3 schools. Of her four admissions, she is 90% sure of her top choice. But at least two of the other three could change that. Maybe. She really likes her top choice right now. Which is a lovely thing because it is the least expensive option so far!
Ohhhhh @BassTheatreMom I am so envious! To have a top choice also be the least expensive… no such luck here I’m afraid. 8-|
D got an email that Vanderbilt scholarships will be posted at 5:30pm CST tomorrow (6:30pm EST). And I was going to be in bed by then as have to get up at 2:30am to chaperone a school trip. Doubt there’ll be much sleep in my future either way
As March madness comes to a close and we head into April my daughter still has some decisions to make. We will be heading out on a spring break trip to visit schools where she has been admitted via video audition and revisit one other. We will be visiting CU Denver, Belmont and Loyola New Orleans. I would love to know if you have any information to share about these programs. PM me if you prefer. Also would love suggestions of things to do or see during our visits.
Congratulations to everyone on all the great acceptances!!!
vistajay wrote: “There was some talk a page or two back about whether one would apply to less, or more, schools, knowing what we do now with admits in hand. With 11 applications, there are certainly some schools that S18 has dropped from consideration, or did not even finish submitting all required materials for a music admit. But I do not think we would do anything differently. Several were relative safeties, or perceived easier music admits, that we needed to include in case other choices did not pan out.”
Congrats to all for the recent wonderful admits! I’m repeating this bit of vistajay’s post bc I think it’s important for future applicants to realize that while it is good to have some focus to their approach, they really need to have enough apps to cover their bases. They won’t know where they stand with regard to passing pre-screens until likely December/January - when it is too late to add additional programs. Every applicant should include some programs that don’t require pre-screens. My D passed her pre-screens but included 2 non-pre-screened programs just in case something went wrong. One of her friends is very talented but did not pass any of his pre-screens. Who knows why - quality of video, song selection? As a result, 4 programs were immediately removed from his future. He was able to audition at 2 wonderful non-pre-screen programs and is now very successful at Michigan. So I hope future applicants do not pursue too narrow an approach.
We have swag! Big, beautiful garnet red USC Thornton School of Music sweatshirt came today in the mail for S18 with a nice letter and brochure. I may have to steal it if S18 does not attend.
My s got his today as well! So awesome! So excited!
@momzhood I’m glad you posted that. You are absolutely right. I was the one who talked about narrowing our focus and wishing we had applied to less but honestly hindsight is easy to say that now. I think every kid is different and I’m quite sure that while I was biting my nails all throughout December (waiting for prescreen results) then again in January and February (during live auditions) I woudn’t have tossed out those schools that we felt relatively confident about admission. So I will retract my previous comment LOL. I do think there are 2 schools on D’s list that we could easily remove though, with or without hindsight but that’s us and again, every circumstance is unique. I have seen some lists as long as 12 or 13 schools a kid has applied to and others as short as 3 or 4. I know of a very very talented jazz vocalist who applied to and got into all 4 of her schools but given her resume, there was very little doubt that she would. Not everyone has that kind of resume so if you don’t know, it’s better to have way more than way less. And you’re right, throwing some non audition or non prescreen options in there is a great idea as well.
- The only swag from anyone here is a sticker. It's not my size
- Over the past 12 years of gong through college auditions, I have never heard a kid say they applied to too many schools, but many of my kids friends in hindsight said they wish they HAD applied to more
So excited to follow this thread and share the joy! Praying I’ll be there next year with S19.
One question — based on everything you now know, and leaving out the super extraordinary kids who get in everywhere, how many schools should be on the list? S19 currently has only three definite schools — Eastman (reach), Ithaca and Berklee. No definites, but he did the five-week at Berklee and got great feedback/grades/support, and we have a contact at Ithaca who says he’s a great fit there. So decent chance he’d get in to one of them. I’ll make him apply to Rutgers, our state school, so that’s four. Not enough, though, right? Is there a “right” number?
@akapiratequeen , it depends. Are you hunting for merit aid? If full pay is a financial option for you, then that is easier and you can apply to less places. If you are seeking merit or financial aid, you need to cast a wider net because such aid is very unpredictable at most schools.
what he said ^^^
@akapiratequeen To add to what vistajay said…It may also depend on your sons instrument, how many spots are open in his instrument (which you may not know), and how large the program is at each school.
Personally, if you want to keep merit aid options open, I think you need at least 8 schools consisting of 2-3 safeties where you almost sure she will get in and that you can afford, 2-4 that you think are good fits for her but harder admits and where you might need some assistance to afford, and 2-3 reaches where getting in will be very tough and/or you need a lot of financial assistance to afford.
Hi @akapiratequeen your S sounds like he’s already focused which is great! Those 4 schools are a good start and pretty varied in terms of atmosphere and admission. I’d suggest adding a couple more. My S (jazz guitar) applied to 8 programs, all requiring prescreens. I think we could have eliminated some of them. He realized during auditions how much he preferred stand-alone conservatories (that also included schools like Eastman, which is so separate from the river campus). However, we did not visit all of the schools prior to auditions which would definitely have helped him narrow down. On the other hand, the earlier ‘easier’ auditions helped pave the way for ones later on and a generous scholarship from one program helped us negotiate for a higher award at the school where he ended up. We were able to drive to many of the auditions and we actually had a great time (especially UMiami-Frost in January) but he was so ready to retire his audition pieces by the final one at the New School.
This is great, thank you @drummergirl , @vistajay, @diglass and all! He’s also looking at Peabody at Johns Hopkins, but that is definitely not a safety. He wants a place with both strong jazz performance and a strong education program, as he’s not sure which he wants yet (maybe both). Between Eastman and Peabody, as well as Berklee, I think he’s got enough reaches. It’s finding safeties he likes that’s the problem. Also, we definitely need some scholarship support – his GPA is high, so there is a possibility for academic scholarships at some places, and hopefully they like his playing as well.
My only experience so far is with summer programs: he got a huge scholarship for the Berklee five-week, but only a tiny pittance for the Eastman jazz workshop he’s doing this summer. If those two were on the table right now, Eastman would not be an option.
PS @drummergirl, where did your S end up?
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@vistajay CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TOP NOTCH SWAG!! And what a wonderful place to be with your S in late March!!! I love the USC admit!!! (Condolences regarding swag @NYsaxmom , but I think we can all agree D will probably buy you some with those AMAZING scholarship offers!!!
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Wow, everyone! I just love hearing about all the amazing choices!!
C) I find the “how many schools” question to be very interesting! I think we were maybe unusual here in that my D only auditioned at 5 schools. She seriously considered 9 programs and finished and submitted applications for 7 (canceling her audition at one after it seemed clear she had opportunities she preferred). She failed the prescreen at CMU. We worked pretty hard to have a really good, diversified list including a VERY safety Audition Safety (where interestingly, the $ package was the worst offered). Honestly, we had some sense where D would fall, talent wise (lots of potential), but amongst the tippy top candidates, we had no clue; D hadn’t been to the big classical VP summer festivals, and was really just deciding on an Opera vs. MT track, and grades + test scores were “fine” but not about to set her apart! so… gap year was our backup. In retrospect, I think to myself “Sopranos are a dime a dozen, what were we thinking?!? We should’ve had more schools…”
Several things narrowed our list:
- Undergrad only or heavy. D was set on this.
- NO stand alone Conservatory or NYC schools…D did NOT want a stand alone (fit) and felt she wasn’t ready/couldn’t afford the NYC experience. #musicianknowthyself. Lol.
- High Financial Need. We needed to mix in some full meets need programs (arguably harder to get in to, but if you do…!!!)
- Cost of audition trips. This is a real consideration.
In retrospect, our list was so well researched! (Proud of us, haha) D was offered admission everywhere (except CMU, with that failed prescreen), and I am starting to think that is, in part, due to a smaller list. I think, for purposes of yield, etc., some reach programs can be more skeptical when they see a big list. Also, D’s list “made sense” for anyone in the know…she knew what she was looking for. For me, Vandy is one of the schools D dropped before submitting the application, and it’s really the only school I would have liked her to keep on (it’s sooo beautiful there, and I would have enjoyed that audition visit). I have mentioned before on this and other threads that our aid packages and merit offers were somewhat all over the place! It seems like this is unusual, too, and maybe I attribute this in some part to our high financial need… D’s reachiest School, Oberlin, came in strong with the best package, which again is so interesting to me, but being a super reach meets-need school, it was a no brainer for us! One thing I noticed was a certain amount of frustration from department heads, etc. at the non-meets-need schools; they simply were not in a position to compete with those meets-need $ awards…it wasn’t possible in OUR case (with higher financial need). I think things are more “even” perhaps for full-pay (or closer) families, and the late March/April negotiations are tighter.
We went to a college workshop for performing arts kids done by a certified consultant. She recommends starting with 5-9 schools for most students, and recommends starting with 9-11 schools for kids looking at programs that require auditions. Especially when merit is at play and may be a factor for selection. I know we are “full pay” on paper but if we are full pay everywhere then our choices are probably the state flagship and the neighboring state flag ship where we have reciprocity. Having a non-audition safety isn’t a bad idea either or a plan B for a gap year. I know people who’ve been surprised by their audition results so I feel like having more choices is better than less. But I’m a parent of a junior so I’m watching as well.
When my daughter auditioned, both for undergrad and grad, she had no safties. Her teachers recommended (and I agreed) that she should only apply to schools where she could truly see herself. If she didn’t get in, then the plan was to take a gap year and reapply. She did not have to do that, but others I know who did take a gap year ended up at their top choices.