Thornton application help!?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hi, I'm a senior applying to USC's Thornton school. The online application seems to be a little vague to me so I have a few questions that I would really appreciate some feedback to.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What exactly constitutes a statement of objectives? how long should it be? etc</p></li>
<li><p>I am applying to the Popular Music program as my first choice major as a songwriter. I play and write on the guitar but I do not sing. Can I get in as a songwriter as opposed to a singer-songwriter??</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>My son is a freshman singer/songwriter in the Popular Music program and is very happy. I don’t remember the application that well, but I can tell you that the program is pretty diverse. A fair number of singer/songwriters but also a violinist and a saxophonist who are popular music majors (and amazingly talented according to my son). So, I think that the program appears to not define what it is looking for narrowly, but rather is looking for top talent. </p>

<p>Son had to audition, so I wonder if you wouldn’t need to at least play guitar for the audition and maybe look at also being a guitar major. For the audition you could bring someone else singing on cd and then play along. Son brought extra instrumental accompaniment on a cd to go along with him playing guitar and singing and was complimented on the arrangement so that is not viewed negatively.</p>

<p>The people running the popular music program are very friendly and want you to be comfortable during the audition etc. While I can give some experiences and perspective from an applicants family, you should probably e-mail them with specific questions to get precise answers. The gentleman who runs the program is Chris Sampson and his e-mail is “<a href=“mailto:sampson@usc.edu”>sampson@usc.edu</a>”</p>

<p>Good Luck</p>

3

<p>raddad offers an informed perspective and excellent advice. Please heed it.</p>

<p>Within cc’s music major forum is the thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/618208-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2009-a-59.html?highlight=master[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/618208-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2009-a-59.html?highlight=master&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you go to the last post within, you’ll find the most up to date listing of students/parents with acceptances to Thorton’s Popular Music program from the '09 admissions cycle. You might want to pm or email anyone for their personal experience or insight. Most folks on the forum are quite willing to share both knowledge and experience.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>