As long as you would be happy at Oregon, this is fine. The rest of your list is highly competitive for music. An audition will be the key ingredient to your acceptance…and there is no way to chance you because the strength of your audition will be compared to others doing auditions on your instrument.
One thing that is helpful is that many music programs (including Thornton) have prescreenings, so that gives an early indication as to the strength of an applicant’s music. Hopefully the prescreen results arrive in time for applicants to apply elsewhere if the prescreen is a denial. I think this year, Thornton send their prescreen results by end of December, which gives at least a little time fo meet early January deadlines for non-audition schools. But of course, timelines can vary and this can’t be depended on.
My teacher wants me to look into highly competitive music schools, part of why I do abrsm, and I want to get into competitive music schools because I know I have the skill to get into programs, but my academic performance is hindering me from applying to these music programs, because being accepted to the program, but not the school is possible, and might happen to me cuz of gpa, despite my skill on music
And Thornton is not only a great one to go to, but the closest for top music schools, Ik I have the skills to get into others too, use to want to go to berklee or oberlin, but Thornton is in the state below mine and is fantastic, skill for a Thornton audition I think I can do good, but a usc admission, idk
I know that a number of colleges have more leeway in the admissions of applicants that are accepted to highly competitive music programs, and that may be the case for USC. I would also find the threads around here who are applying for audition-based programs (there’s a big musical theater one, but I think there are others as well) as audition-based applications are a different beast, and they can provide much more relevant advice.
Regardless, however, I would still create a balanced college list of places that you would be happy to attend where you are extremely likely to be admitted (90+% chance), likely (60-90%), possible (25-55%), and unlikely (less than 25%).
Take a look at UCLA. They state that if you meet their minimum academic metrics then GPA won’t hold you back if you are applying to one of their art or music programs.
Also, you should definitely take a look at the curriculum requirements for a BM in music if you are accepted. They are very rigorous and time consuming and will not leave a lot of free electives for the science courses in which you are also interested. Many people don’t realize how rigorous and extensive the requirements are for a BM. And although UCLA offers a BA in music rather than a BM it is also very rigorous.
OP, you may want to also create a post in the Music Majors thread here on CC. You will likely get good advice there.
@gamerboy80 Also, if you haven’t done so yet, you should be looking at all the schools you are interested in to see what their prescreen and audition requirements are. Students often work on this repertoire a year or more ahead of the prescreens/auditions, and sometimes there is overlap between the schools’ reqruiements and sometimes there is not.
A good strategy is to make a spreadsheet of the different requirements to see if you can use the same pieces for multiple applications, and to start mapping out a plan. Of course, you may have already done this, but since you didn’t mention your repertoire, I wanted to bring it up.
I don’t know about Thornton at USC….
But for these conservatories: Curtis institute of music, Juliard, unt for music, Cleveland institute of music, New England conservatory of music, berklee, or the colleges in London (I’m assuming you mean someplace like Royal College of Music)….your academic record and your standardized test scores will really be much much much less considered than your audition. In other words, you don’t have to be a top scholar…but you DO have to be a top musician.
@compmom your thoughts?
Agreeing with MMRose and Thumper1 above. My son auditioned at several of the schools the OP cites above two years ago: Curtis, Juilliard, NEC and USC. For Curtis, Juilliard and NEC as with all free standing conservatories I am aware of, GPA is not important. Admission is based on musical merit via your audition. For USC, again for admission to Thornton, the audition would be the predominant factor, but GPA would be considered as the program is university based. A 3.5 GPA would likely be sufficient.
The programs on your list are incredibly competitive, as others on the thread have stated. Most applicants have most, if not all of their repertoire perfected by the end of junior year, as pre screening materials need to be submitted usually by December 1 of your senior year. And your submission needs to be very high level!
So my suggestion would be to carefully find programs that meet your level and genre. Curtis Institute for example has only solo classical guitar. As stated above, the repertoire requirements are posted on each school’s website and can serve as a guide for you and your teacher.
In our experience with USC, there is a tendency for much of the artistic merit money to go to their graduate students versus the undergrads. My son, who was given a full tuition scholarship at 1 school and several 1/2 scholarships was awarded $5K per year by USC. And the total cost of attendance is over $75K per year. Believe us when we say that money always matters. Especially with a career in music, coming out of school with minimal debt will help you to pursue music when you graduate.
I hope this helps.
I recommend that you post on the music major forum. Also, on that forum, find the Double Degree Dilemma essay found in the Read Me thread. It is really about different ways to study music.
If you want a BM degree, 2/3-3/4 of your classes will be in music. It is really an immersion. The only way to do science as well would be a double degree (5 years). I do know of people doing a double major BA in music and BA in science, but with labs versus rehearsals scheduling is tough.
Other options for studying music include a BA in music, a BA/BS in something else (science?) with music lessons and performance “on the side,”, double major, and major/minor.
I suggest you look thoroughly at the courses required and the content of those courses as well as how the days are scheduled, at the various music schools you are interested in.
I am unclear what expertise you have in guitar but if not classical, you might want to research and make sure guitar programs suit you. What do you play in orchestra? You seem confident in your talent and skills and clearly work hard but it is good to know there are many others with the same level
Another concern I would have is starting a BM after two years of community college. It is possible that many classes won’t transfer and many music schools like you to do all their music curriculum at their school. You could do gen eds at community college. Not sure that would save you time because music classes tend to be sequential over a 4 year period, so you might still need 4 years at the music school, so check into that. There might be exceptions. I don’t really know.
There are other schools on the west coast, but I don’t know whether they meet your needs. University of the Pacific, University of Puget Sound, Lewis and Clark. U. of Washington and Oregon, UC’s and Cal State (look at Long Beach).
I haven’t addressed your main question but I sense that some of this info might be helpful to you and hope it is. The importance of your grades will vary from school to school and will depend on what you study. For audition schools, the audition is the most important thing but I would think at USC grades would be considered but not as much as for students not doing music.
One other thing I just thought of: for BM programs there is usually auditions (and often prescreens). If you study science or want a BA in music, you can send a music supplement with your application with recording/video, music resume and letters of recommendation related to music.
If any competitive summer music programs are still taking applications, you may want to apply to them. Not only would you have a great summer experience, but it would also give you some additional feedback as to where you are musically compared to other students who are also likely going to be applying to some of the same places you are considering.