<p>I want to schedule a sample lesson with a professor. How should I contact her? Email.. phone.. etc?</p>
<p>Any way you can. When we've been able to find a teacher's email address, we've done it that way. Some schools won't release email addresses, and make you go through the Admissions Dept.</p>
<p>What should you do if you don't hear back from professors, even after two weeks? Son wrote e-mails and heard back from only two of five. Send another letter, or call? Should he call, or should I?</p>
<p>We found some people easy to get a hold of, others much more difficult. If one way doesn't work, try another. I would start with email. If you don't hear back, try leaving a message on the office or studio phone answering machine. You might also contact the secretary of the music department if it is a music school within a university and ask if they have any advice on the best way to contact a professor. If the school is a conservatory, contact the admissions office if you have difficulty and ask them if they have any recommendations.</p>
<p>When we went throught the process several years ago, we had difficulty contacting 2 folks. One was on sabatical. We did eventually get in contact with him. The other hated email and traveled a lot performing so he often didn't check his voice mail. We were about to give up but since we were traveling to the city to visit another school in the area, we thought we would visit the school anyway. Someone in the admissions office was able to arrange a lesson for my son at the time of our visit.</p>
<p>I think it best in most cases that the student contacts the teachers. If there are extenuating circumstances (e.g. the student is away at camp for the summer and does not have regular access to email or phone, or the scheduling gets so complicated that it makes sense to eliminate the middleman) then a parent can step in.</p>
<p>We also found that two of the top teachers on D's instrument generally do not give trial lessons to just anyone. Both are principal players in big 5 orchestras and have teaching studios as well as other projects, so they are very very busy people. We were fortunate in that D at least had opportunities to do masterclasses with them, one after freshman year and one during senior year, after applications were already submitted.</p>
<p>After trying the standard route of emails and/or calls to the admissions office, if you know someone who is close to this teacher (maybe a former student or a colleague), you could consider having this person ask for a lesson on your S's behalf. Maybe your S's current teacher has a connection. Even this may not work. Another option is to apply to a summer program where these teachers work.</p>
<p>So any suggestions on what i should say in my email o_O?</p>
<p>Haven't had my second cup of coffee yet - here is something off the top of my foggy head:</p>
<p>subject: prospective student</p>
<p>Dear so & so [check the website to make sure you get the honorific correct],
I will be visiting [your college] on such and such a date [or -- hope to be visiting your college sometime in December ....] and want to learn more about the music offerings [program, department....] while I am there. I have played the harmonica for the past 12 years, and currently [study with famous teacher or play with famous youth symphony or other fact that might mean something]. I hope to pursue a harmonica performance major [ or minor or music ed or.....] and I would like to schedule a lesson with you. I will be available any time after 12:30 [or --- the week of such and such ....] Please let me know if it would be possible to meet with you, and what the lesson fee will be.</p>
<p>That's just a general idea, of course. Not too long, specifically request a lesson and ask about the fee. Give date or date range. Include your name, and several contact methods (phone, email.)</p>
<p>Keep it short and to the point. Identify yourself as a prospective student and specify the month and year that you intend to start college. Establish some possible dates for the lesson, giving the teacher the broadest possible latitude in selecting the day and time. Ask whether any other events like a concert, department recital or open house might be going on within that time frame. Mention that you will be happy to pay their standard lesson fee and ask the amount (many will not charge at all.) Provide a phone number and the best times to reach you at that number.</p>
<p>Now for some cases that may or may not apply: If you are a singer, mention which voice part. If an instrumentalist and the teacher is responsible for lessons on more than one instrument, mention which one of them you play. If you were referred to the teacher by a mutual acquaintance, let them know. If you play an instrument that would be difficult to bring but would normally be provided by the student (e.g. harpists or double bassists arriving by plane,) ask about borrowing an instrument for the lesson. If the teacher works at more than one school, let them know to which school(s) you plan to apply and, if more than one, ask where they would prefer to have the lesson. If you plan to have sample lessons with any of their colleagues at the same school, let them know that as well. This is courteous and it could affect the scheduling of the lessons because you will want to find a day when everyone is available.</p>
<p>I would leave dates as open as possible. We learned the hard way. Schedule a lesson FIRST, then make all the other arrangements.</p>
<p>and just a question... will juilliard professors give sample lessons? or are they too busy already</p>
<p>Depends on the professor and situation. We had a lesson with a Juilliard prof, but we organized it to occur at MSM. Many have joint appointments so have some flexibility in where you hook up with them.</p>