Is there any reason not to do this? Any established etiquette about it? The plan, of course, was that DS would see the schools he’s applying to when he went there for his auditions, but now that his January auditions at least are going to be virtual that won’t be happening. And he didn’t get to visit most of them last year, either (he did see a couple over the summer). Depending on how many acceptances he gets, there might not be time to visit everywhere in April. So doing a couple of visits in early March (is things have opened back up some then), after auditions are over, makes sense. What about requesting sample lessons? It seems potentially awkward to ask for a lesson from someone who might already secretly know they’re not planning to admit you, but…again, he didn’t get to do them last year (he did a virtual lesson everywhere he’s applied, but he’d like to meet potential professors in person, too). I also have a 10th grader, so it would double as a chance for him to get a couple of visits in and wouldn’t be “wasted” if my current senior winds up visiting places that are about to turn him down.
I would recommend that your son wait until he has acceptances in hand for a few reasons:
- For some, having a sample lesson and touring a program and later getting rejected from the program would make the rejection much more difficult to deal with. Best to stay a little cool and just wait until decisions come in.
- Some of the campuses are really restricted to outside access due to CoVid. It is the of course the reason many auditions are going remote. Although we hope the world opens up more by March/April, you may have trouble getting teachers to approve in person sample lessons. Especially for wind players.
- Save your money. Use the money towards tuition next year, or to fly out and visit for his first concert in the fall.
Having said that, once he has his acceptances in hand, it may be a good plan to visit the top contenders. The protocol generally is that the student emails the prospective teacher to request a lesson/meeting.
Good luck! May you have many choices!
Of course, if money and time are not important, go for it. How many schools are you talking about? FWIW, I would wait until you hear back from schools and see the financial package to assure you can afford to attend. In addition, teachers will be much more receptive to sample lessons for accepted students, rather than mid term when they are still hearing auditions. Is your spring break after decisions come out?
Money and time are absolutely important, but the money and time were already budgeted for audition trips that now aren’t happening. I.e. it’s not about whether to visit or not (I feel pretty strongly that he should see a school in person before he commits to going there), it’s about timing. We’re pretty confident about cost issues based on NPCs…for the most part he didn’t apply anywhere that wouldn’t be affordable with just need based aid. Our spring break is in April, so that’s one possibility, but we already made other plans based on our assumption that he’d have already visited all his schools during auditions. I probably should have learned by now that making assumptions these days is a sucker’s game 
But that trip could be canceled if it has to be and replaced with college visits. We already have one school we were hoping to visit in April because that audition ended up virtual for non-covid reasons, so it really is just about potentially running out of time to visit places in the short window between decisions coming out and May 1. Basically, I’m considering doing the Oberlin/Blair trip that was supposed to happen next week in March instead…and then keeping fingers crossed that February auditions are in person so we don’t have more places to worry about (or I guess I could hope he doesn’t get in too many places, but I’d rather hope for in person auditions!)
Thanks–good things to think about! Blair and Oberlin are the main ones I’m thinking of, and both of them were, I believe, doing in person lessons this past fall pre-omicron…but who knows what the spring will bring! #1 is really the main thing I’m concerned about, I think.
Hmmm…this is probably not answering your questions but…I’ll say it to emphasize that your situation is “common”.
Right now it may feel that you have 6 schools in play…but once you get the acceptances and offers…and have a heart to heart with your son about travel expenses…it may be only a couple of schools.
Would your son want to visit a school that if offering no money? What if the scholarship is lowish and the communication slow or not responsive? I understand that as a parent you have a plan to visit all…and do your due diligence…still how will your kid feel visiting a lukewarm school where he doesn’t have a teacher assigned yet?
Having 5 or 6 schools stumbling over themselves to please you is rare. Having one or two schools/teachers reaching out…inviting you to their studio…a nice financial packet…bringing all that toghether…that may only happen at one, two or three schools allowing you to not visit the others.
But you never know…all offers could be the same…and then you need to do the hard “culling” that happens to all when time and money get tight. Usually the kid is the one who pulls the plug when they get tired bc they know where their heart is leaning…
Good luck!!!
So why don’t you wait to see whether the February auditions are in person or not before planning what to do in March? If they are in person and S is accepted to Blair and Oberlin, visit them in April since you will have seen others in February. Last year some schools were only allowing admitted students access in the spring, even when things were somewhat more normal. It would be a shame to arrive and not be allowed to go in to buildings or meet faculty, even if outdoor tours had resumed…
thanks–it’s true, when I do a mental flow chart of how things could shake out, MOST scenarios don’t really cause logistical problems for April visits. I tend to focus on worst case scenarios, though 
I think I’m a little scarred by my experience with my oldest, where he couldn’t decide until the last minute and ended up at a school we didn’t visit until April. But music schools are a different beast and this is a different kid.
yes, that’s probably what makes the most sense. Honestly, I think part of it is that I feel like he was cheated out of college visits (and so was I! I love college visits! and road trips! But I have two more kids to make them with) and I’m sad at the idea that this one won’t happen at all if he doesn’t get in. And I was really happy that the good part of needing to travel for auditions would be that he’d seen all the schools by the time he needed to make a decision. But, you know, small disappointments in the big scheme of things.
I would definitely wait until decisions come in and then visit all of the ones that are still serious contenders. Nothing worse than having applied, visiting, falling in love with it, and not getting in.
No real advice - just sharing in your agony! We drove home from Indiana’s audition weekend on Sunday and drove up to Oberlin just so that she could see it! Unfortunately, that giant snowstorm was coming so it left us with hardly any time to visit and still drive across PA to get to NJ before the snow built up.
We took a self-guided speed tour of Oberlin in 45 minutes. It was fast and furious but she got a good feel of the campus and how different it was from most of the other schools we’ve visited. She really liked it. I think it put Oberlin higher up on her list, so I’m glad we did it. Now we just need her to get in! The good news is that we weren’t there long enough for her to fall IN LOVE with it in case she doesn’t. I recommend the self-guided speed tour! LOL
There is no way we can get to all the colleges, if S does indeed get multiple acceptances. They are all over the country. I’m not sure what we’ll do.
glad you got to see Oberlin! That’s one we’ve been to because we visited when my oldest was looking at schools, but current senior was just in 9th grade then. He had just started thinking of a music major then, so we did a conservatory tour and he sat in on a music theory class. Plus my husband went to Oberlin, so we’re pretty familiar with it…but it’s still been awhile for DS!
Yeah, you’ll need another visit then, but at least he has some idea for now.
Our spring break will most likely be 100% college visits. We are waiting now to see where she gets in and we’ll either save it for spring break or go on weekends after acceptances. At this point, I really don’t want to jinx anything or waste the time/money and have her fall in love with someplace and she isn’t accepted.
So hard to just sit and wait right now!!
I know COVID comes into play but we were doing this before this hit. I think the visits were great for my D who is studying Opera. For the schools we visited we always did a lesson with someone to get the feel for the faculty and I know she asked questions (we were not in the lesson). We tried to hit some schools that were sort of on the way for vacation or bundled schools that were near each other. Some schools got eliminated once she toured the facilities and saw the opportunities. Some schools got eliminated because it became clear they were not as serious a music program for her as the website claim. I am certain she got at least 2 offers ultimately from schools she visited and professors who she took the private lessons from as they were in her auditions and essentially were recruiting her. Perhaps for other music disciplines it it different but for opera majors I think a pre-visit is a good idea.
TOTALLY worth doing visits in advance to decide where to apply, and what studios might be of interest through sample lessons. But you visited before applying and before passing through to live auditions on a prescreen (or visited during the audition). OP is talking about visiting after auditions but before decisions are out. The concensus of advice is to wait for decisions.
I understand that this issue is probably resolved…but I’ll add a couple other quick (maybe) comments.
1.) I am really sorry about how COVID is impacting yet another audition year. I can only imagine how a stressful time is made worse by frustration and a loss…of opportunities.
2.) I think the type of “stealth” visit done by @momofmusicgirl does make sense in this environment. A quick, independent visit, particularly if a school is in the area, could give you a feel for the campus.
3.) I do feel that a “full” visit is slightly…dare I say…“inappropriate”. The first question in this thread asks about etiquette (which is a big deal in classicl music…more than it should be in my opinion). During audition season, faculty is very busy…and in this period, you audition and wait. It would be an “odd” time to show up on campus. This is just my opinion so I could be wrong. But nevertheless, knowing some music school personalties, I’m just not sure it would be in your son’s favor.
If I were to visit a school at this point, I would be hesitant to contact faculty (unless there’s a special relationship/reason) as it could come off as needy, odd, bad timing…or maybe nothing special…but it is NOT common etiquette.
One other point (I’m never short) for others reading…this is the beginning of the “worst” time in the audition process. Waiting is really hard. You’ve worked so hard and been so busy…and now you have little to do but wait it out…or soon (after auditions) that may be the case. So you just need to hang in there.
Finally, some schools do roll admission…so I’ll hope you get an early acceptance or two…and then you can visit!
So this just happened. My S22 emailed the lesson instructor at a LAC that he was coming for a campus visit next week and would instructor have a few minutes to chat. Instructor said yes and asked if he would like a lesson and S said yes. This is not a super competitive program, but just thought I’d share.
I don’t see the downside in asking. The school can say no, the school can say ‘sure, visit but no lesson/meeting with us’ or the school can say ‘come on down, we’d love to host you!’
My daughter toured a school before applying and they couldn’t have been nicer about meeting with us, showing us around (I’m still drooling over the costume room with all the sewing machines and fabrics), introducing us to everyone from the department office staff to the head of the department. He even invited daughter to a closed play rehearsal that night (and talked to us afterward). I don’t think they would have treated us differently if D had already applied and was waiting for admission.
Just reiterating that there is a difference between visits before applying and auditioning and visits while the faculty are in the process of selecting students. (after auditions are completed)
I agree with @bridgenail above, that it is would likely not be in the best interest of the student to contact schools and faculty to request meetings or lessons after auditions have been completed and while the student is waiting on a response. This might not be true of all schools/programs, but many would find it an unusual request.
My son is in his second year at conservatory. His impression is that especially at high level conservatories, the faculty appreciates talent along with maturity and the ability to “read the room”. Thus, being respectful of where the schools are during these few months of auditions is really important. Realize that faculty are reviewing auditions (in many cases in a format which is new to them) while trying to teach their own current students, reschedule live concerts/recitals and stay within guidelines due to CoVid.
It is a challenging time for everyone. The good news is that the music continues and amazing students continue to enter the programs that fit their needs. Best of luck to everyone!