<p>Now that the dust has settled on our son's acceptance, we have this nagging concern about the studio. His acceptance letter didn't mention a private teacher and the brochure they sent said they make these decisions in summer. Our son has emailed his first choice teacher and has not heard back yet. (They were on break last week.) How have other students handled this? There are at least ten piano faculty members and he was asked to list three choices on the application. He clearly had a first choice with whom he has had 10 lessons and contact with for over three years. Would they have taken him if they didn't have room with one of his top choices?</p>
<p>We had the same situation at Oberlin last year. They normally do not announce studio assignments until July but we were able to get a verbal commitment from them before sending in the acceptance card.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how Manhattan or the New School operate, but many schools like to see who actually enrolls before making final studio assignments. Most say that they will try very hard to honor requests, but cannot guarantee admission to a particularly popular studio until some time after May 1. The teacher can be of help if they remember your son and specifically want him in their studio, and I see that you are already working that angle. If your son calls the admissions department and lets them know that his decision will be in part based on the studio assignment, they may be able to give him an idea of how many spots are open in each studio and where he stands in the pecking order. </p>
<p>Now that he has more than one admission in hand, it is the schools' turn to court him.</p>
<p>I have this same issue with respect to the New School. No mention was made of studio assignment and I don't see how we could decide to accept there without that information. Thanks for insight, BassDad.</p>
<p>My D did not have a studio assignment until well after sending in her acceptance. If it is really important, contact the desired instructor.</p>
<p>OOPS - got you confused with a couple of the other moms for a second there. We are talking about Oberlin after all. The Oberlin Conservatory admissions department was very good about this exact issue with us last year. I suggest you have your son contact them.</p>
<p>Thanks BassDad. I remembered your posts last year regarding your daughter's decision on studio teachers. My son has contacted the instructor, but not the con. I guess I need to be more patient. I know he won't send in his card and deposit until he knows what his placement will be. I had just expected things to be more clearly defined.</p>
<p>I am shocked by the number of schools that announce studio assignments until well after deposits are due. I would certainly never have chosen to go as far away from home as I did (Boston from TN) without knowing what kind of experience I would be signing up for in the studio every week for four years.</p>
<p>DS would agree with Fiddlefrog. He CHOSE his schools based on the applied faculty on his instrument. He would not have enrolled without knowing for sure which studio he was assigned to.</p>
<p>We ran into the same thing. I stayed out of the auditon and application process as much as I could (aside from traveling with visiting and all that). However, I would not send in a deposit without knowing who his teacher would be. Son called the teacher he wanted and left a message. Happens that the teacher called back in the evening when son was out. I spoke fairly frankly, but very politely, and told him that he was who son wanted to study with and why. I also stated that if the school could not make a committment, we needed to know that so son could investigate his options at other schools. The teacher asked us to give him a couple of days. He called back the next evening and was able to promise a studio placement with him.</p>
<p>I don't think I was being pushy, just realistic. We had spend too much time and money investigating teachers to just leave it all up to chance. Call. You have nothing to lose.</p>
<p>Our daughter was contacted by the teachers from both Oberlin and Rice before she even got her official acceptance. They both were welcoming her into their studios (voice). She did not get that same info from Indiana, NEC, CIM or BU.</p>
<p>Indiana's policy, requiring students to make studio arrangements by themselves, is particularly bad. I wasted so much time making phone calls and writing emails: "Dear Prof. ----, I have recently been admitted to IU and am very interested in studying with you etc etc etc" only to learn that a teacher didn't have any openings, or hadn't liked my audition, or just never picks up the phone. If you don't succeed in putting yourself in a studio, you're randomly assigned to an open slot. Of all the things to leave to chance... That method clearly gives preference to students with preestablished connections with the teacher of their choice.</p>
<p>I truly appreciate everyone's input regarding this extremely important issue. Perhaps yet another thing to include in one's discussion during sample lessons. The good news is that our son's desired teacher had been out of town and just sent him an email congratulating him and letting him know that there was room in the studio if he still wanted to attend, and to say, "Hello" to his parents. (Oh my goodness, someone from academia acknowledged that my kid has parents!) I might faint. My husband and I couldn't be happier; however, I think I may need to contribute to the "sticker shock" thread.</p>
<p>MOWC - I think I remember from S's application to CIM (Cleveland) that they specifically spell out that they will NOT contact the student in any way between notification of admission and the student's decision to attend. They said they want the student to make his/her own decision without pressure. I thought it was an interesting approach. Cincinnati (CCM) was the only school (of 4) that DID contact my S, though.</p>
<p>However, as to the original question, a teacher was named on every acceptance letter. I didn't even know some schools didn't do that. As others have said, he chose the schools to apply to largely based on teacher, so not having that information would be a major issue.</p>