<p>Three of my friends got rejection letters today. One amazing soprano, a flutist, and a bassoonist.</p>
<p>Seriously, Crane?</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, what kind of answer are you looking for ? </p>
<p>A crane freshman class is only about 150-180 students and that number will vary based on the number of ensemble spots available in any one year. They will audition between 800 and 1000 for those 150. Of those between 60 and 100 are SUNY Potsdam students reauditioning after spending a year taking lessons with Profs at Crane or simply finally passing an aural exam finally(we know one of those). The number of students auditioning to all state schools are increasing drastically which is going to make those numbers worse in the next few years.</p>
<p>I totally understand the numbers… it just seems like some kids whom you’d swear up and down would get into Crane didn’t, and then some kids who didn’t think would make it got in…</p>
<p>Does audition date have something to do with it? Someone I know who is mediocre at clarinet got accepted, and he auditioned in Dec. My flutist friend, who’s a beast, auditioned in Feb and got rejected.</p>
<p>My son auditioned in December 2008 and received his acceptance 10 days later. My daughter will audition up at Crane next December for 9/2011, I believe in being there for your audition and Crane Profs have the option to use the rolling admissions system just like the rest of the school. I know a flutist who auditioned at Mt. Sinai in February who got accepted although I think she’ll be going to Fredonia. I know a clarinetist who auditioned in December and failed his aurals though the studio profs really wanted him so he retook his aural a second time and passed (you are allowed to retake an aural if the studio really wants you).</p>
<p>It seems like December is the magic month then…
Would you recommend auditioning that early if I’m only just getting into Potsdam in August?</p>
<p>I recommend you let the person who is coaching you recommend a time. There is really no magic time.</p>
<p>There have been a lot of discussions about the audition process, about why people get in and other ones don’t, and so forth, and the answer is there is no magic rule.</p>
<p>For example, someone you feel is ‘mediocre’ on clarinet might get in because they didn’t have that great a pool of clarinetists applying that cycle. Every instrument is different, and every program at different times has different requirements and openings, sometimes it is the luck of the draw.</p>
<p>I’ll give you an idea, my son when he was applying to the pre college program he is in on violin several years ago did so when the program was contracting, so instead of 15 slots there were maybe 6 that year. If he had applied even the year before, he might have gotten in, but because of the number of slots had been clipped to the bone, the level was well above where he was.</p>
<p>You might look at Crane and say “geez, this is a SUNY school, not NEC or CIM or whatever” but that also leaves out another factor, that people have to pay for their educations. During tough times State Schools become very attractive, because they are less costly,and can attract a higher level of student, including kids who could have gotten into NEC or CIM or where ever, but went there because it was affordable.</p>
<p>There are other factors, too, those kids you thought were so good might have had crappy auditions that compared to other applicants didn’t meet the mark. </p>
<p>And yes, there also are things that are not quite objective in the process. Maybe in their area of music none of the professors wanted to teach them. You can have a great audition, and if none of the professors have room for you in their studio, or wants to teach you, you don’t get in. Professors also can get referrals, and though you did better on the audition then person X, who a professor knew or had referred to them, if said professor said I will teach X, they will get in and you won’t. Music auditions are not a science and they are not totally objective, and in the world of classical music there is a ton of networking, that happens because a student has a teacher who knows a professor, or a student gets to know a teacher at a summer music festival, and things happen because of that.</p>
<p>If music student auditions were processed by an objective computer, where the rating the computer gave indicated if a student got in, and the teachers had no say, then such a situation would theoretically not happen, but because admission is based on very human factors, including whether a teacher wants to work with a student, it is not totally objective. It is why a student can get into Juilliard or NEC and get turned down by a ‘second tier’ music school, for example. As Frank Costello was reported to have said (when DA Tom Dewey had fellow mobster Lucky Luciano deported for criminal activity, after Luciano saved Dewey’s life by rubbing out Dutch Shultz), “There ain’t no justice” :)</p>
<p>Just remember, even if ALL your ducks are in a row, the whole audition process is a crapshoot. </p>
<p>There’s a recent thread here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/881961-does-college-mt-audition-process-make-any-sense.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/881961-does-college-mt-audition-process-make-any-sense.html</a> in the Musical Theater forum, and it voices many of the same issues and concerns that have been bandied about in here. And these poor kids have to sing, act AND dance. </p>
<p>Sometimes it helps to put an additional perspective on it.</p>
<p>Crane, like most programs requiring an audition for admission, has always been something of a crapshoot, as violadad put it. Even more so this year because of the extra scrutiny affordable alternatives such as SUNY are getting.</p>
<p>One of this year’s top academic stars at our local high school was another of those who was rejected at Crane, which came as a complete shock to her peers and teachers. If you’ve been following this forum for a few years it should be no surprise. This young woman originally planned to apply to Crane and Crane alone. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and she will have several other decent choices, although they may end up being much costlier.</p>
<p>There is an excellent article in Classical Singer this month about “the audition.” Equating it to a business interview, the message is that the interviewee/auditioner is responsible only for 50% of the interview/audition situation. Present yourself and your talent in the best possible way but remember that the decision is only partially a reflection on you and your talent, there are simply too many intangibles involved.</p>
<p>RCLCSKI, thank you, that sounds like a good article for everyone. What’s the title, though? I can’t find it in the March issue online.</p>
<p>It’s actually in the April edition of Classical Singer – D got hers this week on Monday. Unfortunately, it’s already back w/her at college, so I don’t have the exact title, although if memory serves it’s Audition Advice or something obvious like that. I’ll check w/her and post the exact title as soon as I hear back from her.</p>
<p>I actually just got my own rejection letter from Crane just yesterday. I also thought, or hoped, Crane would be my “safety” school (although no music school can really be considered a safety I suppose). </p>
<p>I’m wondering if my off-campus audition played a factor in getting in. I auditioned near Albany on 2/18, and it was basically a recorded audition, although a bassoon player was in the room with me to tell me what to play.</p>
<p>It’s disappointing, but I wasn’t looking forward to possibly heading 5 and 1/2 hours up north to someplace I wasn’t crazy about.</p>
<p>The title of the article is “Owning Your Audition”.</p>
<p>Thanks, srw, that’s correct! “Owning Your Audition” by William Florescu (general director of Florentine Opera Company). It’s on page 26 of the April 2010 edition of Classical Singer magazine.</p>
<p>Thanks much!</p>