<p>Fiddlefrog, I have been through enough auditions myself to know that they do not always come out the way you expect. It is always possible to completely blow an audition or to get a judge that immediately dislikes you for reasons completely unrelated to talent or potential. You might even find one who feels that a particular applicant is overqualified for their school and should really be somewhere better. That is why I feel that safety lies in numbers rather than having a single school that you are counting on as plan B.</p>
<p>DS will be going to NC School for the Arts in the fall. The reality is that he was fortunate to get accepted. While they are increasing enrollment on his instrument, there were still very limited openings and WAY more applicants that openings. I agree with Bassdad....the audition counts for so much that even a stellar applicant who totally botches their audition will not get a letter of acceptance. Now...having said that...if you are applying as a music education major at many schools, the standard for acceptance is usually less lofty than for performance. However education majors usually have to have an interview. It all balances out somewhere. As Binx said...there are schools where your acceptance will be more likely based on your talent. I will say...a good private instructor can usually guide you. For undergrad, DS applied to 7 schools, all schools where his private teacher (first chair in the symphony here) felt he had a good chance of acceptance. He got accepted at 6 of those schools, and the 7th only accepted one person on his instrument. Now for grad school HE chose his own schools, didn't play his "A" audition at some. That happens to the best of players. Keep in mind...this kid is going to Aspen this summer so it's not like he can't play his instrument. BUT his auditions were not as good as he would have liked them to be. That could happen to anyone.</p>
<p>A slight mistake that I appear to have started above: it is North Carolina School of the Arts, not North Carolina School for the Arts. I noticed that thumper had it right in the thread on music school acceptances and looked it up to make sure. Sorry if that caused any confusion.</p>
<p>I think it is possible for some music students to find a true safety, but it helps to be highly accomplished, have a highly respected teacher who knows many college-level teachers, and play an instrument that is not too popular.</p>
<p>We spent a lot of time trying to find a good "safety" for my D. Using her connections, we zeroed in on one particular teacher that my D had 3 lessons with prior to making her final decision on which school to attend. After the first lesson, he said he expected her to get into a better school, but he was very interested in having her in his studio. After the second lesson, he said he'd waive her audition and let the music admissions office know that she should be admitted. Academically, there was no question that she'd be admitted. She auditioned anyway to help practice for her other ones. There were a number of other teachers who were interested in her through summer programs and other connections, but she picked the "safety" school and teacher she felt would be best (not ideal) for her. By finding the right "safety" we were able to eliminate a number of other schools from her list.</p>
<p>It is easier to do a search like this and establish a relationship with a college teacher if you look at schools close to home. Other schools not too far from NYC: Rutgers, Temple, West Chester University. I know these schools are larger than you want and may not necessarily be safe for you, but I think you're looking for possible safeties more than ideal fit. </p>
<p>Another option that some of D's friends did was to apply to a couple of safe universities as an undecided major. Just make sure you can continue to take lessons and have an opportunity to perform at those schools so you can reassess whether to try for a transfer the following year.</p>
<p>is this stacey from Eastman Music Horizons?!</p>
<p>heck yes. is this britney, the amazing flute player from Eastman Music Horizons?</p>
<p>BTW... teachers who tell you that you can get into their school are probably on the level. They encourage you, knowing that your application will specify your desire to be in their studio. As important as recruitment is, it is not advantageous for teachers to have slews of unqualified applicants auditioning in their name.</p>
<p>On a personal note, you can get them to be more specific about your chances-- some will accept you if you are accepted to the school. Some will see to it that you will get accepted. Try pressing them for more info. Years ago, when I was in your position, I knew all of my acceptances before I got them.</p>
<p>I may be hijacking this thread, but maybe you guys could help me. When it comes to the idea of safety school, for a singer, would any of you consider a small state school that has been developing its vocal performance/choir dept and musical theater dept for several years and now has decided to accept kids who were multiple all state choir w/o an audition? ie, they sent my S a letter saying he had an automatic acceptance into their music school for vocal performance based on his all state performance (he's a junior). I called the dept 'cause he's a junior and they said that since he's already made all state twice, the acceptance would count for next year (senior year) too, and they specifically told me it was the first time they'd ever done something like this, but decided to be agressive recruiting to beef up the dept.</p>
<p>Also, the small school's choral music director was the conductor for the all county honor choir, and S said he learned more from her than any of his other honor choir conductors the last three years. She is in the process of getting her doctorate in choral conducting from the large state u while running the choral music dept at the small state u.</p>
<p>If you've got someone as a teacher you click with, is that a consideration over and above maybe going to the place with the larger reputation?</p>
<p>The choir director will probably not be the voice teacher, and that is a very crucial issue. They may get a great bunch of kids who are not aggressively competitive and just want to make music, and there may be some real talents in there. However, All-State audition success has a lot to do with preparation and intonation, and a strong vocal talent may miss the cut. It is probably not a good idea to trust admission to a performance degree program without the vetting of a solo audition, because you want to know that they think you can succeed at the school, based on their ears and standards. Good luck.</p>