When should one visit conservatories/colleges?

<p>This is really great advice! Thanks so much! I'll first start with my son's school and see about those absence policies...(it's impossible even to leave for orthodontist appointments...)<br>
I hadn't thought about listening to the ensembles...that's also a great idea. And Shennie, it's probably your son that was memorable...if teachers remembered him a year later! But it's reassuring to know that we can start sooner than later...thanks so much for the advice, everyone!</p>

<p>My DS is a rising junior this year. All info in this thread is GREATLY appreciated. Any advice specific to tuba would be appreciated. DS also has amazing grasp of music theory. Will this be of benefit? Unfortunately I am a music illiterate and will need LOADS of help trying to find a school for DS. He also is very gifted with guitar and could major in performance there too. Plays piano, violin, a bit of trumpet and bass. Any ideas appreciated as well as recommendations on schools/instructors.</p>

<p>Has anyone attended the College Fairs that specific to Arts students. I know there is a huge one in Atlanta but dont know if it really is of much help.</p>

<p>I think seeing a campus and taking a lesson or at very least observing a lesson or masterclass at a fair or event is a must for making a good decision on a teacher and school.</p>

<p>My son attended a college fair for performing arts. He found it somewhat useful, in that he was able to talk to reps from several colleges all in one place and find out, for example, how many trumpet players they expected to accept that year, and other particular questions he had. It didn't really change his college list; however, he had a better idea of which schools he might have a chance at. I think it could be quite useful for a student who has a good idea of what he wants in a college, but doesn't really know which schools are good matches. You can pick up a lot of information, if you know what questions you need to ask.</p>

<p>Momnipotent (love the name, by the way!) - The fact that your son has an excellent grasp of music theory will be very helpful to him once he gets into college and has to take theory classes. However, it won't help at all for admission to conservatory. Conservatories often have auditioning students take a theory test, but they don't use it for admission purposes. They just want to know where the freshman are theorywise before classes start. Again, the auditon is pretty much everything when it comes to conservatory admissions. I also don't think the theory knowledge will help for admission to university based programs.</p>

<p>My son also attended one of the Perf. Arts College fairs. He didn't find it all that useful.</p>

<p>We also attended the NACAC college fair for Performing Arts because it happened to be a mile away after one of my daughter's lessons. Compared with some of the really big college fairs for mainstream schools, it seemed fairly small with perhaps 60 or 70 schools represented rather than hundreds. If you are the type who likes to collect hardcopies of catalogs, viewbooks, application forms, etc. then it may be worth your while to attend. You can scoop up a shopping bag full of literature in a couple of hours. Personally, I wouldn't travel too far out of my way to get to one.</p>

<p>Most of the people at the booths are admissions office types and you can have pretty much the same conversations with them via phone or email as you could in person. In a couple of cases, it was nice to meet someone face-to-face whom we had already contacted by phone or email, but I don't think that contact had any effect whatsoever on subsequent decisions.</p>

<p>You should check with the schools. All schools are closed during Thanksgiving weekend (W-Sunday) and you are not likely to be able to tour, go to info sessions, meet faculty or see facilities. Many (if not most) schools are not doing tours the week between Christmas and New Years. Again you will not get to meet the faculty or see the facilities. April is probably your best bet. Is there a chance you can take a long weekend or two to visit some place(s)? There are some schools that only offer tours etc at certain times of the year (e.g. Peabody Conservatory...DS went in April...they only do tours during the fall semester). Also, many private teachers will not do any trial lessons during the audition/acceptance season which is typically Jan to April. We actually made some long weekend trips so that DS could take lessons with faculty at a number of schools. He actually started college visits in 10th grade which was helpful in some regards. For example, he knew he should take music theory in 11th grade (a tour in 11th grade would have been too late for that info). Also he heard (and listened to) the advice on those early tours regarding piano study. I have to say...everywhere we went, the faculty recommended piano study. DS had been taking lessons but there were a large number of juniors and seniors on some of our tours who had not gotten this info with enough advance notice to act on it. Honestly, if possible, I would suggest some long weekends if you can do it...in the fall of junior year.</p>

<p>I understand University of Michigan has one of the best tuba programs in the country - Carol Jantsch, who just won the Philadelphia Orchestra tuba position out of a pool of 196 applicants, just graduated from there.</p>

<p>go to any school at any time you are free! Take a couple day trip during a school break he has to go to a few that are either in the same city or that are anywhere near eachother. I went to many schools and we took many trips to visit schools I might be interested in different areas. Summer might not be the best time because you can't see students interacting and ask them questions- I have found that.</p>

<p>We went to the perf. arts college fair in Atlanta last year. We wouldn't go again. Basically, you just get handed packets from the schools and can ask a few questions, but nothing that you can't do or get via phone or email from home. We found the representatives there knew very little about the specific studios/teachers that we were interested in.</p>

<p>Thanks for the no votes on the college fairs. We can save that money for a campus visit.</p>

<p>Only attend college fairs if they are in the immediately area. If college visit, audition and college fair budget are one fund, then the least important of the three is the college fair. We only attended one because the HS Fine Arts Parents' Association rented a bus. Would never had done it on our own and it was definitely not very beneficial. Gave us a few new ideas, but that was about it...</p>

<p>We agree in this household that college fairs are a waste of time. You might get some printed info, but truthfully, you'd get the SAME info by going to the school websites and making an online request. DS went to one college fair, and even had resumes with him. It was a huge waste of time and it was close to home. Spend your time visiting the campuses if possible.</p>