<p>I'm a sophomore, and, due to transferring schools this year (and a few other factors), my grades this past semester were AWFUL. I'm afraid that even if my grades improve drastically (as I know they can! I also know that my ACT/SAT scores can be really good- I am pretty smart, I just messed up this semester) the next five semesters, it won't be enough for my GPA to recover. So, my question is this: even if my GPA isn't great, will a school admit me if my audition is good enough? </p>
<p>Thank you in advance, this is such a knowledgeable and helpful community- I've been lurking awhile, but have never found a reason to actually create an account and post.</p>
<p>As jeffandann said, you will need to meet minimum requirement for ACADEMIC acceptance to the university. YOur audition will be what gets you into the MT program. Sometimes if you have extenuating circumstances to explain why a single semester’s grades were out of the norm for you, you might be able to address that in a personal essay. The admissions people for the school are looking at your OVER-ALL picture, and will especially be looking for an upward trend in grades your junior and senior years. What they DON’T want to see is a student who has terrific ACT/SAT scores and lousy overall grades (over the 4 years of H.S.) - that CAN be a sign of a student who does not put forth much effort over the long haul - and probably won’t be a good candidate for an MT student in a college program where schedule and work/rehearsal load can be tremendous.</p>
<p>The other thing I would point out is something I’ve mentioned several times on the CC board. The summer before my D’s senior year my wife and I went to hear a department chair talk to parents and students about what they look for in an MT student. He asked the kids what they thought they look for most, and it wasn’t dance, or voice, or acting. They knew out of the hundreds of kids they auditioned they’ll get that. No, what he said they look for are smart kids. You have to have a lot on the ball to handle the rigors of a college MT program; there’s a much bigger academic load I see my D taking than I would have thought initially. And you need to be smart to be able to pick up things quickly if you want to make MT a career. </p>
<p>Another thing is scholarships. The better your grades, the better chances of scholarship $$, which could make the difference for you being able to attend a dream school. </p>
<p>So to the OP, get your grades up! My wife is a college counselor and she would tell you as a sophomore, you have the time to work on that. </p>
<p>@CattheCrazyAlto I think it’s great that you are thinking about this now as a sophomore – that says to me that you have integrity and you are interested in succeeding in the future (of course, I’m not a college admissions person). One thing you should know is that grades matter more at some schools than at others. NYU, for instance, weighs academics equally with your audition. I believe the University of Michigan’s academic standards are quite high. But other schools with great MT programs have lower academic standards – I think the average ACT score at Ithaca College is something like 24 (if I remember correctly from a college admissions rep). And some conservatories don’t put much weight in academics but are instead looking almost exclusively for talent and dance/acting/voice ability along with a good work ethic. (Getting your grades back up will help you show you’ve got that!)</p>
<p>So I say go for it – start now to get those grades up as high as you can, be prepared to explain what happened, and work hard on your MT gifts as well. You’ve got time to make yourself into a student many colleges will want to work with!</p>
<p>While I second what others have said about minimum grades being necessary (and higher the better), I asked the admissions director at a small college my D was looking at what the deciding factor was for him. He was less concerned about the essay as he said it appeared that many parents were doing those anyway! What he really focused on was the quality of classes - did the student take a lot of honors, AP, etc., and in the case of APs, did they get good test scores (at least 3s, 4/5 preferred). </p>
<p>He believes taking the AP test and scoring well is a good indicator of whether the student may be successful in the college. However, just taking the class isn’t enough as most schools now (at least in our state) have APs as part of their regular course offerings. But in many of the less academically-qualified school districts, students take the classes but don’t take the tests because they know they will get 1s or 2s. </p>
<p>So do what you can to get your grades up and look into the honors/AP classes for your last two years. Then take (and pass) the AP tests.</p>
<p>One other thing, if you are good enough artistically to get into conservatory programs, they are somewhat less concerned with grades and more concerned with your artistic abilities (compared with the “liberal arts universities”).</p>
<p>As others have said, there are often minimum threshholds of grades. One can’t accurately answer your title question with one word, because different programs look at things differently. At some once, you make the cut grade wise, it no longer matters. It’s then all audition. Other programs will look at the whole picture as they decide. </p>
<p>I agree with Raellis that conservatories are less concerned. I don’t think Juilliard even wanted a transcript up front and wanted only as a verification that you got your high school degree. It’s all audition there, or was several years ago.</p>
<p>I have seen many, many kids with not so great grades and FABULOUS auditions get into great programs. I never seen kids with fabulous grades and mediocre auditions get into great programs. I agree with the other posters that good grades definitely help, and you should aim for the best grades possible. However, the audition is definitely more important. Even CMU said the audition is something like 85% of their admission decision.</p>
<p>At some schools, you can’t schedule the audition until you get through the academic review. I believe Michigan, had such a process. </p>
<p>The thing is, most auditions are not “knock it out of the park” so that the grades won’t matter. There often are a large group of possibles that are difficult to winnow down to the accepts, so the grades then can come into the equation. I do know some who got into some , very good programs with not such great voices but fabulous grades; of course who knows how the audition went. But when you get into one such school, and it’s the same school a number of times that I’ve seen this with very high grades, someone who’s not so terrific only get into that program, you might wonder. </p>
<p>US News and World report categorizes freshman admissions in ranked order as:</p>
<ol>
<li> Most Selective</li>
<li> More Selective</li>
<li> Selective</li>
<li> Less Selective</li>
<li> Least Selective</li>
</ol>
<p>The list below shows the schools posted at the top of this forum categorized using the US News admissions ranking. The majority of schools listed fall into the mid-range, “Selective” category. Four schools are not categorized including Boco and UArts (generally indicating that grades and test scores may not be a large part of admissions criteria).</p>
<p>As noted in other posts, many schools admit students who have very high artistic talent but fall outside their typical 25/75 percentile academic admission range (as long as they meet the school’s minimum academic standards, which may be a lot lower than you would imagine given their typical admissions profile). Hence, some schools categorized as “Most Selective” or “More Selective” may not be as academically daunting for admission for those with a lot of artistic ability as they would be for students in the typical admissions profile (somewhat similar to athletes). Of course, the importance of grades will vary from school to school for artistic department admissions.</p>
<p>MOST SELECTIVE
Carnegie Mellon University
Northwestern University
University of California - Los Angeles
University of Miami - Florida
University of Michigan
University of Southern California</p>
<p>MORE SELECTIVE
American University
Emerson College
Florida State University
Illinois Wesleyan -
Muhlenberg College
NYU/Steinhardt
NYU/Tisch
Texas Christian University
University of California - Irvine</p>
<p>SELECTIVE
Baldwin-Wallace College
Ball State University
California State University, Fullerton
Catholic University
Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
Elon University
Indiana University Bloomington
Ithaca College
James Madison University
Marymount Manhattan College
Millikin University
Montclair State University
Northern Colorado University
Ohio Northern University
Oklahoma City University
Otterbein University
Pace University
Pennsylvania State University
Point Park University
Roosevelt University
Sam Houston State University
Shenandoah Conservatory
SUNY at Buffalo
SUNY at Fredonia
Syracuse University
Temple University
Texas State - San Marcos
University of Arizona
University of Central Florida
University of Hartford - Hartt School
University of Oklahoma
Wagner College
Webster University
Western Michigan University
Westminster College of the Arts - Rider
Wright State</p>
<p>LESS SELECTIVE
Coastal Carolina University</p>
<p>NOT REPORTED
Boston Conservatory
Santa Fe University of Art and Design
University of the Arts
Viterbo University</p>
<p>Thank you all SO MUCH for your responses, they were all very helpful, not to mention incredibly insightful. The information you gave confirmed what I had already suspected, especially regarding conservatories vs. liberal arts and financial aid. I am determined to get good grades the nest few years (which so far has been going well, but it’s only a month into the semester), and hope it’s enough, especially because I’m definitely going to need financial aid. . </p>
<p>From dance major auditions I’ve heard a couple of times that if they have one spot and two people with equal talent they’ll take the person with the higher grades. Not sure if this is true for all programs, it definitely depends! Just thought I would throw that out there. </p>
<p>With the way merit scholarships are currently calculated at most schools, you cannot overestimate the importance of good grades and good test scores (and take at least one of the tests ACT or SAT multiple times). Not that you should take that to unhealthy levels. But at most schools there is more academic money available than artistic money. Take advantage of it! </p>
<p>If you haven’t looked at any college web sites, visit a couple now. Most have an Admissions section where you will find tuition and scholarship info, including award criteria and amounts. It’s good info for reference now.</p>
<p>At D’s Muhlenberg talent scholarship audition, she was asked about her GPA, SAT scores, and senior class schedule. Mr. Richter seemed pleasantly surprised when D said she’s taking Calculus. </p>
<p>Grades definitely matter for Muhlenberg. It is fairly competitive academically. Also they put weight on perceived interest, ie establishing a relationship with an admissions counselor, telling them the school is high on your list, visiting campus etc. I also get the impression if Mr. Richter likes your audition, he has some pull with admissions. It is a wonderful school. If your child is interested in a BA, you should check it out. The audition is for scholarship only, but I wouldn’t recommend skipping it.</p>