megpmom

Thanks for the opinions. I talked to S about the issue last night. He took this conservatory off of his list because he had heard that it was not particularly great for undergrad. He's still thinking about it, but I'm going to stay out of it. The ball in his court.

This couple are generous donors to many worthy causes, including this conservatory. Neither of them are musicians, just patrons of the arts - so I'm not sure that their recomendation would have any artistic merit. They also are major donors to our opera company and regularly invite S to their home for receptions, etc. He's been able to meet lots of opera singers and conductors and composers. It's been a big motivator to him to pursue classical music.

I thought this subject might be a little touchy because 1) I didn't want to hurt this couple's feelings if we rejected help and 2) I didn't want S to be perceived as gaming the system if he accepted help. But, if may be a moot point anyway if he chooses not to apply.

OperaDad

Major donors have some sway, and the more major they are, the more sway they have.

This isn't about winning the Met Audition, where the best performer should win. This is about selecting students that can benefit the most from formal music training. You do what you can do to be one of the selected.

Having a Patron helps most in the situation where it is between Student A vs. Student B, where Student A is a little better. If Major Donor wants Student B, then the school will do what it can to not upset Major Donor. It becomes a more dicey issue if Student B is not really qualified. Then it is an issue of the school relaxing its standards, and that is not in the school's best long-term interest (graduating students that perform poorly).

Even if Student A is a little better, no one really knows whether Student A has a materially higher likelihood of actually being better. Thus selecting Student B is within the "margin of error", and not a real compromise of standards.

The issue is not that much different from a student coming from a wealthy family. A child from a family that can afford whatever school Student A wants to go to has more options. At an unaffordable school, Student B never had a chance compared to Student A.

musicamusica

To paraphrase Blanche Dubois: We have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

You will learn that opera fans are a different breed and patronage is common in classical voice. Just look at the local society pages and see how many donors enjoy having their picture taken with Tenor X or Soprano Y. If I remember correctly at least three of D's grants were from individual patrons and the idea of "gaming the system" would never ever cross her mind. (or mine!) She still keeps in touch with them, they always want to be invited to D's performances and it's a warm fuzzy feeling to know someone out there cares. Right now gracious thank you note is in order and be sure to keep them abreast of your talented sons progress!


***My mention of obsessive attention was because THAT happens too. Then a restraining order is more appropriate than a cordial thank you note.

compmom

Having a personal patron is different from having folks who donated a lot of money to a school, writing a letter to try to get the kid into the school. And that donation is the sole reason they are writing and trying to have influence.

The suggestion of adding a letter from these people to the letters of recommendation is a good one. However, the intent of including it (having a donor speak for the student) will be even more clear then, and sometimes these things can turn against you, either in the short or long run.

Like I said, a lot of the world operates this way but I think we can try to change that slowly over time.

mom2winds

I understand where you are all coming from when you say you (your S/D) would wonder whether or not they got accepted into school on their own merit. But realistically, there are waiting lists for all these schools, there are many kids who do not get into these schools because there isn't enough room in the program and not because they are not talented enough. I doubt (but of course don't know for sure) if a school would accept a student purely because of a letter. I would hope the school is too smart to do something that would only turn out to be an issue in the long-run. My thought is a letter, like the OP was talking about, might make the difference between two candidates, but only if the they both met the requirements for being accepted.