makin it rain

I'm not getting replies in the Admissions forum, so I'll repost it here.

So I'm an extremely avid flute player. I've worked with some of the best flute professors (my current teacher is a good friend of James Galway and her teacher was J- P Rampal among others) and pianists around California. I've attended numerous famous masterclasses, joined symphonies/ensembles, been accepted to many, done chamber music, done music theory (ABRSM), and won one National and one International competition.

I don't plan to major in music, but to minor instead. I don't think I'm bad in flute...I've been playing for a good 8 years. Do you think an audition tape will help my admissions into some UC schools (Davis, SB, Irvine, San Diego)? My GPA isn't very up to par, but my SAT's are okay. If I do, how do I send it in? Should I make a resume? How do I mention to the UC's that I would be interested in their orchestra? Any available information would be much appreciated.

violadad

I'm not that familiar with the overall strength of the UC music programs and the differences between schools, but I'll offer some general guidelines, but remember for the most part the process is very school specific.

First, check the music department webpages for the schools you're interested in. Procedures for submissions are normally somewhere on the webpage, and may vary for majors and non majors.

Also check the requirements for participation, as this will also vary by school, and it may or may not be uniform for all schools in the UC system.

You may or may not find a music performance minor offered, although there may well be a general music minor, which can sometimes be tailored, sometimes not.

It will not be a deciding factor in an admissions decision, but a national and international competition win may well work to your benefit. It may even result in a small scholarship for playing depending on the particular department policy.

You may need to call an admissions rep familiar with the music department for each school if the info is not available on the web.

Good luck.

mamenyu

I know a little about some of these UC's -- UCSB has a performance program, offering a BMus and BA, and has quite an impressive series of master classes, etc. UC Irvine also has a music program, with performance opportunities. UC Davis has an academic music department, with an orchestra and chamber music opportunities (there is a resident chamber group). You might contact the music departments to see how they handle CD submissions for people who don't plan to major in music. Of these, Davis is probably the most competitive for admission; UCSB admits about 50% of applicants. There is a lot of information on their websites about the music programs.

makin it rain

Ah yes, many of my flute teachers/conductors have attended UCSB. UCSB admits 50% of applicants for music majors or regular admissions in general?

mamenyu

Regular admissions. A smaller number of students are invited to the honors program. The school is half the size of most UC's and is in a lovely location. It has a graduate program in music, too, with some impressive graduates. Edwin Outwater, who was the asst. conductor at the SF Symphony and the conductor of the SFSYouth Orchestra, went there in conducting (he had a BA from Harvard).
For the music department, you must audition for both the BMus and the BA. I don't know how selective they are. There are scholarships to be had, though (in the range of $1,000 per year) for top applicants planning to be performance majors.
UCSB does not have a separate performance school, so is not like UCLA, where if you don't pass the screening you are simply not admitted to UCLA.
You should check on this, but I imagine that the way to handle sending in a CD and having it actually listened to, would be to contact the music department and see if someone would listen, and if they liked what they heard, let the admissions office know. I know of a student who did that at Cal. He probably would have been admitted in any event (he turned down Yale for Cal), but he ended up in the orchestra and chamber programs, so he made some connections right from the start (of course, he could have participated in orchestra anyway...)

makin it rain

Ahhh, thanks.

Should I contact the UC admissions office as a whole or separately for each UC I would like to apply to? So does this mean I have to go through the entire process prospective music majors go through?

mamenyu

Each UC handles applications separately, so you would have to contact each school. There are email contact addresses listed on the websites (though I sent some inquiries to UCLA and got no response, ever). Since UCSB has a performance department, you might start with the secretary there and perhaps the flute faculty. But to answer your question whether you would go through what performance majors go through, I think not. If you send a CD, though, you should look at what they expect music majors to be playing. I don't think you would be expected to audition at UCSB if you were applying as anything but a music major. Same would be true at Davis, where music is just one of the many majors in the college of letters and sciences. Once you were admitted to the school, you would audition for orchestra, though, as at any school. Another point: music major applicants to UCSB do have to send a resume, and recommendations. Even if you are not applying as one, you could attach a resume to the CD -- there would be no place on the general UC application to do that, but in your UC application, you should of course mention all of your orchestral and other performance experience -- especially any awards or leadership experience (principal flute, for example) -- these may enhance your application generally.

thumper1

DD is not a music major but like the OP here wanted to continue to play her instrument and take lessons, and play in an orchestra while in college. I need to say...we know nothing about the UC's. However, in DD's case, she contacted the music department chairperson, the orchestra conductor and the instrument teacher at each school to which she applied. She attached her resume (also quite extensive) and then posed her questions...Were there opportunities for non-majors to play in the orchestra? Could she take private lessons (and what were the costs)? These folks were very forthcoming with answers for her. My DD did not submit a CD with her applications, but she did have private lessons and met with the music department folks at her three top choice schools during the application process. She knew upfront what her opportunities were at each school. I would suggest contacting the music department folks at the schools to which you are applying. They will know a LOT more about music opportunities and how to avail yourself of them than the admissions folks will.

mamenyu

That is absolutely true -- the admissions folks will probably know nothing, assuming you can even contact them. The UC's get thousands of applications (UCLA had 42,000 or so last year) and they farm them out for review. On the other hand, the music departments are fairly small, the programs want to have the best orchestras possible, and many are surprisingly good. (I heard the UC Symphony play Beethoven 7 a couple of weeks ago -- the conductor, David Milnes, is also a former Asst. conductor at the SF Symphony who was a longtime conductor, too, of their wonderful youth orchestra) -- it was quite a good performance -- standing ovation for an exhausted and exuberant orchestra. I have not heard the Davis orchestra but know several students who have participated, who were talented musicians, and the Davis music department is quite good. UCSB is small, friendly -- a very nice secretary who is good at communicating with interested students.

makin it rain

Thanks for the replies. I sent a separate email to each of the separate music programs at all the UC's I will be applying to.

Hopefully this will increase my chances of admission to each of the UC schools, if possible?

mamenyu

It can't hurt. UC Davis, for one, considers a lot of factors as pluses for admission, including performance awards, leadership (being a principal player in a section in orchestra), and other achievements that are music related. UC's most strongly consider your GPA, then SAT, but also your essays, and how they reflect what you would bring to the school. In your case, you would, among other things, bring strong music skills.
Good luck!

makin it rain

Ah, someone in my other thread said that my CD would be tossed though, like rec letters because they wouldn't be required. Wouldn't this be true...because I would have to send in the CD through the general admissions process, not the music department (they don't have their own admissions).

fhimas88888888

Also, remember that the UC music programs (at least the academic ones) are really geared toward graduate students.

mamenyu

Again, contact the departments and ask if they would be receptive to listening to a CD, with the idea that they could recommend you to the admissions department. The point would be to increase your chances of admission to the University. Once there, you would audition for performance ensembles. You could also skip the CD and just write about your interests in music on your application. As I said, UC's admissions appear to rest primarily on your stats and essays.
Although the UC's do have graduate programs, that does not mean that undergraduates in music don't get attention. The departments are small, so there is plenty of opportunity to get to know professors.
As to performance, at many of the UC's, it is mostly undergraduate oriented. Graduate students in musicology often are discouraged from spending much time on performance. At Cal, for example, the overwhelming number of students in the orchestra and ensembles are undergraduates -- in all majors. This is, of course, not true at UCSB, where there is a graduate program in performance.

makin it rain

So far I have only gotten 1 reply from Irvine and apparently, he wants me to ask about an audition when I apply...which I don't think is possible? The UC application is internet-based. I emailed him back anyway.