My son is applying to several schools - all with pre-screens and/or auditions for a BM in vocal performance. He is not a star and is still working on technique, but his diction, sight-reading, and musicality are really good and he is passionate and hard-working. I know he isn’t likely to get into top schools or conservatories, but can veterans name some places that would like a kid like this.
Here are a couple of links to old CC threads from December 2024 & 2025 covering similar topics.
Thank you.
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The first place to start is by asking your son’s teachers (school choir, private teacher, church choir, etc). They will know where kids from your area, and at your son‘s level, are applying, getting in and attending.
The next step is to have your son reach out to the professors at schools that he might be interested in and set up a sample lesson. He can do that over Zoom, or in person. We have found music professors to be very helpful and honest. If they think their school is not a good fit for your son, they will probably be able to make other suggestions. And we have found professors are very happy to do lessons. I felt like we would be imposing, or it would be awkward to ask. Not so! The professors are very happy to help. (Ironically, I am not sure this is always true at the very tippy top conservatories. but it doesn’t sound like that’s where you’re looking anyway.)
Also, just know that at most schools (again not the tippy top) the professors are looking for solid fundamentals, and teachability. They want to know that your son is going to be a nice person to be around and will be a positive member of their studio. No one is expecting perfection at this point.
Where are you located? Is there an area your son wants to go to school? Or a type of school he’s interested in. People might be able to give specific recommendations.
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Thank you. He has lessons set up at multiple schools both virtual and in person. He’s great at marketing himself and sharing his passion. He is aiming at places like st Olaf, Lawrence, Chapman, Lamont, Oberlin, and Puget Sound.
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Several people have already offered great advice here. Let me also suggest that you join this facebook group if you haven’t already. Some great discussions about this topic can be found there. Be sure to answer the membership questions since it is a private group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1EnLn8go1W/
My S23 son applied vocal performance for his initial college application. It was always his goal to either double major or at least minor but he found out his freshman year with the VP schedule that there was zero time for anything else. Add in college budget cuts and being stuck with a professor or two and a small group of people he was not the biggest fans of, he ended up changing his major.
Of your list we only toured Lawrence (but he did not apply, great school, was just too close to home). Gustavus Adolphus and Baldwin Wallace might be worth a look if you are aiming for smaller schools in the Midwest. U of Wisconsin Milwaukee has a nice VP program as well. My son loved New Orleans and Loyola New Orleans accepted him if you are open to southern schools.
(We had a quirky Tuition Exchange/affordability situation guiding us so we were limited. The biggest “reach” school my son auditioned for was Indiana U Jacobs school of music. He was accepted but in the end, finances ruled his decision. We have no regrets but his college decision was a bit stressful for us all!)
Good luck!
My oldest attended Chapman, the other VP (violin) 
Very good experience with the school and faculty. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
If he gets in, I will. He’s headed out there soon for a full day of trial lessons and meetings with teachers. I’d love it for him.
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Ditto for Oberlin- happy to answer any questions!
How exactly did you set up lessons? Did your son just reach out to random professors at schools he is interested in? This is the aspect of the process that our current voice teacher isn’t quite as helpful with.
My D directly emailed the professors - getting email from website
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Any thoughts on what to do at a school with 3 professors on your child’s instrument? Do we try to set up lessons with all 3? My son is a junior, so I don’t think we can predict studio openings a year and a half out based on social media.
My D just did one lesson per visit. She looked at their bio and picked randomly. Sometimes they were not available during her visit so she sent an email to a different professor. She also tried to meet with dean of department to get an idea of the school. Her experience at one school the professor picked her for her student. Other schools they did not. She did NOT pick the school based on one professor because it is so hard to predict availability and life in general. Others do make their choices on one professor
Thanks. That feels like a huge long shot. His vocal technique/skills aren’t great, but he has other strengths. Not sure they compensate enough for Oberlin.