The website says you can do a digital audition if you live more than 300 miles away
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UCLA and Colburn alum here. Let me chime in.
By the highest level YO, do you mean SFSYO? If so, then your list is actually fair and youād have a good chance of getting into your reach schools.
For music majors, nothing matters except for your pre-screen videos and live/recorded audition. Donāt sweat about your GPA or SAT scores and what not. Keep up the work and youāre fine.
IMO SJSU is a better music school than most UCās. Even if you donāt get into anywhere else / canāt afford anywhere else, it is still a very good option. CSU Long Beach and Fullerton are pretty good too I heard, but SJSU is on par if not better.
If you are actually serious about giving music a shot while having an education in business thatās not terribly expensive, UCLA is your best bet. Youād get accepted as long as the music school accepts you, unless your GPA is way below average (which isnāt in your case). The music school does give out a fair amount of merit scholarship, depending on the level of the student. Calās music program is not that great, and Northwestern and Rice can be expensive and even harder to get in for music.
If I were you, Iād reach out to the professors you want to study with and ask for a zoom lesson / in-person if you can afford it. It gives them an opportunity to know a little more about you before the audition, and you can also learn a little more about the studio to see if itās a right fit for you. A lot of them give out free trial lessons for prospective students, so donāt be afraid to ask!
hmu if you have any more questions. Good luck!
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@eddythenerd, any updates yet?
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Hey all!
A LOT has changed in the time since I came here looking for some clarity in my path forward. Out of the schools I listed here are the results I have so far:
- Accepted to SJSU and Sonoma State
- Auditioned and accepted to music school at UC Irvine and UW-M (so likely accepted into main school IIRC)
- Live audition results pending at UCLA, IU-B, Northwestern, SDSU, CSUN, CU Boulder
- Prescreening passed at UCLA, IU-B, Northwestern
- Regular application pending at UCB, UCSD, UCSC, UCD (not for music)
- Prescreening denied at Rice
- Rejected at BYU
- Chose not to apply to BU and UTA
I also took trial lessons with professors at CU Boulder, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Northwestern, all of which were super informative. I feel like in the half year since I started up private lessons again, Iāve improved a lot especially in my technique, though the musicality always being there has definitely made things easier.
I feel pretty good about the mix of schools I have; Northwestern is obviously still a gigantic hurdle both in terms of getting accepted and also on the financial side of things, and Iāll still need quite a bit of scholarship to afford the out-of-state schools, though I got very positive feedback from professors at CU Boulder and Indiana with some strong hints of getting a decent financial offer. (Itās worth noting that the one of the viola faculty I took a lesson with at IU came up to me after the live audition and told me I had gotten the highest possible audition score.)
On my trips to all the schools so far, Iāve liked NU/IU the most, followed by UCLA/CU-B in the second tier, then UW/UCI/SJSU right behind, but Iām sure how much financial aid I get will factor very heavily into my ultimate decision.
Side note: Iāve switched away from my initial desire to do business/econ as a double major. That seems to have been a prime topic of discussion on this thread, so I took some time to think about whether I wanted to really commit to that. Since the beginning of the school year, in addition to playing my high schoolās principal violist in the audition-level orchestra, Iāve been the assistant to my orchestra director, which has involved conducting the non-audition orchestra, leading rehearsals, helping program music and concerts, backstage logistics work, coaching each section of strings, and giving weekly half-hour lessons to students who are first starting an instrument. As a result Iāve fallen in love with the music education side of things, and after talking with my director, Iāve tentatively settled on trying to pursue dual BM/BME at whichever school I end up attending.
Thanks to everyone whoās pitched in their ideas and opinions over the last few months! Iāll post more updates here as they come in gradually.
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Let us know what happens, and good luck!
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Thanks for the update, and congrats on all the positive results! You have an excellent and affordable option nailed down, in SJSU, so that sets the bar - it will be interesting to see how the rest of your options unfold, both admissions-wise and financially. Great that youāve gotten such encouraging feedback from top-tier music schools! Good luck, and Iām looking forward to the next update!
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You have great options already. Keep us posted and thanks for coming back!
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As I posted on TigerLily52ās music major acceptance thread, Iām attending IU Jacobs this coming fall to pursue a BM/BME dual-degree!
I was a bit disappointed that Northwestern financials didnāt work out in the end, but it was still very validating to have gotten close to 60% tuition from their scholarship offer. Now itās full steam ahead getting ready for the next four years at Indiana. Thanks for everyoneās support through this audition season!
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Congratulations!! You worked really hard for your opportunities - so glad it has paid off for you! And I suspect it will pay off for others, too - music teachers change lives! 
I hope youāll stop by and update us in the future on your experience at IU.
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Bravo!!! IU/Jacobs is a fantastic program. So happy to hear that your talent and hard work paid off. Best of luck to you.
Congrats, and go Hoosiers!
Congrats! Best of luck at IU! My youngest daughter just committed to Jacobs as an incoming freshman voice major! If you have any questions as you are completing all the admissions tasks, feel free to reach out. I have had 2 older kids attend Jacobs as well. We also have family in Bloomington, so I am quite familiar with the area. Go Hoosiers!
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