Class of 2024 undergrad/Class of 2022 grad: The Tours, the Auditions, the Journey

College Majors Music Majors
981

Sounds like an anomaly. I have lived in cities for decades and spent time in NYC. The worst experiences i have had, ironically, were in Vermont, with one assault while walking through a field at UVM and one experience with someone with a gun.

My daughter lives in a city on the west coast and takes a Lyft or Uber home after 9pm.

NYC is so walkable that it is hard to imagine doing that, but after 9pm when alone, Uber, Lyft or a cab might be a good idea.

Once she is in school, she might be alone less of the time, too.

Mannes is a great school :slight_smile: So sorry this happened. What a trouper she is.

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Just wondering – how is the waiting going for everyone? I remember climbing the walls this time last year while my kid joyfully leapt into senioritis.

As a general guideline based on previous years, the following schools alert regular decision students on or around the following dates:

CalArts, Carnegie Mellon, CIM, Indiana, McGill: 3/15
Boston U, Eastman, NEC, Northwestern, SFCM, UCLA, U Miami, USC: 3/20-23
BoCo, New School, NYU: 3/28
Peabody: 4/1

Note that different studios may reach out on different days, so don’t take this as Gospel.

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This Friday, I completed my last audition at Indiana!!! My whole family and I just let out the biggest sigh of relief. Senioritis has already set in! The night of my audition we went to see their production of La Traviata for a reduced price and it was amazing!! Initially, I felt bad about how I did on the audition, but on Sunday I received an email from one of the professors who sat in my audition. He said he was very impressed (as were his colleagues) and that he is confident I will be receiving a letter of acceptance and scholarship offers in the coming weeks, as well as extending an invitation for me to join his studio should I choose to come to JSM. Indiana is definitely one of my top schools so this was a huge shock and very exciting! I will obviously be awaiting an official acceptance letter and offer. However, I wanted to check in with y’all to make sure this isn’t a routine email they send all the students and if this does really signify that I’ll be accepted, in your experiences. Good luck to everyone!!!

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That’s amazing news @Elegie17 ! And congratulations on finishing your auditions – with a bang, obviously!!

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Honestly it’s torture! My daughter’s top 2 choices for jazz voice are Miami and Western Mich. Of course those are 2 of 3 we haven’t heard from yet. Also waiting on scholarships across the board.

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@Elegie17, I think getting an email like that means that you’re in! So far my daughter has gotten 5 acceptances and 1 denial. At all of the schools she’s been accepted to she either got an email like that before the official acceptance letter or the professor said the same right after the audition. She sent thank-you emails after each audition, and at the one school that she didn’t get into the professors just replied with, “thanks for auditioning, let us know if you have any questions.”

So congratulations!!! What instrument do you play?

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@akapiratequeen thanks for checking in on us. I’m still waiting on a few schools, but I unexpectedly got an acceptance from UNT the day after I flew back last weekend. Since I have an awesome full-ride scholarship based on my National Merit Finalist status, I’m pretty much ready to commit to UNT if my dreams for USC fall through. So though I’m still waiting on CSUF and FSU, at this point I’m not going there anyway.

Based on where I live, I expect to hear from USC on the 20th. We’ll see. As has been the plan from the start, they are only an option if I get the Trustees full scholarship (highly unlikely imo, but I knew I was shooting rather high with this one from the beginning). A long time ago I resigned myself to the possibility of getting in but not being able to go for financial reasons. I thought that would be absolutely torturous–worse than just getting straight up rejected. At this point, though, with a really attractive offer at UNT, I think I’d be very pleased with an acceptance from Thornton. Considering I never really expected to even pass the pre-screen, it would be a nice badge of confidence from my favorite music school :))

Besides, with the full-ride at UNT, I could realistically afford USC for grad school!

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@Racingfan53 What great news!! That is marvelous! Let’s see what USC says, but UNT has an incredible program, and what a deal! Congratulations! How thrilling to have your hard work pay off like this!

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@Elegie17 - it is not uncommon to get an email like this from a VP teacher at IU. I have never seen it where it did not mean an acceptance. It is not a form letter that goes to all. STILL you must wait for an acceptance in writing. I will PM you a few comments. CONGRATS on the positive feedback. It sounds like you will have a few good choices!!

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@songbirdmama so sorry to hear about your daughter’s experience. I was raised in a big city and I am used to hustle and bustle there is always so many weird things happens. How is she now?

@akapiratequeen thanks for the dates. we are in waiting mode not used to the silence and waiting. I need something stronger than wine ?

991

Hello everyone! Blast from the past here! I think I haven’t been on this site in almost a year! YIKES! I’ve been in touch with the parents of a grammy camp friend of D’s who just finished his audition circuit and I remember the agonizing wait of March. Wishing you all the best! D just texted that New School is cancelling classes the week after her spring break as well due to COVID-19. Ugh. I hope this thing passes through quickly. I worry about her being on the subway…

Best of luck to all of you!

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@akapiratequeen - The wait is killing us! I keep trying to find things to do to distract us, but it feels like so much depends on what those letters say. It’s hard to focus!

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@Racingfan53 a huge congratulations on the wonderful package from UNT. Such a great school.

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Interesting about Mannes. Saw that Rice and Princeton are also going to a distance learning model after spring break and encouraging students to stay home. Wonder how many others will go this route!?

Again, thank you all for your support of D after her run in on Friday. Bump is receding and all is good. Just waiting for news and results with the rest of you. And Curtis on Saturday ( hope they don’t cancel auditions!)

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@songbirdmama I’m so glad your D is okay, I can only imagine how traumatic it must of been for the both of you. What a strong and determined daughter you have that she carried on without even telling you about it right away.

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@raincat This happened on Friday evening and she had her Bard audition on Saturday morning. When I texted her good luck that morning, she said she had a headache and was not as enthused about the audition - I should have guessed something then, as she is ALWAYS enthused about singing. She even did her junior recital while she had raging mono (though at the time she thought it was just a sore throat). She is chalking the whole thing up to random craziness and moving on! Hopefully we will know moving on to WHERE soon!! :wink:

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@essbeeny That’s great news! I’m a classical vocalist. This is the first email I’ve received like this but it’s for my top school so that is what matters most. Indiana is very competitive for singers so I’m very excited! Best of luck to you and your daughter!!

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@akapiratequeen Spending our “waiting” period visiting schools and attending concerts… Some schools he’s been accepted to and some we’re still waiting. 5 of the 7 music schools my S has been accepted to are within a 2 hour driving distance. Figured it’s a good way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon - we both love long drives through the country - so look for directions OFF the highways. We drive up, go to a concert, check out the campus, have dinner/coffee on campus etc. It’s a great way to get a sense of the music community AND the campus vibe without official tour guides around. At yesterday’s concert, he got to see and connect with students he had met previously, got called in to the warm up room by a wind ensemble director who remembered him from his aural skills test, and sought out and spoke with the Symphonic Band/Marching Band Director in the green room.

This was at one of the universities where he’s been accepted into the music school but not the university as yet. This morning he got an email from the clarinet instructor who had heard that he was there yesterday. “I’ve been in touch with admissions and sang your praises! They know that we are very interested in you attending!” So the wait continues, but it’s not as grueling as it would have been had we not gone to that concert yesterday and made some connections.

The “waiting plan” is to continue to attend concerts and visit unannounced so he can REALLY get a feel for the campus… outside of accepted students days and the likes, where they put they show their best side. This way when we have ALL the offers on the tables, it will be super easy to make that final decision. At least I HOPE. AND, we don’t really HAVE to go to the accepted students days. Only one scheduled and that’s probably all he’ll do, since it’s music school specific and one of his top choice.

Oh and for those schools where he HAS been fully accepted, I’m having a blast playing the “Show me the Money” game, honestly. I’m a sales person… so I’ve been pulling out my best sales skills to sell them on why they SHOULD give my kid more $$. All they can do is say NO. Nobody has said NO as yet ! So, I keep myself occupied during the wait. He’s got some great options, but not the BEST option, which would be a full ride ?? Not yet, I say. Like my kid likes to say… “Do your thing, Momma”. I’m on it ! The waiting has taken on a new twist. Instead of checking portals for acceptances, I’m now checking financial aid pages to see if anything’s changed since my last pitch. They all have. Some,tiny amounts and some giant leaps! I’m kinda having fun with this game, really.

And my kid… instead of senioritis setting in, he’s bound and determined to get BACK on the honor roll and taking on new music adventures… Like Jazz Ensemble playing the Tenor Saxophone. I can’t WAIT for that concert. AND he’s learning to play the flute so he can be a triple threat… “One of these days, I might want to play for the pit orchestra on Broadway so have to be more versatile, Mom”. OK… kiddo… you do YOU!! I’m just along for the ride. :heart::heart:

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We are keeping very busy here- activities are starting to be cancelled due to virus fears and I had two kids with birthdays back to back, so lots of cooking and baking. Trying to keep busy so time flies!

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What IF??.. And If we had to do it over again… Anybody having those thoughts? Just curious.

If we had to do it over again, I would have insisted that the kid go to his Boyer audition. Why? It would be good to have one more option that checks of ALL his boxes, including close proximity to home. I think the afternoon drive yesterday to one of his top choices made him rethink the other one that was tied for his top choice… One’s an hour away… and the other 5. It dawned on him that even if he didn’t want me to come up for Sunday dinner every now and then, the thought that I COULD is enough for him. He mumbled something about “If I was in Pittsburgh, Sunday afternoon drives like this would never happen” Made us both kinda sad. I know it might seem trivial for a lot of you who are flying cross country for auditions, but for this single parent with a kid who’s super tight with his Mom and that’s all he’s got, distance IS a bit of an issue. I know… I know… I need to let him go. ( I AM… or else he’d be going to the GREAT flagship university walking distance from our house, right? Right!) Anyhoo… I’m just lamenting. I work from home and set my own hours, AND like to drive, so a 5 hour drive any day of the week for dinner if he wanted would not be out of the question. ? Dinner would just be better in Philadelphia than it would in Pittsburgh. And there I go off on a tangent again. Just thinking out loud.

That aside, I STILL would have insisted that he goes to his Boyer audition. I always thought I would regret the 5 hour drive from home limit we both agreed to, but if that limit wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have found out about his top choice, so no regrets. Sooooooo many GREAT choices within that range. Reminded me of something that I had read in an article about one of the kid’s top choices President… he said… “Eventually, students and their families will narrow the list of potential colleges and a final selection will be made. I encourage families to understand the important message of finding “excellence without elitism.” There are many high-quality institutions across this region, the commonwealth and the nation. Students can explore institutions of different sizes, with different areas of focus, where excellence and value are synonymous.”

As we’re coming upon time to make a final decision (yea, I know… still have to get IN first… ) it is my hope that our musicians land at a university/conservatory where excellence and value ARE synonymous. Unless of course value is not a concern for you. (BIG concern here !). In that case, it is my hope that your, and all our musicians, land where they will be happy !! And grow to LOVE where they land, even if not their first choice.

Oh My Granny… Talk about digressing. ?That’s what’s going on in my mind right now, so was typing out loud. HA I should do some work .

So really… any What IFs? What would you do differently if you had to go through this journey again?.. if anything. Any regrets? One more regret just popped in my mind… Sooooooo much time waste at College Fairs!!! Advice to future musicians, if you’re anywhere near the Philadelphia area around Veteran’s Day next year, plan to attend the Project 440 College Fair for Musicians. It’s the ONLY I would have attended, had I known what I know now. WELL worth the driving even if you’re not in there area. Just call this rambling… “Work Avoidance” !