It’s enough to get one thinking about equity issues in classical music! In this kid’s case, he’s mostly applying to LACs, not music schools, so this would be the only audition he has to travel to (one other locally). But there might be a lot of traveling to visit schools in April once acceptances are in (or not, depending on how March goes!) Re: scholarships…one of the reasons I’m hesitant to travel for this one is that I’m afraid it won’t be an affordable option anyway. My older son applied there and it was his worst FA package, and it’s the only school (besides UGA) that this kid applied to that doesn’t meet demonstrated need. I’m not sure I *want * him to fall in love with it!
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Yeah… that is why my son only applied to 4; all were schools with amazing FA. We just didn’t bother with schools that we knew would be out of our range and weren’t known for their financial aid packages. If you’re doing tours of accepted schools in the spring, you can tailor your trip to piggyback and it will be much more affordable!
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Yes, that’s one option we’re thinking of–see the FA first and then decide whether it makes the short list! to be clear, the package they offered my older son wasn’t terrible or anything; we could have made it work–but it was the most expensive one. Lawrence’s problem is that it’s kind of hanging out in the middle of nowhere compared to all the other schools he’s applied to. We fit it in with Cleveland last time, but it’s not actually anywhere near Cleveland, so it was a LOT of driving. Hopper tells me ticket prices won’t likely go up until Feb 2, so I’m holding off making a final decision for now. This is my third kid and third time panicking about how to fit all the college visits in, and it’s always worked out so far, so I should probably relax a bit 
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I don’t think this is true. I know several string students there (BMus performance major). Orchestra is required for 12 quarters, and chamber required for 6 quarters. They have 3 quarters a year.
Shepherd orchestra is great! Rice gives generous financial aids to their students. From the student musicians I know (my own children and my students), the main difference between Rice and NU is NU offers dual degree program but Rice doesn’t.
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She can audition in to the conservatory to major in performance. A music minor is for College students (as opposed to Conservatory students). Here’s some info on that:
At Oberlin, there are loads of ways of being involved in the music scene, as mentioned above. Lots of ensembles and performance opportunities in addition to adding music as a minor, majoring in Musical Studies, and of course, auditioning to the Conservatory itself in order to major in performance.
It’s a fantastic school! My S22 (voice major) is very happy and is about to declare a minor in English, so there is the possibility to dabble in other areas for sure, especially after the first, very intense year in the Conservatory. Initially it seemed like there wouldn’t be room to do non-music coursework, but after the first four semesters when lots of requirements are packed in, it gets a bit easier to fit in other areas of study.
Edited to add this link about other ways to be involved in music at Oberlin:
The professor and my son had a one hour phone call after his successful video audition and she was trying to recruit him; she said (thinking it would be a plus for him) that most students do double majors, and that you do not have to do orchestra unless you want to. Of course this was not a plus for my son as he is only music (not double major). We don’t have personal experience at Bienen but that is what the professor said to him. And, yes, that’s a main difference; although you can do a dual major at Rice it’s not really encouraged and very difficult to fit it all in.
I know that you are an “experienced” parent. Over the years, you do see Lawrence give out very similar amounts to talent. So…yeah…you may already have a sense of the COA there.
Below are comments in general as I think that you already know this…
Most people will have to make a few tough decisions in Jan and Feb and even March about where to audition. The limits on time and money are real.
Schools do understand that it is expensive to travel and audition. Students do get accepted from remote auditions. I think that it’s best to be honest with the schools (music admissions) about your sincere interest in the program and the limits of your travel funds. You can always ask music admissions if there is anything else you can do to show interest in the program or a teacher. All schools are different so it’s best to ask and follow their instructions. My D did this for a grad school audition (remote audition and emailing interest with music admissions and was accepted with scholarship).
Equity issues are discussed at all levels of performance now. So remote auditions are fine. I just don’t want people to feel discouraged if their time or funds are limited. You can still audition and be accepted. You can travel AFTER you get accepted and see the scholarship offer.
Or you can be uninformed like I was! My D met her teacher the first week of school partly bc I was resistant to yet another airline ticket (and this was before zoom etc became common). She did a few emails with her teacher and that was it. Honestly, I was equal parts stupid and poor. I just didn’t think it mattered to get on campus again (we had been there once for 24 hrs) and funds were running low. So I thought: great school, great teacher (on paper)…what more could you possibly need? Not everyone can do every step at 100%. Ahh…ignorance is bliss (and keeps dollars in your pocket!).
Bottom line: your kid’s talent (and getting it in front of the school anyway possible) is much more important than the size of your bank acct or your ability to navigate the audition process “right”.
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maybe for some instruments, such as piano, orchestra is not required, but for string players it is. I just want to clarify so perspective students won’t misunderstand your comment on “orchestra is not even required for music majors”.
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Thank you! My son was pretty shocked, actually. Maybe the teacher wasn’t up on the actual department requirements. Good to know, thanks.
My kid actually got one of her most generous offers from Lawrence last year. It may have been the lowest bottom line for us even with in state U’s in the picture. We were just merit hunting I know that can be different when balancing with need based aid, but I do know they have done well for some students. Crossing fingers @kokotg !
Having been through this process twice with 2 music kids applying to music programs set in college/universitiy settings I found it helpful just to let go of the idea of the process really being fair and just to focus on a reasonable match at a reasonable price point for us. Extensive travel and expensive summer programs are one way to identify students that maybe need less funding to make a program work. Some schools may consider that but some won’t. And for some it just depends what the program needs are vs. the budget this year vs. the applicants on the table. I also get the feeling savvy meets need music programs know how to best utilize their merit budget while being able to plug appropriate students into need based aid. One of my kids was told twice one way or another “would love to work with you, you will get much better financial offers elsewhere, we have very limited merit budget for UG program X, consider us for grad school”.
Both my kids did auditioned instrumental and vocal regional programs for years through the tween/teen years. We know lots of students who have applied to auditioned programs. I have seen all sorts of results. I am not comfortable making a laundry list of examples when they aren’t all my stories to tell. But certainly this process is a lot about money. I’m sure plenty of faculty members wished they had larger budgets to share. Most students applying are prepared to be successful. And the data that was published this year regarding the wealthiest having a huge edge in admissions really reflects some weird things I’ve seen over the past 8-10 years or so. Yes, audition matters. But schools are trying to fill institutional needs while hitting bottom lines and identifying students that will show up in the fall.
In our travels last year, my kid did a weekend workshop for high schoolers considering college programs with some faculty members out of a east coast conservatory regularly mentioned here. He told this group of high schoolers to save their money and consider off beat affordable options for an undergrad degree. I thought that was interesting. If money is no object, it’s a different game for sure.
I will say my freshman in college could literally not be happier at her college or music program. She LOVES it! It really does all work out in the end. 
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Thanks! My older kid was doing all this over the omicron winter, so nearly everything ended up getting moved virtual, saving us from these kinds of tough decisions. But he was also only applying to music schools, so there were a limited number to deal with/see. This kid has fewer music schools, so fewer auditions, but a ton of LACs. Most of them that are still out there are big reaches, so there may not be very many to choose from (he’s already visited both of his EA acceptances). I don’t deal well with not being able to plan, which doesn’t mesh well with college applications!
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I’ve always known it was a great school, for music and otherwise. Only issue being how remote and far from us.
Thank you for this information.
Super helpful. We are hoping some of her favorite spots (at this point) where she will audition soon workout, but would also be really happy at oberlin… of course she would need to get in too!
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The merit aid was good at Lawrence, but the overall package wasn’t as strong as some others…it wasn’t the deciding factor, though (biggest issue was they were losing the prof on his instrument the next year). I also got the impression that they might have offered a bit more if we’d told them it would help (they might have been one of the ones that said that in so many words, in fact). Really, once Vanderbilt came through, no one else was going to touch them for FA, though. That kid still gets wistful about one other school he turned down (and about Lawrence now that they have a new clarinet prof and it turns out it’s someone he had a lesson with at a summer program once and really likes), even though he’s very happy at Blair…but I can snap him out of it by reminding him of the loans he’d have right now if he’d gone there! (just the federal loans, but still)
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We do also know people who have had offers adjusted both at Lawrence and at Saint Olaf, I think both those schools are really trying!
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UMich extended application deadline for SMTD?
First (and last!) time going through music school application process here. Do the schools always tell you after prescreen review yes/no? They don’t just leave you hanging til March when you don’t pass prescreen, right? Specifically interested in UMich and NYU.
Shepherd’s is the best SOM orchestra in US, IMHO!
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How curious. For all instruments and vocal and everything? Well that’s good for us, going up in a few weeks
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Honestly, I agree! We’d read that SSO was considered better than Houston Symphony even and were skeptical, but after hearing them…! Unfortunately their amazing conductor (Larry Rachleff) passed away a year and a half ago and their search for a replacement hasn’t yielded results yet. He will be very hard to replace, I think.
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Yes. You will always hear yes or no. Generally the responses come out at close to the same time for a specific studio/instrument.
I recall there was one poster on last year’s thread who never heard back from one school. I think that is very rare. And when the parent eventually called the school they apologized for a clerical/communication error.
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