I had the same question regarding Peabody. And looking at the school reviews on RateMyProfessor left me concerned and with more questions.
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Right on point!! we are not in an olympic sport - you have a lifetime of career and lots of twists and turns. I was talking to another horn player who has a child auditioning also and she said as you know this is the easy part - the real part is after music school.
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I didnāt know Peabody acceptance rate is 50%. In my mind it should be around 15-20%. However, I do remember my son saying that fewer people would apply to Peabody because their published admission GPA was very high, >3.6 on the scale of 4. This could scare away a lot of applicants. They also have a policy to NOT give merit scholarship to students going for double degree (Peabody + Homewood), which would discourage quite some applicants. Their location may be discouraging too.
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Money is a factor where people go, too. As the parent of a kid with a doctorate in music, I can say that their friends, all very accomplished musicians, did all kinds of schools for undergrad, including state schools not known for excellence in music (but probably excellent anyway: the job market for profs. and teachers ensures that!). The field is pretty elitist financially and now this discussion addresses the merit elite.
I do think there are factors beyond (tippy top) musical excellence that determine fit for an 18 year old.
I wonder how much conservatories are caught up in the changes that are happening in university music departments in terms of updating the curriculum, making it more progressive and increasing access. That can affect student reviews.
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There are so many reasons to eliminate or include a school in the application/audition process. My S22 eliminated Peabody and Eastman simply because the campuses for the conservatories were separate and a bus/shuttle ride away from the main campus. He wanted a music school that was integrated into the college.
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My soprano D chose an UG program where she felt she would get excellent music and vocal training. They also gave her an excellent music scholarship. She intends to pursue a masters in music and not being overwhelmed by future debt, especially at the undergraduate level, was really important to her. She is working hard to get into an exceptional masters program in the future.
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Hello from last yearās process. Iām enjoying following along from the other side. Lol.
My daughter (soprano) went to a state school that is not well known as a music school (Miami of Ohio). There was a teacher there she wanted to work with, it was fairly close to home, and they gave her full tuition. She had the full, fun undergrad experience there and got what she needed musically too even though it isnāt an elite program. She is now a grad student at Eastman. This plan has worked well for her. Like someone said above, as an 18 year old, there may be things that are more important than a super elite program. As a 22 year old, her needs and wants are totally different. Eastman would have overwhelmed her at 18 I think. She loves it now.
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My D did quite a bit of research and visits that included lessons with the profs in whom she was interested and were recommended by her teachers. When she was ready to apply, she curated a fairly small list of those places she was really excited about, knowing that money would likely be the ultimate determination. All of those schools are OOS, which is unfortunate, but dad is director of bands at our State U so she (understandably) was reluctant to include it on her list. (She did, but pretends itās not there, lol). So, in my very limited opinion, the studio teacher is a very determining factor and eclipses any āprestigeā and maybe justifies a little more $ within a reasonable range. Only being familiar with my daughterās instrument, I have learned SO MUCH from this board about other schools and studios that I did not know about, simply because their studio was not the best fit for D. To any future readers that may panic and think your research into the process needed to happen so much earlier- it doesnāt! I think the summer after her junior year is when D really pursued visits/lessons/etc. But participating in festivals, summer camps, other opportunities to play on different campuses and work with many people does help give you a pretty good overview of the landscape and help narrow down what you are looking for. And if you think having a spouse who is in the ābizā helpsā¦wrong! Heās still as overwhelmed and clueless at times as the rest of us! Sorry for the rambling post. Just thoughts I had time to jot down as I read through the discussion above!
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This is a great point. As long as your musician has a good amount of repertoire prepared that can be recorded early fall of Senior year, it is absolutely fine to finalize the list of programs at this time. There can be a fair amount overlap on repertoire requested, but just be sure not to be caught unaware with a very specific prescreen piece of music just before prescreens are due.
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Exactly. I always feel that you have to hold two opposing thoughts (yin/yang) in mind as a parent of a musician.
On one side is the potential for success in music. No matter how you try to ācontrolā all the variables to get the best result for your kid, the chances of success in music arenāt high (so watch debt). If you are careful with how you define success (meaningā¦being a musician, teaching and other work for a middle class lifestyle), your chances are middling. Your chance for a big successā¦over a long period of timeā¦arenāt real high (but a few on this board may be that gem).
As you point out, getting an acceptance to a reputable music school is the starting line in a professional careerā¦not the finish line. You have 26.2 miles to go to make it to the academic finish line. And there, waiting for you, is an ultra marathonā¦with limited fuel available.
But that harsh reality is a downer. So, on the other side, you have to understand that it is a college degree. There are a lot of skills learned that can be translated into other jobs. Many of my Dās peers have moved on to other work (often in the arts and happily as they grew over the yearsā¦not as a back-up bc they failed). No one is living in their parentās basement or on the streets unhappy (that I know of). And, quite a few like my D have found their niche teaching and performing.
My feeling (right or wrong) about the potential for success for my D was always: Whatās the worst that could happen? She burns out or āfailsā and has to get a stable, corporate job WITH BENEFITS! That sounded OK to meā¦lol.
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I work in this so I say go for it too. I teach and play and have done fine! It is just different than what people think. Harvard is great but people from community colleges could be your boss. It is no different in the music world. In a major orchestra people have al sorts of different backgrounds and went to many different colleges and conservatories.
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Absolutely! We did find there to be overlap, with a few outliers. As everyone here can attest, the road to auditions begins the second your child picks up an instrument or sings their first note. Itās a rare person who wakes up their junior or senior year and suddenly decides to become a musicianā¦although it does happen! The more time spent practicing and performing, the more foundation built to become familiar with repertoire and incorporate pieces without needing to ācramā before prescreens. I know how lucky we are to have had access to amazing teachers that helped build that foundation along the way. The most important skill I think my daughter developed before this process was how to weather a āno.ā Itās just part of the performance landscape. You do what you can to best prepare, have no regrets with how you did it, and then accept the outcome derived from one or two people in a small snapshot of your life as a player. If you donāt love to perform and are in it only for the accolades, itās going to be a miserable life for you!
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Yes, I look at Playbills etc and am always surprised by the UG (and even grad) schools listed. My D has friends from āno nameā schools that have done well. Their ability to hustle and grow (outside an environment where everyone is holding your hand and giving you grand opportunites) is very interesting to me. No job is too small for them! My D went from an amazing stage to singing in noisy bars, basements and elementary schools (with a very distracted audience). That took a huge adjustment and tenacity that I wasnāt sure she had. Soā¦yesā¦interestingā¦who makes it and who decides itās not for them.
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I also think major in music and throw in an academic minor could help. Enjoying what you love for four more years at least!
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Hi, Iām new to this community. What an excellent resourceāwish I had discovered it earlier in the process. Ds24 is a jazz bassist.
I just wanted to vent about one thing: schools where the instructors donāt reply to applicant emails seeking information and sample lessons! Most have been great, but two have not responded, despite both schools encouraging applicants to reach out to prospective instructors. Itās a bit frustrating, as developing those relationships really seems to matter. Has anyone else experienced this?
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We had that a few times when kid was applying for undergrad. It put him off of some very highly rated schools.
Yes! V frustrating esp as the teacher was also at two other schools. And dd had to put down her teacher preference as part of the application. I spoke to admissions and they said they had no power over the faculty to get them to replyā¦.
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Yes! OMGā¦ almost every instructor either didnāt reply to email, replied after 1 month+, or replied only after we had to network and talk to other musicians who knew that teacher personally to actually speak with him and get him to respondā¦ so hard and, yes, we too know of at least one amazing musician who totally wrote off a school that should have been happy to have them because the professor refused to respond.
Glad to know itās not just us! We had a wild experience with this at Bienen. DS wrote the instructor he wants to work with, no response. We then did a tour a few weeks later. At the Q and A after the tour, another mom started to rant at the admissions officer that her son got no response from a different instructorāshe really lost it, started crying and everything. It was super awkward for everyone.
My son sent an email to the AO thanking her and expressing his continued interest in the program. She apologized that he had to witness the other mom freaking out and counseled him to write the instructor again, even providing the guyās private email. And of course, no response! He didnāt pass the prescreen, but heās passed prescreens everywhere else where heās had at least a phone call with the instructor, and I canāt help but think that having some contact helps.
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Big name school was DDās problem school -
No response after many months and DD didnāt apply in the end as seemed pointless if neither faculty she was keenest on were interested
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