Just in case you don’t know, this year most airlines started implementing free change/cancel fees. You only get credit back, but it makes it not as scary to buy tickets.
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Coming from a pre college program in of itself likely won’t get you through an audition, because the process isn’t that linear (they don’t say "Oh, X went to Juilliard pre college, if he had a bad audition, we know he is better than that’ ime; the only guarantee with going to Juilliard pre college is you don’t have to pre screen for Juilliard admission). The audition is about a lot of things, it is about having the level of playing ability to meet the level of the school of course, but it also gives the teachers on the panel a glimpse at who the kid is.
The reason for the sample lessons is because of how auditions work. You can pass the audition and not get admitted, because no teacher wants to work with the candidate. The sample lesson is to show teachers how the kid plays, and it also shows them how the kid reacts when they try to teach them. Music instruction is a very personal thing in a sense, it isn’t like teaching algebra, it is very much like an apprentice/master (it depends on the teacher, of course, how that plays out. Some teachers it is collegial, some teachers they aren’t far removed from the guy in Whiplash ). Otherwise, what if the teacher isn’t on the panel the kid auditioned in front of? At least when my son auditioned UG and Grad, they usually had to list the teacher(s) they wanted to study with.
If you can do it , it might be better to do it before auditions (if you can; my son did sample lessons when he auditioned), audition season is crazy and the teachers time may be limited, depending on how many kids they audition, doing it once you have been accepted for audition might work out better IMO than during auditions but it isn’t a hard and fast rule, you do what you can.
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My son always has priority boarding, it is worth it when you have an instrument. He travels a lot with his group, constantly flying, and it makes a world of difference because you get first crack at the storage bins above. He has had his run ins, where a gate agent slapped a sticker on it to check it, and he removed it and took it on board. Some airlines that used to be terrible, like Delta, these days are good about instruments (my son’s group flies them). Even when you buy a seat for a cello, they can play games as other people have written, but if you paid for a seat tell them no (likely it is because they can check the cello, which you paid full price for, and they can put a person who was overbooked on board, lot of the times at a higher fare, and have two fares, they don’t refund as far as I know the cost of the seat).
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I am not sure that coming from a pre college program will influence the pre screen process (and I claim no special knowledge of this) , given how many kids they likely are screening , they may not even look at the cv and see that. The point though is as violistmom said, don’t assume that the pre screen if you don’t get in means you aren’t good enough, that I am sure. It is a subjective process, and when you are looking at so many screening videos/audio recordings, it can be the people/person was tired, etc. One of the reasons they have pre screens is because they received so many applications, that they couldn’t audition all of them.
One thing I can tell you about music, about pre screens and auditions into music schools and seating in orchestras in music school and then in the world outside, auditions, competitions, etc, there is nothing scientific. I saw recitals at Curtis we used to go to when my son was a teenager, when I really wondered how the heck they got in there , I know enough of good playing to recognize poor playing. My sons group did competitions when the scoring was such they technically won the competition, yet due to the jury not coming to consensus that the rules required, no one won (and this is not speculation, they knew a member of the jury, ran into them later and they were still angry about what went on, there was bias and also, not surprisingly, pushing for someone they knew and liked).
With auditions you may have played great, and they literally had no room at the inn, none of the teachers had open slots (one year at Juilliard, they had 1 flute spot open, and that was between grad and undergrad). They can hold auditions even if in practical reality they have no slots. It could be you played great, but none of the teachers you wanted had open slots or may not have liked you as a student or something, and rather than have you try to see if another teacher would teach you, rejected you.
It is why music is so tough. You see the kids complaining where they applied to HYP or some other elite program and despite stellar stats, didn’t make it, music is even much worse, because it is all subjective, so you as the auditioner wonder what happened because it is opaque. Unless you are someone who truly ignorant about playing levels, likely being rejected may have had nothing to do with how good you are. You have to have a thick skin and believe in yourself while of course being realistic.
Hi.
We are still waiting on Eastman and Peabody for results. We already booked flights for 4 schools. 3 schools in 5 days. Hopefully no hick-ups along the way. It all looks good on paper, but then, you never know what will happen.
But Eastman and Peabody may put a wrench in things. I am wondering if results will come out this week.
Peabody doesn’t have pre-screening, which seems odd. They audition all who apply? How do they determine eligibility? Based on academics? My DD teacher is friends with a proessor at Peabody and has already reached out and put in the good word for her.
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Eastman was late for my son…it would have been his very last audition but he had recieved all of his other acceptances, including one from his first choice, by then so he cancelled Eastman.
Hi, my son (jazz) heard from Peabody last week (but didn’t get a precise audition date yet). He also heard from Eastman for jazz. Also, he did have to submit some prescreens to Peabody.
We are waiting on Juilliard
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I hot a bit worried that my DD had not completed required pre-screenings, so I went online to check and it seems only certain instruments have to submit pre-screenings and viola is not one of them. I also read that early January is when decisions will ne made. Congratulations to your son
Thank you! Good luck!
We’ve heard from Eastman (cello). It probably is different with the instruments without prescreen.
We had 4 pre screens, 2 yes and 2 no.
Now we need to book a few flights!
MM voice applicant here. Has anyone been able to schedule an audition date at Mannes? I passed the prescreen and selected live audition (as opposed to sending in another recording), but I haven’t received any word about choosing a date.
My BME - Voice just received his prescreen result (no) from Bienen.
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Pre screening depends on the school and the instrument. The reason they went to pre screens is that schools, especially the name schools like Juilliard and Curtis et al, can get a ton of kids on let’s say violin applying, and to audition hundreds of kids is impractical. Pre screen weeds out the kids who on a lark decide to apply to let’s say Juilliard, it let’s them see if the kid has what they consider the base level to be there. It could be at the same school that requires pre screens for violin won’t on other instruments, because they don’t get that many applications.
Academics are not used in music school auditions, that I can guarantee you, unless the kid has such horrid grades they figure he/she won’t be able to handle theory and such. Otherwise GPA, SAT’s, etc mean basically nothing in the music school (note, in a music school in a university, those are used for admission to the university itself, but the music school doesn’t use them. You have a 4.0 with 1600 SAT’s and you don’t play well, music school isn’t taking you).
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I’m sorry Bienen didn’t work out, but I looked back and see that he has had other yeses! So that’s still good overall! We’ve also had a mix. I think it’s helpful for kids in future years to see results, so here’s where we are:
S for double bass prescreens:
Boston University - no
Jacobs - no
UMich - yes
Oberlin - yes
CCM - still waiting (have others heard yet? They said Jan, I guess they meant it)
He also has auditions (for non-prescreen schools) at UNT, Denver University, CU Boulder, University of Washington, and Western Washington.
We’re not sure what it means for BU and Jacobs - meaning will he still be considered for another major, or is the no on the prescreen the same as a rejected decision from the school overall? If anyone knows how this works, let me know! My son plans to email admissions at both schools to ask, I just thought I’d see if there’s any wisdom here about what happens next.
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Thanks - he’s feeling great about UMich and Jacobs, and will also audition at a few others that don’t have prescreens (Illinois, Wisconsin). We knew Bienen was a long shot since it’s a smaller program and the Music Eds compete directly with Performance for the spots - same thing happened to my older and he still went to Northwestern!
I’m sure others will have more specific info, but I think whether a failed prescreen/audition means they’re out entirely depends on the school and how they applied. For example, the rejection from Vanderbilt expressly said his application to main school continues, but Bienen says unless you applied to the dual degree program (my older did), it’s done. Emailing admissions is probably the way to go; if nothing else, it shows continued interest.
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Rejection is part of the game! It’s really important to overcome it mentally. As @old_music_prnt said: You have to have a thick skin and believe in yourself while of course being realistic. Having a thick skin is needed for students AND parents. You need to keep the faith throughout the audition season…no matter how dire a day or week feels. If you passed a few prescreens at selective schools, you/your student is in a good position!
You are all “living the dream now”. It’s also important to take the stress off for a few days. So enjoy the holiday season…as you’ll be entering another stressful time soon enough. But it will all be worth it in the end.
Edit: IU used to be TWO separate acceptances…academic and music. You could get an academic acceptance and NOT an acceptance to the music school. But you’ll need to check as my information is old.
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I think this is also how UMich operates. I remember getting a separate admissions acceptance from the school during the process. Same for IU.
Anybody has suggestions on where to stay for Rice audition? I just wonder how to deal with getting to/from hotel to campus with hauling an instrument.
We stayed at the Westin Houston Medical Center - close to campus, several hotels around that area, and RICE has special rates, there is a search tool to compare prices for all of them on one page:
https://campustravel.com/university/rice-university/
We rented a car, in 2023 it was cheaper than Ubering from and to the airport.
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D just received an email from Rice Shepherd confirming her audition date/time. She received her first date choice.
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