I think this depends on the school’s instructions. For strings, you aren’t allowed to edit within pieces - very few schools had scales, but the ones that did, it was only 2 scales and was presented kind of like “one of the three pieces is these 2 scales” - we didn’t say what scale it was - we just played the 2 scales and arpeggios in a row to show that there was no editing in between.
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Without seeing the instructions (or perhaps the instructions are vague) I agree with @Kpatterson above.
My thought is to do all scales as one take. No need to say which scale it is, the reviewer will know.
Also, know that if the instructions are not specific, they generally will not toss out your prescreen for interpreting the website incorrectly. They do not want your recordings enhanced in any way of course.
Hi, my son applied to several music programs at Michigan SMTD. Heard back from one for music education with audition which we scheduled but still waiting on BFA and PAT programs. Anyone else? Thought they would be out by end of December…
Does anyone have insights on how the honor’s colleges work with music majors (who I think have less flexible schedules than many majors) Trying to decide whether to push son to write apps for honors colleges… Particularly IU and Butler are questions at the moment. It seems some music schools have ‘honors’ within the program as well. It all may well be too much. I think college music program will take all the energy he has to give, but if the perks of dorms or smaller classes are there, that’s something to consider…
Will definitely apply at our regional state universities, but not sure about these other ones. Anyone have insight into them?
Not that i have any idea if he’d get into the one at Indiana, just trying to learn. And Butler is such a different size school , it’s probably very different there.
thanks!!
that is a good question. The instrumental prescreens have been notified for at least several instruments at U Mich.
Mine declined HOnors College at his university for a variety of reasons. First he generally takes 16-18 credits every semester plus a summer class here and there to meet all of his credits. This translates to 6-8 classes as come are 1 or 2 credits. He balances alot and the music coursework is rigorous. He didn’t see the value in the “perks” for example special housing…he started in a Learning Living music community anyway and would not have traded that for a special HOnors dorm. Early registration…his is pretty prescribed semester by semester so not much value in that. The added “thesis” did not help as the lurking senior recital takes so much time. Also, He enjoys skating through the core classes he needs. I’m sure others out there can add to the value of Honors College
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I guess I would ask your kid why he wants to do honors? Is there some academic “itch” outside of music that needs to be fulfilled. Would Honors do that for him? Is he maybe a National Merit Scholar where his academics are quite high…so yes, it may be fine to challenge himself outside of music. Or is he a top student and feels that he should do Honors bc he has a shot at it…and that’s where he sees himself? It would nice to have another feather in his hat and options? I would say in the first case, he could go for it. In the second…it’s maybe 50/50.
I can only speak of IU in this case, but the music school is highly selective where the baseline in music classes is VERY talented…and goes up to brilliant. There are also grad students in performance (that he could be rubbing shoulders with) that will blow him away…and could cause some concern about competence. It is not uncommon during the first semester at any selective music school to have an “oh-oh” moment (or 2 or 3 or more). You could be top at your school, in your city or even in your state…and get a comeuppance in your college program. My D was glad to have a class a semester (gen ed) that she didn’t need to worry about. She also found the classes outside of the music school…a nice little respite from the pressure cooker that can be a music school.
So I would have him think carefully about the reason for wanting Honors…and if it truly worth it to him at a highly selective music school. There will be brilliant music students devoting their full attn to music. So he will be challenged simply in the music school, imo.
Edit: the post above addresses early registration, living communities…and I agree with what was said above. The music school assures your classes and they are not large lectures like some gen ed. The only benefit I could see…may be the outside academics for the right student.
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My DD sophomore is at IU piano performance. She did decide to apply to the Huttons Honors there and loves it! But most importantly, she received a huge scholarship from her honors essay she had to write when she applied, which is renewable each year if she maintains a 3.5 GPA or better, which she has so far. She took the most amazing honors class her freshman year. She is taking 21 credits and is thriving there. Such a great school! And word of advise to those taking theory classes, your kid should try to do very well and go for honors theory. The class is smaller and you get more personalized help.
She did not live in the honor learning community, as she had a roommate she wanted to live with who was not in the honors program. I highly recommend it.
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My oldest (Voice) did Hutton Honors College at IU. While she didn’t find it to be too much of a perk within Jacobs, it did allow her to have smaller, more discussion-based classes in her outside field–History. As far as how honors housing works at IU, it is not a specific dorm, rather a dedicated floor in each neighborhood. My daughter did preference and live on the honors floor in the neighborhood nearest Jacobs. Back then (2017-18) it was the 4th floor of Forest Quad–not sure if that is still its location. She went with a random roommate and absolutely hit the jackpot–they are still besties to this day. She’d probably say that was the best thing she got out of the honors program:). That did also allow her to mix with kids in all different majors which was a nice break. It also put her in the pool for the Herbert Presidential Scholarship which she was awarded–but that is only for in-state students, and I’m not sure where you are located. Overall I’d say that if your kid is a willing essay writer who won’t mind another application, it wouldn’t hurt to do. But, I get it if not. There is absolutely no way I would have gotten my 2 younger college music applicants to do one more thing–all the prescreens and general app essays sucked up every last bit of effort they were willing to give–haha. And the music curriculum at Jacobs is definitely challenging enough.
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S submitted an insanely 11th hour app to Blair last night. His friend was accepted ED, and after a lot of hemming and hawing, decided that maybe the jazz program was not too small after all and decided to go for it. Of course, since the program IS so small the odds are not in his favor, but I personally have always thought that Nashville would be a great town for him to study and work in.
Anyone have any Blair jazz thoughts to share from this year’s app cycle?
My son’s jazz guitarist friend was accepted ED at Vanderbilt. I don’t know anything about his academic standing other than that he’s home schooled. He’s a helluva guitarist, though. OTOH a jazz vocalist from his program who graduated last year was rejected there and she’d received both YoungArts and Downbeat awards. Don’t know what her academics were like but she ended up at Frost.
Has anyone experienced this before? Colburn has 2 audition dates for our instrument (they are next to each other). However, we are on the other side of the country so this involves flight, expensive LA hotel, etc. My kid chose a preferred date in December and then emailed to ask for a confirmation due to travel arrangements. They emailed back and said we “cannot confirm which date it will be until we email you in late January”… which is less than 2 weeks before the early Feb. audition dates…like what?! No other school has done this - we have confirmed dates even at Rice. If Colburn weren’t a chance at a free ride, I feel like we’d be pulling out of the audition after this ridiculousness. These schools don’t seem to realize how expensive this all is not to mention having to find (and schedule) time off from work to accompany our kid.
Yes, same kid to Vanderbilt I believe… I’ll bet our S’s have played with, know or at least know of one another. It’s kind of a small community once you’re playing in camps and competitions. Good on R for Blair, he really wanted to be there.
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Oh! Small world, indeed. Yeah, I’m really happy for him. Super nice kid in addition to being super talented.
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Frustrating for sure. You may have luck calling the admissions office to see if you can get a more specific answer (at least an audition day)
Just my hypothesis, but sometimes very small conservatories wait to confirm audition slots until they know exactly how many applicants are coming. They may be waiting to see if they can consolidate all auditions on one day. Especially at Colburn which has a fair number of out of town faculty.
yes, that could be the case… it’s just so frustrating as we don’t fly much and I don’t want to have to be changing flight and hotel reservations a week or 2 before the audition, but if I don’t book something, I risk there not even being space on the flights we would need.
Does anyone on these boards have an undergrad at Colburn and know what it’s like? I’m not impressed so far by, first, the impossiblity of initial contact with the professor (took nearly 6 months) and now the lack of organization of their auditions. I want to like the place due to the price, but it just seems so closed off and distant. They don’t even stream performances like all the other major schools do.
My daughter is a vocal performance grad student at Eastman. Her auditions there was an all day thing - I think it was 9 am to 5 pm. This was very unusual in our experience as a grad student but not as unusual for undergrad. There are definitely warm up rooms.
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I don’t have a student at Colburn but my son auditioned and was accepted (visited twice) and my daughter spent a week there last summer. Many of our friends from precollege do attend. We didn’t get the sense you are getting at all. Everybody there was super warm and friendly and everything was very well organized on audition day. And they stream a ton of their concerts, often on the Violin Channel, Facebook, and other places. You can watch many later on YouTube.
As for auditions, my son had several of his auditions scheduled really late like you describe. I agree it is terrible for families and adds to the already great financial burden. But Colburn definitely is not alone in this practice. 3/5 of my son’s auditions were schedule less than a month before travel. This seems a more common practice at top institutions.
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Our daughter is a double degree student and just a first year, so she is not that familiar with what it would be like to take classes at Hopkins outside of the double degree program. She has friends who are going to do a directed minor at Hopkins, but my understanding is that they don’t begin those classes until second semester freshman year. The hardest thing, I think, would be coordinating classes on the different campuses. Double degree students get to register for classes before everyone else because the intensive Peabody schedule narrows the choice of Hopkins classes considerably. I am not sure if that applies to directed minor students, but it is something important to ask about. On the other hand, many basic pre-med classes will have lots of sections, so that might not be as big a problem for your son. The bus ride back and forth might also be discouraging to some–it isn’t a long ride but the bus can be unreliable. Peabody has its own culture and social life, and if a student isn’t really committed to taking Hopkins classes, I can see the temptation to just stay at Peabody. So I wouldn’t say that Peabody students have limited access to Hopkins, but they do have to work for this access and be committed to it.
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Has anyone heard from SUNY Purchase? It’s the only place my son (jazz piano) is waiting on.