Class of 29 Undergrad/Class of 27 Grad: All Things Related to Music School Applications (prescreens/tours/interviews/auditions/supplements/etc)

College Majors Music Majors
61

While S25 has not received communication directly about starting his music application from the universities he has applied to, we knew that UNT’s music application opened on September 1. We found it on Acceptd. It’s up and running. So is WVU’s. We found Cincinnati’s as well, but S25 has not received info about opening his university portal, and he needs the university ID number to start the UC music application.

I will say we are a bit surprised about the delay in receiving portal emails and the lack of clear instruction about how to start the music school apps. We are constantly going back to school websites and double checking to make sure hes not missing any information.

Still waiting for IU’s initial email for him to set up his portal. He applied the first week of August.

1 Like
62

We have so many questions :rofl:!

I know your son is studying jazz and mine wants to do contemporary/jazz but you might have some insight here. For the resume did he list every song he’s ever preformed or just the best (hardest) of the best?

Also, for schools he hadn’t been to before the app, when did you ask to meet with instructors to get a feel for fit?

Thanks!

63

Students tend to meet with professors during winter/spring of junior year or fall of senior year. Some (most) are very hard to get in contact with or don’t really have time for a lesson, and in that case, sometimes they’ll do a lesson during the actual audition days or may be willing to do a virtual lesson of some type.

2 Likes
64

S25 added a Performance Repertoire page to his resume and listed all tunes performed in concert. (So didn’t include tunes recorded for various auditions and stuff unless he played it on stage - but I don’t think there is any rule to this. It is just what we did.)

1 Like
65

His repertoire was by genre (hardest material) and he also organized his resume in sections by genre as well.
Out of the 6 he ultimately applied to he only met with 3 before the audition process (all during pre-college music “camp” experiences). The rest he met at auditions. He was 100% able to determine fit after even those short meets.

3 Likes
66

I can speak to the IU Jacobs BSOF if you have questions. My daughter graduated with that degree in 2021, and I know of 3 other students pursuing it currently. It really is a great option for kids with dual interests.

1 Like
67

This thread for last year was so helpful for us, and it is good to see another one with great advice. Our understanding was that Vanderbilt/Blair has an academic cut for lack of a better word at the prescreen stage. But academics may figure in again after the audition–I have no idea. The disadvantage of ED is that your kid doesn’t get to audition at other places if they get in. Our DD’s ideas of what she wanted, including which music schools she was most interested in, changed so much over the year and through audition process. She–and we–never would have predicted that she would choose JHU/Peabody, which she applied to at the last minute. So far she is loving it. There aren’t many double degree students and the bus is a pain, but she is making it work and loves her classes and classmates at both campuses. The big downside is double degree students don’t get music merit, but the availability of full financial aid is a plus for Peabody.

4 Likes
68

UT Austin, CU Boulder and UW Madison have good double degree programs as well. However, it may be 5 years at UT Austin.

2 Likes
69

My family visited BU this past month. The SOM admission office said that their UG scholarships are mostly for need-based. Their practice rooms are pretty well organized and relatively new compared to other Boston music schools. Also SOM is on the same street as other school buildings, and I think there is even a shuttle you can take back and forth between schools.

4 Likes
70

I can’t speak for every music school but I can tell you with the big music schools, the highly competive ones, that it is basically need based (Juilliard for example outright says that). I have heard plenty of people who claimed they were admitted to top music schools and they were so good they got a full scholarship regardless of their parents income but I can tell you with some assurance that given the level of students they are admitting, that makes absolutely no sense in like 99% of cases. There are exceptions, but the ones I know of was where the kid had already done something big, like won a competition like the Queen Elizabeth or already was soloing, where the school wants the name…but that is rare. I have heard of kids getting merit scholarships of some size at programs that are at lower levels in terms of competitiveness, where they want to attract kids who could get into a Juilliard et al.

My take is with programs at any kind of level it is like elite colleges, aid is almost entirely need based.

2 Likes
71

There are a few older threads on this forum that list merit and need based awards that people were willing to share. I administered the thread for the class of '22 admission season. Here’s a link- you’ll see that there are awards (and non awards) in programs of all levels, and not just the schools that are ‘lower levels’. I’m sure this changes year to year but perhaps this sample will be helpful for some context.

Schools with grad programs (like Northwestern, Juilliard, IU, etc) often reserve their funds for grad students, but schools like Oberlin, with no grad programs in performance, give merit awards fairly regularly.

5 Likes
72

Thanks to @Baribassmom for compiling and sharing the Class of 2022 Merit thread.

Our experience (DS graduated HS in 2020) was acceptances to each program came with the merit scholarship offer, BEFORE we ever provided any financial information. So I can assume it was not based on financial need. He had offers ranging from $5K per year, half and 3/4 tuition paid and a full tuition offer. He was not a renowned soloist, however he was a top notch HS player on his instrument.

The same scenario was true of at least 4 friends/cohorts from his HS studio. He attended a performing arts school so his fellow students were well prepared and talented. But none with major awards.

Of this group there were 3/4 to full tuition offers to Bard, Jacobs, Eastman, NEC, Juilliard and Curtis. And many solid offers at other programs.

Prepare well, apply to a range of programs. While there are no guarantees, the money is out there.

6 Likes
73

Flute Performance D23 received a $29,500 scholarship offer from BU College of Fine Arts and was accepted to Kilachand Honors Program, but they do not provide merit scholarship on their side. Hope it helps!

2 Likes
74

Has anyone whose kid has applied to IU received an email to set up their university portal? I dont think a JSOM application can be started without the IU student number. Am i missing something? Thanks

75

This might be an underrated factor. Graduates from my son’s arts HS program have admissions experiences closer to what you describe than to “need-based only”, even at top schools. Yes, some of them had youngarts or downbeat awards but a lot of them don’t even bother with that stuff

3 Likes
76

@old_music_prnt As @Baribassmom has shared, check out those threads! I managed the one last year and you will find quite a bit of merit-based awards listed for a variety of top schools. My daughter wouldn’t be where she is without that money! There are a lot of factors involved in merit- and I speak as a parent of a students who’s been through this process and the wife of a Director of Bands administering said merit. How well did they audition? Who is needed to fill the studios? Which studio used lots of merit money last year and which could really use it this year to attract the best of the best? You get the idea. But believe- you can qualify for $$$ at top tier programs not tied to needs.

Edited to add that we received the most merit money from schools last year some associate with only awarding to grad students. It didn’t hold true last year and will vary year to year, based on the above mentioned factors.

5 Likes
77

Every school is different and what you call an elite program may vary. I know for a fact Juilliard is needs based, for example, they outright say it in their presentations, NEC is definitely like that. Curtis and Colburn don’t count because they are free schools (tuition at Curtis, Full at Colburn), and it depends also on the instrument as well, I don’t disagree. But when you are dealing on the level of Juilliard, where they literally are inundated with talented applicants, getting merit aid is slim, pure and simple. I am sure if a teacher has some student they are high on, they might be able to.

And I am not basing this on a small sample, my son remember is a musician now, and through him have come into a good number of high level musicians who have gone to a ton of different programs. Some programs are better with aid, of course, Rice tends to be particularly generous. The other thing with awards (not to start a controversy), but if a kid represents an under represented minority, that can weigh in too these days.

You also have to look at the total cost of going. Someone listed a 15k award to Berklee, but if you look at the total cost of going there, that isn’t much , the top music schools, however you want to measure it, have total cost in the range of upper tier colleges.

When I talk about top programs it isn’t meant as a knock on other programs, but put it this way, if a program has really selective admissions, can pick and choose literally from among the best in the world, giving merit scholarships is problematic (and again, it depends on the school, there are some top level programs that pride themselves on aid, Juilliard for example isn 't one of them). A program that is good but for example isn’t as competitive because they are a smaller program, don’t have ‘prestigious’ teachers, is going to be looking to try and induce top kids to go there, so they may offer more.

In my son’s case he wasn’t at the level of the kids who already had artists rep, who were winning competitions (someone like that could get merit even at a place like Juilliard), but he also graduated from Juilliard’s pre college program (the year he got in there, they admitted 6 on his instrument, 130 applied/auditioned, just to give an idea of level).

It isn’t that I am trying to discourage anyone, but with music schools total cost nearing at least the 80k range, even a 15k merit wouldnt pay for all that much and their needs based aid is pretty stringent (like many schools, they push loans, these days parent and kids). One thing is true, you never know, if you are a kid from a rural area they may give better aid or if a teacher really likes the kid, but it isn’t common at the level of school I am talking about.

And as with everything, obviously I cannot say with any kind of accuracy what would happen with any student, my sample size while fairly large isn’t comprehensive by any means and YMMV.

1 Like
78

Also worth noting: most of the programs you are citing are conservatories. Very different than a trad college/university. Many conservatories are top tier, but there are public colleges and universities of note on these threads that have top tier programs as well. These institutions very much offer merit based money.

2 Likes
79

I’m a sample of 1 but our undergrad bassist got merit aid for Juilliard. They accepted 3 - 4 undergrad basses total. (Sorry meant to reply to @old_music_prnt)

5 Likes
80

Aid being only financially-based at top schools was not our experience. Yes, my son was one of the top kids his year applying, but he got a minimum of 50% tuition (at his safety school) to full tuition or more at all the schools he applied to before even entering the financial stuff. He did do a few national and international competitions, but was not at the level you are describing, winning huge competitions or having representation or anything like that. Yes, you have to be good to get the merit scholarships, but you don’t have to be superstar good.

5 Likes