I don’t know about most of those items, but I have seen very high merit scholarship amounts from Bard on previous years’ merit/scholarships threads, so maybe it’s department based, but at least for some applicants, there are big scholarships for merit.
1 Like
Are the kids who got rejected from BU just music majors or were they trying to double major with an academic subject? I’ve generally been told music applicants are allowed to have slightly lower (e.g. 25th percentile for the school) SAT scores and less rigorous high school academic schedules due to the amount of time/effort they spend on music related activities and practice. We’re applying to BU as music performance major only, and my kid has a good GPA but not very rigorous coursework with a 1390 SAT, so not the highest. He’s one of the best in his instrument though and his music resume is tough to match. I hope BU wouldn’t reject him since he didn’t take 12 APs.
1 Like
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your comments and am glad your son had a great experience. I do believe things have changed recently with regards to their reputation. For me a sign of integrity of a school is how a school deals with sexual misconduct is a big indicator as to how orher issues may be resolved. And tes I do know about those other schools you mentioned. A school certainly can not help what an individual does, but they can handle it with integrity. I also dont know how long ago your son went there. My DD applied based on a reputation that may be a bit outdated and now is second guessing her application. But again, I am glad yoyr son had a positive experience! I would love to hear from student who recently attended or are currently attending to get a more up to date picture. Thank you again for your reply. You have made me think twice about not continuing on.
I don’t know their personal experience, but the two students I know who went to Bard both got full merit scholarships. The most recent graduated last year. They have historically had a very good oboe studio.
thanks, helpful info. it’s just going to be a travel tiring and nail-biting season all around! 
Well he has commented in the past that it is not uncommon for the kids with 12 APs, perfect gpa and 1590 SAT to be the weaker players (not shocking, when do they have time to practice? Just a small handful that truly can manage both.) and he’s not voting yes on someone based on grades and test scores he’s solely listening to them as a musician. If the university says “no” on academic side he has to assume they have a reason but he generally doesn’t get involved. I am also of the understanding that the bar is not quite as high academically for music performance majors; I was just commenting that passing prescreen doesn’t guarantee things for those that might assume such. It sounds like your kid has strong academics though. Unrelated since he is traveling from far away it sounds like, I can confirm it’s a wonderful and very safe area (we live nearby), as a mom I always tell people they can breathe easy if they send their kids here; it’s a great small walkable city (we have lived all over the country and this is our favorite spot in the US).
2 Likes
Yes, we auditioned in Boston and saw the professor for a lesson back in November. We love BU 
1 Like
Urgent Q: UCLA BM instrumental live audition need piano accompaniment or not for 2025 audition?
One place says:
Audition:
Please prepare the following:
• 1 movement of a Concerto of your choice (including Cadenza, if applicable). Piano accon preferred but not required. Piano accompaniment is required at the audition.
Another place says:
Accompanist Information
The Department of Music will provide collaborative pianists for all voice auditions and graduate instrumental auditions, including a warm up period 30 minutes prior to the audition. Piano accompaniment is not required for undergraduate instrumental auditions.
S just got his Purchase nod and scheduled his audition. Auditions are one hour jam sessions with current and prospective students on Feb 21 and 22. It should be fun, the faculty there are super supportive and encouraging.
2 Likes
What many people fail to realize is that schools that report “little” merit scholarship money give much (most in many cases) of that money to their performing arts programs. Miami, NYU, Oberlin, etc, etc, etc… even state schools often reward merit money disproportionately to the arts. They want (need) to keep the programs going, so they use the $$$ as a way to shore up their numbers.
S said that Bard wasn’t for him, but that if it was, he would pay full price to get hit on by a teacher and do a lot of drugs to keep from feeling sad and lonely because of the crappy dorms and over stuffed classes just to be able to perform at the Fisher Center cuz Frank Gehry.
He could play some music in this lounge area… it looks like they have at least one band play there.
What instrument?
violin BM.
The audition email HIGHLIGHT this: “Piano accompaniment is not required for undergraduate instrumental auditions”;
However, the same email has a link for final audition repertoire, under it, final audition violin repertoire says “Piano accon preferred but not required. Piano accompaniment is required at the audition.”
S is very nervous about passing academic muster at Frost, Steinhardt, Alpert and Thornton. Very few students are able to do what it takes to play at the highest level while at the same time study and make tiptop grades and test prep. Those kids are one percent, and insanely, (according to S) they often forgo music to study business or comp sci or engineering at top 20 schools after having occupied top spots at music camps and competitions.
After speaking to a number of music faculty, it seems like they really try hard to get the skilled and experienced kids admitted, but sometimes a 4.3 weighted gpa just isn’t good enough for top line admission. I get it, but it’s still hard for the kids to understand at times.
The website looks similarly unclear. Do you have time to call admissions?
I would assume yes for accompaniment for the concerto movement though.
Will call tomorrow, but it might be too late to arrange for piano accompaniment? It will be very expense to change flight two days before audition. Maybe the best option is to just cancel UCLA audition in case this is indeed required. My English is not good, as an engineer, it is so painful to read UCLA audition info and websites, in consistence and unclear everywhere.
1 Like
We had a similar problem where we found out that we needed an accompanist for my daughter’s regional Peabody audition. We found one very quickly through Colburn. Maybe you can contact their collaborative pianists coordinator.
I can speak to Miami. My son was an average student with 2AP (one being music theory) and VERY low average SAT’s. Excels on his instrument and had lots of awards. He almost didn’t apply bc his stats were below the academic bar. Accepted and verbally offered full tuition. He had already decided on his first choice by then. Point is that they DEF lowered the academic bar for him.
4 Likes
The problem with my kids, is they love their instruments, but they also have interests in other fields. My DD, who is currently at JSofM studying piano performance was excellent academically. She could not bear it mentally if she received less than a 4.0. But she also loved piano and excelled at it winning local, national and a couple international competitions. So when she applied to colleges, she was torn. She wanted to study political science and piano. So she applied to colleges with a strong music school. (Yale, Vanderbilt, IU etc). But before she could audition, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to go to a music conservatory. She dropped all applications (even though she passed all the prescreening) and decided to only audition at JSofM because she felt that was the only school in her list with a conservatory like school. Only one school! We were shocked…who only applies to one school? But she got in and thank goodness received a large merit and music scholarship. She couldn’t be happier! My point is, yes music is great, but kids do change their minds and if they out all their eggs in one basket, what happens when the mind is changed? I always tell my kids to do well academically as well as practice their hearts out on their instruments. I have 5 kids, and for some reason they all love music! But they were homeschooled. So they could devote more time to their instruments. For us, we need our kids to get as much scholarships as possible including academic because you can stack them.
True. medical school attracts young musicians too. Northwestern has a medical orchestra on top of all the bienen ensembles and non-major orchestra. Half (or maybe more) of the members of NYO/NYO2/NYO Jazz go to college for non-music majors, but they will never stop loving music. Music schools and professors are well aware of this fact, so are the AOs in many selective universities.