I will say, nearly every music school my D (viola BM) has auditioned at and had a private lesson with a professor while at the audition, severak professors asked where else she applied to. She was honest and told them. Some of those professors acknowledged that she will likely have many great choices. So it is not uncommon for these schools to know what they are up against. My D (currently attending IU Jacobs) only applied to IU due to a unique circumstance. But it gave her no leverage when asking for more merit. (Although they did give her a small amount more). These schools like to know where else they auditioned because it gives them an idea as to what level schools they are applying to and to kind of know their competition. This may help them decide how much merit to give them if they really want them in the long run.
He should make it clear Michigan is his first choice as you say it is. Maybe also specifically reach out to the teacher with an email also letting them know Michigan is first choice; the teacher will have the best feel for if the studio will have a possible space. My only advice is answer honestly. Music is a small world, trombone even smaller (in comparison to something like violins). The faculty do casually chat with each other from various schools because they are also old friends. There are faculty (still) at fancy name schools that were my husband’s teachers 30 years ago, there are faculty that were classmates with him years ago when they were all starting out and there are faculty that earned their degrees from my husband’s studio in the past 15 years that are now teaching at big schools. He regularly checks in with all these people because they are life long friends and occasionally a question about a student comes up in conversation. None of these teachers exist in a bubble. They want the best for the students but again it’s a tiny community, shockingly tiny. It is early on, has your son got quite a few schools to hear back from yet?
We saw these types of forms when my kid declined offers to some colleges (all non music). I think they are trying to understand the competition.
Last year at UMich, my son was not initially offered merit, but was sent a form similar to this, but with many more questions, to submit an appeal. From the experiences from that initial email, the staff in admissions was so great and supportive. I believe they truly take into consideration what you write. My son wrote that Michigan was by far his number one choice, provided reasons why, and how he’d contribute to the school community. They asked for a range of funds we would need, and they did meet that range. He’s super happy and thriving there.
My guess is that they are aiming to get a read on level of interest. If they go to the waitlist it is much better to give a spot to a kid who is going to accept. So yes make it clear that UMich SMTD is top choice and connect with anyone your son has had contact with so far, as appropriate.
I am curious about audition repertoire. Are any schools requiring 20th or 21st century composers?
They asked my son similar questions at his SMTD audition a few weeks ago.
Curtis and Juilliard. At least for most winds.
We received the financial aid letter from IU (Jacobs) yesterday - it did not include info about scholarship awards - am I right to assume that it would come separately and at a later date? Or, does it come in that letter and we should assume she didn’t get any additional $$
April 1.
Though now I am recalling that your daughter applied to music industry? That might be different. I know that Jacobs still has one more audition weekend but that may not affect scholarship decisions for her major…
Was the letter/email from IU in general or Jacobs specifically?
She would be a Creation & Production Major - new this year, actually! Letter was from IU. I think April sounds right (at least I hope so!)
A little late on this reply. But in my opinion, a flawless (perfect) audition/performance vs a great (but with a flaw or two) audition/performance is not the dividing line of success. The dividing line is how you handle your very human flaws. Do you handle your flaws with strength, confidence and wonderful playing or do you fold into yourself, lose confidence and flounder in your performance?
Everyone makes mistakes (we aren’t robots), it’s how you deal with mistakes that matters. You learn a lot about this in college. It is not unusual for kids at this age to suffer from perfectionism in this stressful time. A parent needs to remind them that adult performers make mistakes all the time…that audiences rarely notice bc they are professionals…and simply carry on. While my D is not the strongest in many areas, she quite good at making errors…and blowing right through them. Recently she told me that she sang the same line twice and then some “gibberish” to get back to her place…without batting an eye. It just another day on stage for her. You can’t perform day in and out without making mistakes. But you DO need to carry on…with confidence…and give the audience what they came for (a good time…NOT a perfect time).
Just checked. My youngest daughter’s Jacobs scholarship offers came on 3/31 last year from a music admin email account. There was definitely no ambiguity in the message. Typed in bold with the names of the scholarships and the amounts. In the 8 years I’ve been doing the Jacobs thing with 3 kids and a couple of their friends, scholarships have dropped right around 4/1 — give or take a few days. Hoping your daughter hears good news! It just may be a few more weeks though…
Ah! Thank you so much - super helpful.
On Violin Curtis and Juilliard do for UG. Other schools don’t require 20th-21st century composers but they allow an auditioner to use a "modern’ piece (or at least they did when my S was applying), where modern was like 1945 on. Other schools like NEC require the student to submit a piece they want to perform, so a modern piece would be acceptable. In some programs like Peabody they require late 20th century or 21st composition for the DM. The basic repertoire varies, but on Violin it almost always is at least a first movement of a major concerto w cadenza or 2nd&3rd movements, solo bach contrasting movements and usually a paganini caprice.
Lot of the schools now encourage playing pieces from the ‘wide variety out there’ or ‘encourage music by under represented people’ and the like but that isn’t obviously limited to modern pieces, Fanny Mendelsohn would be okay as would Jesse Montgomery.
Well said @bridgenail. Recovery from mistakes is huge, and it happens all the time. Goofs happen, coming in early or late in an ensemble performance, tonal slips, my son had an e string break and for the movement had to play on his remaining three strings (which fortunately the way the piece was written he could get away with alt fingerings on other strings).
Again the audition panels know all this and they can tell the difference between a slip and sloppy playing. It is better to go in with a mindset that the panel is on your side rather than antagonistic IMO, lot easier to handle a slip bc lot less likely to lose it thinking ‘that’s it, I am done’ . IME in reality relatively few audition panel members have the mentality their duty is to protect the citadel from anything but perfect students:)
If you go back and read my posts, you will see that my D had a memory slip at one of her recent auditions. She was obviously a bit shaken while it happened, but she never stopped playing! She found her way back after a very short improvisation that led her right to where she needed to be. She later told me she was impressed by how she recovered, but was also devistated that she made that uncharacteristic slip. Later that day, during afternoon lunch, one of the professors told her not to worry about the slip and that they did not even take points away for it. He talked to her about all the great things she exhibited during her audition. That gave her a sense of relief. And she turned around and auditioned at another school the next day with no issues at all. These audions are such a mental game!
Mine thinks two notes were slightly off in an etude. He is under the impression that everybody else is perfect. 
S had his Purchase audition yesterday for jazz drums and he said it went well. He played with Purchase students as well as a few graduate applicants, a couple on trumpet that he said were very skilled.
Oberlin went well. They were well organized, had a day’s schedule planned out for the applicants and were very supportive trying to get the kids to relax and be in the moment. S said that there were many (12 he said, but grain of salt) adjudicators in the room and although one of the student accompanists didn’t seem to know a basic song, they were good and played well together. S said the vibe was chill, no gotchas, no existential questions, just running through a couple of songs and some rudimental grooves.
One thing to note about the jazz auditions was that the drummers warmed up alone and did NOT play with other applicants for the audition. Conversely, the other instruments warmed up with and auditioned with each other and the Oberlin student rhythm section. This was bluntly and hilariously stated in the q and a beforehand… drummer can tank an audition for soloists. S and I had a laugh, because while S says that’s true, it can work the other way too… that’s why he’s a little nervous for NYU. If a horn or guitar or piano isn’t on the trolley, there’s only so much a drummer can do to get them back around. It harkens back to August during S’s Berklee audition when the adjudicator said “pretend everyone on the bandstand is drunk… how to regain control?” I forget his exact response, but it was good enough for admission with merit.
Another surprising aspect of the exercise was that the applicants were invited to sit in on a big band rehearsal. Applicants sat in their sections with the players, but only the drummers were invited to sit in on songs. I was pretty nervous, S didn’t even bring sticks! But three drummers successfully sight read charts they’d never seen with only the most basic instruction (pick up the tempo) from the band director. It was a high wire act for sure and it was fun to watch the kids land it.
Anyway, Oberlin was a success Purchase was a success, now only MSM, New School and NYU to go.