Does anyone have experience with Eastman & Oberlin (voice) auditions? Trying to figure out if we can do Eastman on a Friday then Oberlin on Saturday, or if we need to space it out to Friday/Sunday.
It’s been 8 years since we did the Oberlin voice audition, but back then it was a 2-day event—or at least had the option to be. Friday evening there was a faculty meet and greet and a performance by current students. We also had the opportunity for a campus tour that afternoon. Auditions happened on Saturday. We were finished up by early afternoon.
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As others have said admission to Juilliard can be tough, in that it isn’t just the applicants playing, it is the instrument for that year. Some years you can audition, and play well, and get rejected because they had like 1 slot open (I remember one year, the flute program had 1 slot open, period, that could be grad or ug admission).
This is what music is like in general, and you can’t let a rejection make you wonder about your worth. My son’s group won some big name competitions, did well in others, went to a competition in Australia and they didn’t get out of the first round.
Wish your kid all the luck.
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With music schools inside a university the stats you mention only apply to the university academic side, I can almost guarantee you the music school doesn’t look at them. On the music school side it is how they judge the pre screen that counts (or the audition). It could be they had a ton of really, really outstanding voice applicants this year and very few slots, or even none (yes, schools sometimes will accept applications even if they don’t have open slot) and it could be normally your daughter would have gotten through but this year it was a lot more difficult. It is a subjective process and as such often can make no sense. Sometimes you get accepted to what is considered a really, really tough program and then you get rejected from something considered less competitive, it happens. One of the frustrating things is it is invisible.
I wish your daughter well!
Where a music school is inside a university the admissions, at least at the schools i know of including Northwestern, operate separately. The music school will be looking at the quality of the pre screen or audition, it is in my experience unlikely they will look at the academics either way (high academics will not influence the music school audition process at all I am certain). The academic portion of the school looks at the stats and yes, can reject a student if they feel their stats are too low. I also am pretty sure that with music performance students that the academic portion of the school are a lot more tolerant with stats than they would be for kids admitting academically only.
With the pre screen process I don’t know if the academic side looks at stats then and could reject students at that phase, my impression was the academic side looks at the application only if the student passes both the pre screen and audition, but can’t claim special knowledge.
Phew! Catching up on messages here. Congrats to all who’ve passed prescreens!
Oberlin, MSM, BU, and Peabody all greenlighted here. Still waiting on some others, including a few of the big ones in January…
Fingers crossed!
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Right, hence the frustration when planning audition trips upon passing the prescreen at such schools. As per @momto5kidz below
I think we had one such school on my kid’s list back when he auditioned. And I remember thinking it was a strange set up, as it seemed to waste his time, our money and the faculty’s time and effort.
Also, the process was unclear. Seems it still may be. I suppose they want the opportunity to admit an outstanding talent by exception, but personally we would have skipped that school if we had known ahead of time that his academics might not be at a high enough level. Especially as in his case, he was already leaning towards a free standing conservatory environment.
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Northwestern is test optional. My son didn’t submit scores. His grades and rigor were in line with those of admitted students from across Northwestern, and he was accepted to another school within NU for a dual degree program.
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Unfortunately, not for homeschooled kiddos. They always require test scores and a bunch of other things, like a detailed explanation of each course taught, my homeschool philosophy and how I determine grades. Like a 31 ACT score, as well as straight A’s while dually enrolled in community college is not enough proof that I actually taught her through the years. I understand some times a bit if fudging goes on with homeschool grades. I knew a mom who “gave” her daughter all A’s and she never recived greater than a 17 on the ACT. She claimed she was a poor test taker. So I agree with requiring test scores
Woke up this morning to Oberlin scheduling his audition for him so I guess they made the hard decision for us lol Now the question is do we try to make Northwestern work earlier that week and then hop on over to the Cleveland area or not. Decisions Decisions!
Does anyone know if Jazz Composition at Oberlin has to do an interview? My son applied for both Jazz Guitar and Jazz Composition. We got a day/time for his Jazz Guitar audition but it doesn’t allow us to pick anything for Jazz Composition. We sent them an email but of course they are now out for winter break.
I’m currently facing the same issue, have you figured out how to schedule the audition? I tried to contact the admissions office, but they don’t open until the new year.
Hi!
I’m a composer applying for a MM in composition this cycle!
I just passed my pre screen for Umich!!!
Still waiting to hear from everywhere else…. Juilliard, Yale, USC, Carnegie Mellon, Curtis, and Michigan state
Just wanted to share with someone. I haven’t told anyone I’m even applying except for my recommenders and my best friend…
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Congratulations!
congrats! My son just heard good news from UMich, too (for the chamber music masters)
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Oberlin has information about their audition day on their website. This should help you determine if you can do them back or not.
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I couldn’t access it on my phone, but was able to on a desktop.
My daughter got great news from UMich today! BM piano performance
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Hi All - I’m a newbie to all this and am actually posting for my sister (and for me in terms of future gifts).
My nephew is going the conservatory route and that is all in process. We aren’t a very musical family but he is talented and works hard and has spent his summer at various camps.
My sister and I were discussing costs and I asked if he would be able to work at all during college or in the summers like we both did. They don’t have a ton of money and I was wondering how he’d get “spending money”. My sister is unsure whether it’s realistic to ask him to earn some money and doesn’t want to pressure him especially now.
I am thinking for all future gifts, I should lean toward giving him cash.
Did your kids work at all in high school? During the summer? Will they hold any jobs in college or summers? Should my sister plan to pretty much fund everything?
thanks for any insights!
Many kids do work during college. If the family is not financially well off, there is a great chance he will receive financial aid. I would have him look into schools, like Peabody, that offer financial aid to meet 100% assistance based on FAFSA. Also if he is talented, he will likely receive some talent based merit. He should also definitly consider in-state options which will greatly reduce the costs. He should apply to several options to see who gives him the best financial package. But keep in mind, traveling to auditions is very expensive!
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