Update on where we are at with the process:
In-Person Auditions Completed:
FSU (should get EA results on Thursday)
FIU (should get EA results on Thursday)
Berklee
UM (Frost)
Pending In-Person audition:
Michigan State
UNT
MSM
Waiting on Prescreen results from:
Oberlin
USC Thornton
Northwestern
Temple
Juilliard
Oberlin
Peabody
Thanks! I had penciled in based on last year, so it’s right in that same range.
The ‘drivable’ schools are easier - it’s aligning the travel/hotel ones that’s got me worried and waiting to just lock in some dates.
Hey, everyone! I’ve been lurking here and learning a ton for a couple years now. So thank you to all of you who have shared your experiences. It has been tremendously helpful. It’s unfortunate that this years’s thread is not quite as robust as the past couple. So I thought I’d throw our stuff out there too.
I have a 17 year old senior in Texas who is planning to pursue a BM in horn performance. He has not cast a super wide net which concerns me a little. But there are still a couple we are looking at adding.
Basics are that he’s a typical busy kid with a wide variety of interests and extracurriculars. Which has been both a blessing for a well rounded HS experience and also a curse as a major time suck that made the application process a slog. He’s all-state here in TX, super involved in band and theatre, and is in the best youth orchestra which we travel about 100 miles to participate in. He’s been in private lessons for several years and has a 3.9 unweighted gpa.
Baylor University - granted audition mid-January
UNT - accepted to college and granted audition end of January.
CCM - application and prescreen in. Waiting to hear about audition
Juilliard - application and prescreen in. Waiting to hear about audition
UNCSA - application in progress. Deadline mid-January
I’d feel better about having a few more options. But honestly if he stays in TX he’s not going to do a lot better than UNT. So we’ll see if we have any interest from the conservatories.
I’d be happy to answer questions or just update as we move through the process! It’s exciting!
We’re both waiting on Peabody and Thornton prescreens, yay!
ammending my prior post to say-
My daughter (violin) has applied to 6 schools-
NEC
Juilliard
Thornton USC
Colburn
Eastman
Oberlin
If it eases your mind a little, when my kid went through applications several years ago, he and most of his cohort applied to only 6 or 7 schools. As long as you have a well curated list hopefully guided by a knowledgeable private teacher, he should be just fine.
This is based on experience with classical instrumentalists. Other genres and voice often have a longer list of schools.
Everything about this process is nerve wracking. And exciting. 
Totally agree, granted my son has a friend that seriously applied to 1 music school. Thankfully he got in but he didn’t apply ANYWHERE else. Talk about not casting a net at all!
The only reason we casted a HUGE net is because he’s jazz guitar and many programs have a spot for 1 or 2 individuals.
Given the pre-screen and audition process for music performance, is there any advantage to submitting financial aid earlier than their stated deadlines? Self employed and just trying to block out the time to do FAFSA and CSS Profile. Thx.
We did for some schools just to be done with it. We haven’t yet for Oberlin for example since their deadline is in January for Regular decision and by then we’ll have an idea if he’ll get invited in-person or not. They required a bunch of other papers to be uploaded and I just don’t want to deal with that unless I know for sure he’s going to the next round.
Good luck with UNT! Mine traveled from CT to go there for jazz and LOVES it! Also….he only applied to 6 schools for jazz guitar so no wide net!
This was my exact plan as well for Oberlin. I submitted Fafsa for my kids a few weeks ago (I have twins - the cello kid doing music performance and his sister that is applying to fine arts programs). Oddly, all of the US conservatories my son applied to require the CSS but none of my daughter’s universities and art schools ask for it (just fafsa). So I’m dragging feet on filling out the CSS until holiday break - I started it and realized it was far more time intensive than the fafsa.
We unfortunately had to have all of that done by mid-November for UM Frost so went ahead and submitted the CSS to everyone. Oberlin can wait for now on the additional papers they need.
The FAFSA is pretty streamlined now and takes very little time. Anything you can get done now and out of the way is a great idea! The CSS is its own type of hell. The sooner you can get that in, the better. I can’t speak for all schools, but I know that where my daughter attends I only had to fill it out the one time and never again, unlike FAFSA which is an annual thing.
I think one parent on another thread deemed the CSS a “financial colonoscopy”. 
We had to undergo the CSS every year for my son’s full tuition scholarship. Almost happier than seeing him graduate was knowing we did not have to fill it out again.
And at least back then, the system had so many glitches. Especially if you waited until the deadline day which somehow always happened at our house.
My daughter is lucky enough to have a full as well but THANK GOD I only had to go through that once! They still require the FAFSA each year, but now that tax returns can be uploaded, I can do it in my sleep!
What your son did is not atypical IMO. When kids apply to academic schools it is easy to apply these days, because of common app and online applications, but it is different with music schools because you have the pre screen video (if required) then the audition, and having like 12 or 13 of those would be a lot of work (some kids do, of course).
My son when he applied and this is now a while ago only did like 5 or 6 , they were all conservatorites (stand alone music schools) that he felt fit. People asked him about safeties and he said that the problem with a safety is that with a performance degree, would the safety have teaching and level of students to work for him (for example, applying to the state school of music, which is decent and he could get into he was sure). In his mind, if he didn’t get into those schools, he would rather take a gap year working with his private teacher, maybe do youth symphony, and try again the next year. Everyone is different, it is different based on your instrument, your needs, what you plan on doing.
My son’s BM applications (trombone performance) are in:
Curtis
Eastman
Michigan
NEC
Northwestern
St Olaf
Vanderbilt
He hopes to find a great fit with one of those, and we’re sitting tight to hear about prescreenings. He is also applying via the Common App to some other schools (non-performance, no extra essays) that have great orchestras and value musicians. The waiting game begins!
This is a great perspective and I appreciate you sharing. More isn’t always better. And keeping it to schools where he actually wants to go and has a connection with is probably better than a bunch of random schools, especially ‘safety’ schools.
Heard back from Bienen last night and looks like my son made it past the prescreen 
Now we wait for more info on the audition.
Still waiting on 5 schools.
I was telling a friend last night that finding out about prescreen results feels like a mini-acceptance lol
I’m excited for your son and will be following his journey! I have a S28 trombone (or maybe bass trombone) who is planning MusEd/performance. His very preliminary list includes a few schools on your list.