College questions!

tango14
Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:37:38 +0000

Check out the recommendation requirements for each of the schools you apply to. Eastman, for instance, requires 3 letters from professionial musicians (S2 was very lucky to have been secondary lessons on another instrument a year before he applied) and he had had 2 teachers in his major instrument.

Another school required a GC letter. Since we knew that the GC couldn’t write anything substantive about S2, we included an extra letter from one of his teachers as well.

One school, Julliard, I think, required a letter from an English teacher. S2 decided not to apply there at all, because he absolutely detested his 3 hs English teachers and therefore was not an outstanding student in those classes. He did not feel that any of those teachers would be able to write the type of letter that would give him a chance of being accepted and did not want to waste his time.

It is important to plan out your recommendations just like you would your audition music so that you can ask all the appropriate individuals at one time and make sure you have all the bases covered. Some schools also ask you to receive the letters in sealed envelopes with a signature across the flap and submit with all your other materials. We did that with all of the applications, even where it wasn’t specified. It was just easier than having the recommenders have to keep straight what they were supposed to do with each letter.