<p>Over the weekend, I auditioned to be a piano performance major. I thought the placement test and actual audition went well. After the auditions my family and I went to a Q&A session with the teachers (the same people that I auditioned for). At the end of the session, my mom went up to talk to them and somehow started talking about how I don't like to be "the center of attention" when I perform. Now I'm freaking out because I auditioned for the piano performance major and my mom told them I don't like performing. Does anyone know if what she said will affect their decision on whether or not I get in? They had seemed interested in me in the audition room, but that was before she said that.</p>
<p>Faculty has seen, heard, dealt with a wide range of parents, and they understand that parental impressions of their offspring may be very different from reality. Many performers are putting on a show about how much they want to be in front of an audience. If your audition was confident and engaging, as well as technically and musically good, that is all they need or want to know. Don’t give it another thought. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m sorry. No fair. Moms can get anxious, too, and say stupid things. It probably would have been best if she didn’t say anything. </p>
<p>But, imo, it is very highly unlikely that she ruined anything for you. If you look like a great applicant to them, it’s very highly unlikely that they’d turn you away because of something your mom said or did. </p>
<p>They probably hear ‘silly’ things from parents all the time. Fortunately, they’re old enough, professional enough, and wise enough to know that they’re evaluating you, not your mom. Each of them has been somebody’s teenager. And many of them have probably been somebody’s parent. So, they all likely ‘get it.’ And they all likely know that what your mom says reflects on her, not on you.</p>
<p>They probably thought absolutely nothing of it, or they may have thought any number of other things: it was silly, endearing to you, stupid, a sign of your mom’s anxiety, kind of sad for you, or who knows what else. But I very much doubt that, whatever they thought, it would reflect on you or your chances for admission. I’m pretty sure you can rest easy! ;)</p>
<p>Best of luck in the process, treblemaker316!! :)</p>
<p>(Whoops! Cross-posted with lorelei! I agree with her!)</p>
<p>From my perspective, I don’t think she ruined your chances. One thing you should be doing is emailing or sending a short, mailed thank you note to the people you auditioned for. It seems that e-mail is fine, but a short, handwritten note shows a level of personal attention that is rare these days. I would suggest you simply thank them for taking the time to audition you, then mention something nice about the school or how much you’re looking forward to working with them. Don’t even bring up the mom stuff! I think these people deal with enough kooky parents (me being one of them) that they won’t give it too much thought. Your performance will speak to them much more than your mom ever could. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Relax…as others have said most college professors know that parents of seniors in High School are going through their own sort of grieving and will say and do things that are not necessarily helpful. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that sending any child off to college is challenging for parents and because of that we sometimes forget that our kids are on becoming young adults and their own people. We want to go back to when they were in preschool and we were at the center of their world. Be kind to your mom. And let her know you love her and then gently remind her that you are growing up.</p>
<p>If you have more auditions you might want to tell her to not join you. Our son was VERY CLEAR that he did not want us to go to accompany him to any of his auditions specifically because he feared I might say something stupid. So my DH and I did not attend any parent-information sessions, but instead dropped our son off and then went and got tea. Also this way the decision about where to go was entirely his and not ours, and since he is the musician and we are not, that was probably a good thing.</p>
<p>They probably don’t even know whose mom she was.</p>
<p>It likely was just chatter and the profs were not really paying attention. Give your mom a break–after all, she has put in a lot of effort, money, and time to helping you with the college application process. Remember to thank her for taking you to auditions, paying for fees and transport and make her feel as though you appreciate it!</p>
<p>I think that there are many young musicians who are shy, and in regular life do not like to be the center of attention. I would put my daughter in that group. But she loves performing. I would think that classical musicians would understand that type of personality.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone. It concerned me because we were the only people left in the session when she talked about it, and they then started asking me if I knew that I would have to do juries and recitals for the program. That made me think that they might take what she said into consideration. I’m hoping that the professors were so busy that day that they won’t really remember it.</p>
<p>Even if they knew she was your Mom and took what she said seriously, you are probably 17 or 18 years old. The profs know you have yeard of maturing and learning to do – it is the rare person who at that young age is a confident, comfortable performer. They expect this will be part of your learning during college years. Now I’m betting you gave your mother plenty of grief about her inappropriate comments and that she probably apologized. My advice would be to forgive her and forget all about this.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to worry about that, to be honest. Us parents do all kinds of embarrassing things, and believe me, what your mom did was not a big deal (especially compared to what some parents of music students have done…). To be honest, when it comes time to deliberate, I doubt they will put her comments with your name, I think it is going to come down to how well you played in the audition (if the program auditions a lot of kids, doubt they will even remember you, to be honest, let alone your mom). If the decision comes down against you, I would be would be willing to lay a lot of money your mom’s comments had nothing to do with it, and I am not a gambler:). Good luck, think positive thoughts and may the musical gods shine on you:)</p>