Feeling bad prescreens didn't work out- advice?

turtlefence
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:04:05 +0000

Wow, I should have gotten on here a lot more! Thank you all for taking the time to post.

Part of the confusion is that I have TWO daughters, one of whom is the singer/songwriter, 16 ( although she has now decided against majoring in music) and the other who is my piano player/composer, 17. They are both graduating from our homeschool this year.

I do think that Blair was a mismatch. She(the 17 yr old) likes Vanderbilt in general & was attracted to Blair bc of that (plus her sister is applying there). She is really interested in eventually creating scores for film and video games, as well as her own piano music. The music composition major seems to have a different focus everywhere she has looked, and it’s been very difficult for her to figure out what places might be a fit both musically AND financially.

She is really not too down about the rejections. She only decided on this twist in her path (to major in music) in August, and although her teacher (of music theory/vocal/band) for the last 3 years (who graduated from Berklee himself) was confident she’d excel at a place like Berklee or Belmont, she hasn’t had much opportunity to get input from him on all of this. He had to get a non-music day job & has been working like crazy trying to pay off his enormous student debt. Her piano teacher is excellent but not traditional - he didn’t even attend college. He owns his own recording studio & she and her sisters are recording an album of original music there.

She knows as much music theory now as the Berklee grad - at least that’s what he told us. She has performed solo & with a band at both large & small venues, so the prospect of auditioning doesn’t really worry her.

We talked about all of this the other night, including a lot of what you all shared on this forum. She is excited to do the audition at Belmont ( she’s already admitted to the school), and if it all works out I do think that would be a good fit for her. Compmom, she is auditioning as a music composition major. She wasn’t sure whether to apply as a Commercial music major or a composition major, and couldn’t get anyone from Belmont to reply to her questions, unfortunately. On her audition confirmation they have her down as a Commercial music major. More confusion, sigh. She has to call them this week & see why - maybe that’s their reply to her question about which program would be the better fit?

If not, we have a State U. where she thinks she can at least start off. She’s already in there too, although they seem to be more classically oriented. She’s also open to the gap year - she told me she’d love to just find a mentor that’s already working in the field & work with him/her for a year. I don’t know if that is realistic, but I’m glad she’s being so flexible & positive.

Thanks for everything! I’ll probably post again after our trip to Belmont.