Going test optional for music schools

parentologist
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 13:39:49 +0000

The fantastic jazz players (but not high academic achievers) from my kids’ public high school in the Northeast seem to get into U Mich without having the academic qualifications. It’s an excellent place to go to for jazz performance, plus he’ll have gone to a respected school, not to mention that those kids got some “merit” money that brought the cost down to close to our in-state flagship. So I’d “motivate” him sit down and take at home a full practice ACT under timed conditions, and a full practice SAT under timed conditions. Grade them together, and ask him which test he thought was better for him, and whether he thinks that with a little review/test prep, he could do better on that test. If he’s willing, then hire a tutor to come in and prep him for that test, register him, and have him take it. This could all happen over the summer.

It would be a real shame for him to miss out on U Mich, if it’s the right place for him, out of fear of having to submit a mediocre standardized test score. I strongly doubt that the jazz kids from our high school who got into U Mich, but were not academically high achieving, had fantastic SAT/ACT scores. Overall, it must be that for jazz, U Mich is putting the most weight on the audition.