<p>The question about what will kids do if music doesn’t work out is a common question on here and elsewhere, and there is no one right answer to it. Yes, conservatory programs (with some exceptions, i.e a conservatory like at Bard part of a larger music program) are self contained with music.And yes, in theory, if you go to a place like Umich or Indiana or the like, you could shift to an academic track (friend of mine did that at Indiana). </p>
<p>On the other hand, plenty of people get music degrees from conservatories and the like, and do other things, IT especially is full of ex musician types IME, for example. Plus I have known music majors who went on to law school, med school or other grad programs, or went into business in various fields. Put it this way, a lot of English Majors, History majors and other liberal arts students get out of school and go to work in various fields and how much does their degree really prepare them directly to work in marketing or whatever they do? It depends on the field, but college for a lot of students is about learning, it is about growing up and learning to take responsibility and so forth as much as learning ‘practical skills’. Yes, some fields to get into you have to pretty much study it in college (engineering, accounting and so forth) where direct skills are needed, though even in those fields people often get into them roundabout…</p>
<p>I think it is wise to think about the future, obviously, and with as tenuous as music can be as a vocation even more so, but I also think you need to dream a little and realize that the path we take in life for the most part is not set in concrete by what we study in college…</p>
<p>Just a brief comment on the whole prescreen/no pre screen thing. The absolutes I saw was in the line “no decent music school requires a CD/DVD for audition”, that was the throw out line. What others said is true, it all depends, especially on the instrument. I would be willing to be across all programs that a pre screen is required more often for strings, piano and voice then it is for woodwinds or brass; the pre screen is in place because of the number of people applying, and there are a lot less on average applying to audition for brass or woodwind then on strings and piano, when they could face several hundred potential applicants instead of 10 or 12 let’s say. Likewise, the ‘big’ programs do prescreens more often then the ‘merely competitive ones’ because the big programs draw more applicants, fairly or unfairly, because of their name. The violin program at Juilliard will get applications from several hundred students and they will whittle that down to less then 100 (same for NEC, etc), the university of Minnesota prob gets less then 100 total applicants to audition on violin. The pre screen isn’t there to replace the audition, it represents a method to make the madness of the audition process a little easier logistically, that’s all. Yes, some schools do allow CD/DVD audition but that has nothing to do with pre screens. All the pre screen does is get you admitted to the show, it doesn’t get you seated.</p>