@compmom:
That last part is a good point (not that the rest isn’t:). One of the things I try to stress is that having a private teacher is critical, but also that the teacher be aware of what it takes to prepare someone is huge, too. Having a teacher who keeps in touch with the world out there, knows which programs are good, who seems to be good, and knows the current requirements is huge. There are a lot of teachers out there who graduated more then a few years ago who don’t keep up/don’t network, and may know how things were back then but not now. When you do music programs like youth orchestras, prep programs and so forth, you network with peers who may already have information, plus those running the program, the teachers and conductors and such, can be aware of things, too. Music is like anything else,networks do a lot, and while of course it is possible for a student to be somewhat isolated and still do well, get into a good program, having that kind of thing makes life easier.