Search Tips (and other insights)

violadad
Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:07:05 +0000

I’ve developed a bit of a rep for being the master indexer, the librarian, a font of knowledge and at times have been called a veritable fountain of elephants, but there is really nothing magical in my coming up with info that’s already here.

The key is understanding what’s here. If you are a newbie, and your kid is serious about music, take the time to sit down and read every post that’s on this subforum. If you are like many who came here initially, you will have no clue as to where to even start. If nothing else, you owe it to yourself to maintain some semblance of sanity. Even armed to the hilt with knowledge, this process will make you crazy.

Pay attention to the display options at the bottom of the page. Change the parameters for “from the” to “beginning” option, and “sort order” to “ascending”. A whole new world opens up. Just don’t forget to change them back. And yes, some of that info may well be dated, but there is so much insight in many of these older posts that is timeless and pertinent.

For everyone, experienced or not, BassDad’s magnificent http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html is mandatory reading, as are the pinned “sticky” threads and the featured discussion threads at the top of the main page.

After a while, they blend into the background. Be honest, how long did it take you to click the featured discussion link at the top of the page?

There is a vast amount of information here, and encompasses really everything thing one needs to consider in assessing, selecting, applying and auditioning for a music program. It will not tell you whether you will get in at Curtis, or Juilliard, or Colburn, or even Podunk U, (the day I see a “Chance me at Curtis” thread, I’m outta here) but it might help you determine if you have the skill sets (or the time, talent or money to develop them) to be a viable candidate at any number of programs.

In using the search function, I always start at the Search This Forum button, not the main Search on the divider bar, and click advanced. I always hit the advanced link immediately. Quite honestly, there is really not much on the other (non discipline specific) forums when it comes to real information regarding music programs. Much of what is needs to be taken with large doses of salt. There are a few gems, and I’ve linked them somewhere already here.

The areas where there may well be extremely valid input are
-specific school general questions and in some instances academic detail and expertise
-music supplements (much of which I have written and cross linked within the admissions and common app forums.)
-financial aid/scholarship info, but understand the effect of talent awards in utilizing that info. For FAFSA, CSS advice, the financial aid forum is really your best shot for expertise.

Please don’t use “music” and expect anything other than the entire forum to to come up. May seem obvious, but that’s what you’ll get. Be as specific as possible, within reason.

I typically will start with a keyword search, often in quotes, and mandatory if you have a multi word keyword like “music ed”. I always search by titles, not posts initially, and will more often than not display the results as threads, not posts. I’m not a fan of the Boolean search methodology (at least within this forum) and will do separate keyword searches on both “music ed” and “music education”. Same for voice, you may need to use vocal, or opera, or choral. Music business/technology/production is another one that requires multiple keyword searches. Be creative and flexible.

I will switch methods and will go to “entire post” from “titles”, and from displaying “threads”
to displaying “posts” to expand a topic, or in looking for specific info I know is there.

I do possess a very good memory, and I do know a lot of what is here by retention, either by a specific phrase, or poster or topic.

Remember, some of the best “stuff” on here is often in an unrelated title thread, or a tangential discussion elsewhere. These are often the most difficult to find, and often are questions regarding “where do I start”, “do I have what it takes”, “what do I do” scenarios. Using those phrases or a keyword search comprising common short words usually yields disappointing results. “where do I start” as a keyword search searching entire posts displayed as posts yields 7 unrelated results, the same parameters without the quotes yields over 200 results. Might as well read the forum till you find it.

Be careful with school name searches. You can use abbreviations like NYU or CCM, but put them in quotes. CC broadened their search parameters a while back that now allows three and four letter searches on some of the more common school names, but it makes sense to use the full common name as well, or its variations as separate keyword searches.
I’ve asked administration to include all the common music school abreviations in their parameters, but if anyone finds a common one not working, let me know and I’ll try and get it added.

Hang around long enough, and you’ll begin to associate posters with specific discipline expertise or insights. Searching via poster name can be useful in these circumstances, and can be narrowed by using both the poster name and specific topical keywords.

Searching on my name, or BassDad, or lorelei2702, or many of the longtime posters is probably worthless unless you know specifically what you are looking for. Combining the keyword may or may not help.

And one of my pet peeves is doing a school name search and getting the results from the Master Lists as part of the results. If someone knows a way to avoid this, please post it here.

I’ve limited this to using CC’s search function, not the google search or tag search functions.

Go ahead, play around with it. It’ll give you something to do while waiting for the rest of the acceptances.

And yes, I will continue to link. That is not my purpose in penning this. Hope it helps.

Share your tricks, or questions.