Also it looks like we are cross posting on 2 threads. Is there a way for the moderator to merge them?
With ED, they get their admissions results in December, before RD auditions take place.
1 Like
Ah ok. Thanks for clarifying. 
I have a dumb question (and it is just my curiousity), but how do they handle ED with music performance? Do they use the pre screen recording, or do they do a full submission of an audition video when applying ED?
And my curiosity (as ED was not prevalent 10 years ago) but I see it more and more here.
1.). Do they give merit at all to ED kids at Northwestern? It seems possible. I’ve seen it for Frost, I believe.
2.). Does Northwestern defer these kids to RD? Again, I see that as very common at Frost. It makes sense. They take the kids that they know that they want/need and defer the rest (which is most). For some schools (like IU in the past), they do rolling admissions. So again they accept a certain number a few weeks after each audition and then hold the rest. But with Northwestern do they do deferrals or simply deny?
I think the OP is doing the right thing. It’s best to work on getting the inside scope…and keep asking, asking, asking…any knowledge person (students, teachers, admins). I’m sure there will be different opinions…but then you just need to make the best decision for your situation.
My only “unsolicited” advice would be to keep flexible regardless. Your kid could be absolutely right for ED at Northwestern. Still a parent’s job is to assure some variety in their search and assure them that there is no dream school…but a variety of good options…just in case. It would be good to get him to a few different schools to see his reaction. Many student’s opinions of schools evolve over time.
Good luck.
2 Likes
And @old_music_prnt - there are only a small number of music schools that do ED- Frost, Ithaca and NU are three that come to mind. Oberlin and CMU do not offer ED as an option for performance majors.
With NU and Ithaca (the only two I am familiar with in this regard), the process is the same as RD, just earlier. They submit their applications and prescreen materials at an earlier deadline, and are invited (or not) to audition in late November. Admissions results are released mid-December.
The two voice majors I know who applied ED to NU were both accepted, so I can’t say if the defer many to RD. I do see on these boards that Frost commonly does that.
I am not personally in favor of ED as these students are 17/18 years old and ED removes any flexibility to make a decision with a much bigger picture come March/April when RD results are released. But, the two I know are very happy at NU and knew they wanted to attend.
1 Like
NYU does ED and its a yes/no based on materials submitted. They are exempt for lives. Also, Im pretty certain Frost is only EA…my son did EA there and that was his only “early” option. And I agree, I encouraged him to do as many EA he could but not to commit ED. In his case, he was in a completely different mindset from where he started after his auditions
1 Like
Thank you for clarifying!
My understanding is that NU doesn’t defer from ED; that it is either an acceptance or rejection. Apparently you audition before Thanksgiving and know before mid December?
1 Like
We were looking for big universities settings with ample opportunities for double degrees. We don’t qualify for FA so that was not a consideration. We did weigh the opportunity for merit vs. increasing chances for admission and chose the latter. Son did ED Bienen and got in this round. Stats are decent and within CDS range (for Vandy because NU doesn’t release GPA CDS) and 25 percentile for SAT but it was definitely the audition that carried it. He came out of the audition room very happy (and we all know how self-critical a lot of music kids are). That said, I agree that live auditions are so unpredictable and after he got in he said it is pretty crazy to think that everything just turns on a dime because it could have just as easily gone the other way. I had also heard that Bienen does not defer ED (that it is either accept vs reject) but that is apparently not true because we have a friend who was deferred this round.
Regarding the process question, it’s the same as RD but just accelerated. The prescreening videos needed to be submitted by 10/15, auditions were mid-November and results were mid-December. Because most of the other music school deadlines are 12/1, even if you do ED, you still need to prepare and submit all the prescreening videos and application essays for the other schools. (And there are soooo many school specific + music school specific essays to do.) Hope that helps!
Yes, such a big help! Thank you! We are in a similar situation, and I think the best we can do is cram in some more visits so he can get a better idea of how focused he is on NU. Right now he’s all in, but if he loves the vibe at Vandy, maybe that would change.
That is interesting, never even dawned on me they do ED with BM students. I guess I see the reason kids would do it, they are in a sense competing against a much smaller group than with RD, since prob a limited number go ED so the competition is less (on the other hand, I wonder if the auditioners use a higher bar for ED admits then they would for RD…have 0 way of knowing).
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.