<p>I have been playing classical guitar since i was 5, and have gotten relatively good, in the sense that ive had a few recitals at universities and have played in many master classes. Ive attended govenors school for music and writing and am applying to spend part of my junior summer at the universita di siena in italy. I was wondering how hard is the Yale music program to get into and does music department acception only mean you can major in classes of music (kinda like how peabody is seperate from JHU).</p>
<p>As a classical musician who is trying to decide between several Ivies, conservatories, and double-degree programs (including Peabody/JHU), I might be of a little help here.
Assuming that you’re in high school, you’d have no chance at the Yale School of Music; it’s a graduate school that awards masters and doctoral degrees. Yale College, however, offers a music major from the Department of Music which leads to a AB degree (not BMus like other conservatories/music schools.) This means that roughly a third of your classes will be music classes with the rest in the liberal arts. The emphasis on music at Yale is on composition and theory and there is no music performance concentration at other universities (like Princeton.) Being a major and playing in some school ensembles will qualify your for lesson subsidies, but not the entire cost. Lessons can be with School of Music faculty but are most often given by graduate students.
That said, I would highly encourage you to send a recording of your playing as per the arts supplement instructions on the website and to give your extra recommendation to your private teacher or someone who can speak to your musical talents. In a competitive applicant pool like this, your musical ability could give you the edge to get in (provided you still have excellent grades, scores, leadership, service etc.) You are also under no formal obligation to major in music if accepted after sending in a supplement, but are informally expected to contribute to Yale musically.</p>
<p>brahms0788, could similar steps be taken if your not entering Yale as a music major. For example, it is something you been playing for many years and love it but dont see it as a career</p>
<p>Yes, Yale accepts a supplement even if you don’t plan on being a music major. In fact there are very few music majors (~30) compared to the hundreds that play in the YSO, college orchestras and bands.
I even had another friend who auditioned for the violin teacher at the School of Music, got into Yale College and then dropped the YSO and violin for biology!</p>
<p>Musicians with exceptional ability & commitment can apply in their junior year to an accelerated graduate program in the school of music which will enable them to start work on their M. Mus. in their senior year and finish up a year after that instead of the usual two. I believe admission to this program is pretty competitive and probably even more so now that the music school, thanks to an enormous gift, is entirely tuition free for all students.</p>
<p>brahms0788: Do a lot of people “backdoor” Yale through the music school? How good do you have to be in order to be a plausible music major applicant to Yale?</p>
<p>Penn, a good recording and musical background can certainly be a persuasive advantage, but keep in mind that an applicant without very competitive grades, test scores, and recs - no matter how good they play - is not going to be very successful as they’re still applying for a liberal arts degree at an Ivy.
All I have to go on for your second question is a few other prefrosh and myself that are serious musicians that sent in tapes and got positive feedback. My best guess would be someone who has proven their playing ability winning concerto competitions, all-state orchestra, etc would probably be the level that the music department is looking for. You’d have to ask an admissions officer for details about how the choice of major affects your application. (As I might have said earlier, too, you don’t need to be a perspective major to send in a music supplement and have it considered.)</p>