As the days left in April dwindle and we approach May, I feel that I always have this question at the tip of my tongue.  So do you know where you’re going to college? Where are you deciding between? Oh man, that’s tough, they’re all so good!

I am pretty fortunate that my decision presented itself to me.  After auditions were said and done, the only school that I really wanted to be at was Northwestern.  The school just seemed perfect for me in every way.  Thankfully, I was informed of my acceptance in late March and have officially committed to the university.  I’m a Wildcat!

As I said, my decision almost was not a decision: the choice was very obvious to me.  However, most of my friends have still not committed and may not even have an idea.  Between money, quality of teacher, level of school, campus, and a million other factors, it’s no wonder.  To me, though, the two most important factors are the quality of the teacher and the level of the music school itself.

Of course, the teacher is the most important.  You will, hopefully, be learning an infinite amount from them over the next four years.  This teacher better be amazing, and you two must “click” and understand each other.  Sometimes, a teacher can be good, but not be a good teacher for you.  I’ve asked a couple of deciding friends which teacher they liked the most and some have answered, ashamedly, that they had not had a lesson with each teacher.  So, if this is you, get on that!

The second most important factor is the quality of the school itself.  This seems slightly superficial, like picking a high school based on its rankings in Newsweek.  However, I have sound reasoning.  The higher the level of the music school, the more competitive it will be.  However, competitive is a buzz word: I mean competitive in the way that everyone is at the same level and pushing each other to be better, not that you will cut someone to have their seat.  The more competitive a school, the more you will practice and achieve.  It’s as simple as that.  Granted, if you, an incoming freshman, are one of the best students of an amazing teacher at a not-so-amazing school, you will learn a lot.  However, if you go into an extremely competitive school as one of the worst students of an amazing teacher, you will have an enormous learning curve.  Having peers to admire will push you to reach a level of which just one teacher would be incapable.

Others might argue with my theory.  What about money, for example? I acknowledge that college is expensive and that most of the best schools out there come with the highest price tags.  However, I really believe that if one shows a school how dedicated they are to being a student there, the school can work with them.  Auditions are over; now you have the cards.

Location: Chicago, IL

Public/private: private

Total students (in university): 16,384

Program details:

• Offers BM in Performance, Composition, Jazz Studies, Music Education, and Performing Arts Management; Bachelor of Science in Sound Recording Technology; Bachelor of Arts in Music
• Faculty houses more than two dozen members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera.
• Ensembles include: DePaul Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, 20+ (performing music composed between the twentieth century and now), University Singers, Concert Choir, Opera Theatre, and Jazz Ensemble.

Application process:

1. DePaul University online application
2. Prescreening, if necessary 
3. Additional materials (transcripts, etc)
4. Audition!

Student experience from:

Julia, BM Violin Performance, Class of 2015

How many hours do you practice a day?

Anywhere from 0 - 8

How competitive is your studio?

Not very

How much time do you spend on academic classes?

Lol. 2 hrs a week. Max. Otherwise, 0.

Do you have lots of interaction with non-music majors?

Not really, but I don’t live in the dorms.

How many hours of sleep do you get every night, on average?

7-9 :)

What’s your social life like?

Mostly lunch or coffee outings, I keep myself busy otherwise.

What’s the stereotype of the music students? Is it true? How does this compare to the general population of your school (if at a university)?

The music students at DePaul are rated to be the biggest drinkers and drug users in the university. Not surprising, but I don’t fit into that category. Other than that, I don’t really know what our “stereotype” is.

What is your overall opinion about the music school? The university in general (if at a university)?

The music school is good- the teachers are great. They’re all from CSO, and their top students are unbelievable. DePaul is still on its way to being established as a music school, though. As of right now, it’s not a place people usually want to study at, because it’s not as known as Juilliard or Curtis. However, the teachers at DePaul could be teaching at Juilliard and other places like the top schools- the students aren’t super competitive though.

What should every freshman music major know?

Practice. Now. Always. In your sleep. 

What are your classes like (academic and music)?

Academic: Great teachers. Do-able. Just annoying- too much busy work. :( Music: Useful. Best part! Orchestra is super great, lessons are amazing. If only I just had performance classes….*sigh*

Anything else you would like to write about your school?

Good school.Wish there were more practice rooms.

Location: PIttsburgh, PA

Public/private: Private

Total students: 350 graduate and undergraduate in the School of Music

Program details:

• Offers Bachelor of Fine Arts in performance or composition; Bachelor of Science in music & technology.
• Ensembles include the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Wind Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble, Baroque Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Choir, Repertory Chorus, and Guitar Ensemble.

Application process:

1. Common app and Carnegie Mellon supplement
2. Additional materials
3. School of Music application
4. Prescreening materials, if necessary
5. Audition

Student experience from:

Sophia, BFA violin performance, class of 2015

How many hours do you practice a day?
5-6

How competitive is your studio?
Not cut-throat but not laid back

How much time do you spend on academic classes?
1 hour

Do you have lots of interaction with non-music majors?
yes

How many hours of sleep do you get every night, on average?
7-8

What’s your social life like?
Partying once in a while, but it’s not ridiculous

What’s the stereotype of the music students? Is it true? How does this compare to the general population of your school (if at a university)?
There are a ton of straight vocal majors here. Apparently its pretty cool to play a musical instrument here because computer science or any other science is really boring.

What is your overall opinion about the music school? The university in general (if at a university)?
The classes are easy; its not the top, it’s alright. I came here for the teacher so it doesn’t have an effect on me. Everyone knows each other and its super gossipy, but everyone’s nice; you rarely find a lot of pretentious people here. The university is so dorky.

What should every freshman music major know?
play in tune and practice your ass off.

What are your classes like (academic and music)?
Extremely easy if you’ve had major background training

Anything else you would like to write about your school?
i love it here!!

Links:

Carnegie Mellon School of Music

Stats & Facts

Carnegie Mellon on College Prowler

My school’s server has recently blocked tumblr for reasons that I believe to be sensible.  However, this means that I’m unable to post while I’m at school, which is usually when I have the most time.  Back to writing.

I’m writing this post to illustrate how every teacher at every music school is connected.  Everybody talks and everybody knows everyone else.  So don’t say anything that will come back to haunt you!

A year or two ago, a violin professor at Rice University passed away.  Rice coped with this by placing all of his students into Prof. Goldsmith’s studio.  They kept things this way for about a year while searching for a new violin teacher.  This fall, it was announced that Paul Kantor of the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) would be moving to Rice in the fall of 2012.

Now, Prof. Kantor is a very renowned teacher.  His move caused a flood of applications to Rice for the fall of 2012.  A portion of this flood is 30-some of his upperclassmen students from CIM. Rice’s admission process is now in question as the Shepherd School is unsure whether violins will be admitted directly into specific studios (as is generally done) or whether studios will be assigned in the fall.

Paul Kantor’s move has left CIM lacking a violin teacher.  Fortunately for them, they quickly found somebody to fill his spot.  A few months after Kantor’s move was announced, CIM announced that they would be hiring Prof. Jaime Laredo of Indiana University (IU).  Again, we have a flood of his upperclassmen students from IU trying to transfer to CIM.

Even though IU has 8 violin professors without Laredo, the open spot still needed to be filled because there are so many violin majors at IU.  There were rumors flying around about different teachers, but a week ago it was announced that the Pacifica Quartet, currently in residence at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana (U of I), would begin residency at IU in the fall of 2012.  This move, while very beneficial for IU and the Pacifica, is very damaging to U of I.  It takes away 2 of its 3 violin professors, 1 of its 2 viola professors, and 1 of its 3 cello professors.  This is not to mention U of I’s pride in the Pacifica, which has proved one of the greatest advertisments for U of I to string students.  It is yet to be seen what U of I will do to replace these teachers.  And, predictably, IU will be getting a flood of applications from U of I.

Basically, the string world is going topsy-turvy.  This is definitely affecting admissions this year and possibly next year.  Everybody in the music world is so crazily connected.

As I’ve mentioned before, my private teacher is a professor of violin at Northwestern University.  Consequently, I get a lot of “inside information” from him.  Now, he’s never come out and told me exactly how the admissions process works, but, this is what I’ve gathered from my conversations with him.

Keep in mind that the process Northwestern uses is probably pretty different from one that a major conservatory uses.  Also keep in mind that some universities like Northwestern put MUCH more emphasis on the applicant’s grades/test scores than do other universities.

The very first step in your path towards being admitted is your prescreening recording (if you don’t have one, you’re already a step ahead).  Prescreening is basically used to weed out the auditionees that the panel would almost waste time listening to.  That said, it has been my experience that prescreening committees are much tougher on woodwind/brass instrumentalists than string instrumentalists.  This makes sense because there are much fewer spots for wind applicants every year than there are for strings.

After the prescreening is passed, the next round is the live audition.  Note this: the school does not review your application (essays, grades) until after your audition.  Auditions can be live at the school, regional (recorded on video for the panel), or a mailed-in recording.  The live audition is considered the best way to audition.  Even if you’re the kind of person who gets bad nerves, a live audition allows you to interact with the committee and to show them your passion for music.  Regional auditions are the next step down: you will be auditioning forsomeone(generally the director of admissions, who probably doesn’t even know your instrument).  An audition by recording is kind of a last resort.

At Northwestern, the teachers, after listening to your audition, decide whether you pass or fail the audition.  If you pass, each teacher ranks you amongst the other passed auditionees.  Therefore, your admission is not only dependent upon the teacher that you request, but upon all of the teachers.  The teachers then compile their scores for each student and form the final ranked list.  If there are 20 spots for undergrads, then they will cut the list off at number 20. They then give this list to central admissions, meaning, Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions.  The Undergrad Admissions Office reviews the academic applications of each student and tells the music school which ones can be admitted.  If a student that the school really wants cannot be admitted for academic reasons, the music department may fight hard for them, but Central Admissions is very strict.  This student will either not be admitted or be put on the waiting list.

The students who don’t make the top 20 cut are placed onto the waiting list. The waiting list can really seem like a death sentence to students; however, it is possible to be lifted off of it.  Graduate applicants for Northwestern receive notification by March 15 and must decide by April 15, while undergrads are notified by April 1 and must decide by May 1.  Therefore, if a grad student decides not to attend the school, one could be lifted off the wait list by the middle of the month.

Understanding how the process works can really help one have peace of mind during the application process.  It also is telling that, if one wants to get into a university, one must have the grades to do so! Many musicians slack in school and then despair when they can’t get into a university.  Clearly, admissions is very on my mind.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

This past Friday, I finished the last of my eight college auditions.  It’s weird to think that, over the past month, I have been to eight different cities and played eight different auditions.  The first audition seems so long ago and my emotions so different.  It also feels like it has been years since I’ve been to school (warning: you will miss lots of class and lots of tests!).

To be honest, I really enjoyed auditioning.  This sounds absolutely ridiculous: nobody should enjoy the unimaginable amounts of stress to make the next ten minutes of your life perfect so that the rest of your life can be at least normal.

I consider myself to be an experienced auditioner.  The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) gives us at least two pieces every semester to prepare for seating auditions.  I’m not talking excerpts: this past seating audition, we had to prepare the entirety of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony (both violin parts).  I’ve never been really good at these auditions: I get nervous, my palms sweat, my hands shake, and I never play as well as I think I can.  However, this wasn’t the case with my college auditions.  I found a system for the audition day that worked for me.  But even before that, I found a system of practice to prepare for the audition day.

I had a horrible lesson one week before my first audition.  I was freaking out that I would fall apart in the audition, but my teacher didn’t seem the slightest bit worried.  He told me that it was ok to freak out now.  “If you get nervous in the practice room,” he said, “you will be calm in the audition room.”  Good, thorough preparation is the key to beating audition nerves.  If you are confident that you are playing at your utmost best, then there is nothing to be nervous about.  Then, the audition is simply about your mind.  I didn’t get nervous during any of my auditions.  I just went in there and played like I knew I could.  So, trust me, this advice is amazingly true.

This kind of preparation goes beyond your audition pieces.  Once you work on a set repertoire for 6+ months and know it as well as you do for college auditions, you learn what it’s really like to play high quality.  As a professor at the University of Illinois told me, there is nothing like college auditions to make you realize of what you are capable and to make you expect that from yourself for the rest of your life.

Beyond the music, college auditions made me learn a lot about myself.  I was forced to understand how I react to stress and to discover how I can make myself feel comfortable in any situation.  I also became a very good traveler, able to pass through security at the speed of light. 

With regards to music, I learned how to immediately get my mind on task.  During the last two weeks of my audition season (during which I had five auditions), I practiced nowhere near to the amount that I did before.  This wasn’t because I was lazy or didn’t care about the rest of my auditions.  I just knew how to get my mind to where it needed to be for my repertoire.  If there were problems, it wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t need four hours of practice to clear it up.  All it took to fix them were some mind games and a bit of metronome work.  This kind of cognizance can really only come from a situation like college auditions.

Hopefully, this article served to enlighten you as to one person’s experience during audition season.  I will continue to post college review articles and am also compiling many recordings of myself from June till now to show my progress.  See you then!