How to Pick Which Music Schools to Audition For
The Lightpost is a reader-supported blog. When you buy through links on our website, we may earn an affiliate commission.
There are thousands of amazing music schools around the world. How are prospective undergraduate and graduate students supposed to filter out this seemingly endless list of schools to find the ones that best fit their needs? While I am certainly no expert on auditioning/applying for music schools I have learned a ton from my successes and failures going through the audition process twice. Every school I auditioned for in both degrees, felt like really amazing potential homes once completing the process and getting accepted and now I want to share with you what I learned. The three steps below are a culmination of these lessons.
Quick Note: I suggest you start this process sooner rather than later. I started this process at the beginning of my junior year, which I felt gave me more than enough time to feel secure in my decisions.
Step 1: Determine How Many Schools You Should Audition For
What is your Budget?
The first thing I would think about is your audition budget. Auditioning for schools can be a really expensive endeavor. For me, I spent $100 on application fees, $200 dollars on a plane ticket, and $50 dollars on food for each audition when doing my master’s audition. This also doesn’t take into account housing (I stayed with friends in the area) and other miscellaneous expenses that can come up.
Auditioning for multiple schools can cost well above $1000, which is quite a lot of money for broke-college or high-school students To pay for my auditions I worked a part-time job at a restaurant and asked my parents to help me pay for plane tickets which certainly made the three auditions I took possible. Either way, the best time to figure this out is months in advance, so any financial worries don’t get in the way of preparing for your auditions!
How much time and energy can you put into auditions?
The second thing I would consider is your time. It’s no secret that auditioning for music school is a ton of work. The repertoire lists can be long and difficult, with top schools requiring pre-screening, a process where schools filter out potential applicants by reviewing performances videos sent in by applicants. With this in mind, be realistic with what you can handle. Auditioning for seven schools may sound good at first, but when you are knee-deep in a ton of repertoire, mountains of homework, filling out long applications, and editing prescreens you might regret your decision.
I for one was bursting at the seams auditioning for three schools, but I see most prospective students apply for roughly four schools. This seems to strike a nice balance when looking at the previous two considerations. However, this is different from person to person! If you have the time and finances to audition for more schools, go for it! If you want to be more conservative and do less, that is also okay!
Step 2: Create a Large List of Potential Schools
Okay so now that you have a rough idea of the number of schools you can afford to audition for, now is the time to start doing some research. What I decided to do was create a large list of schools that piqued my interest. I found them through researching on the internet, talking to colleagues, and asking teachers. Below are some simple questions you should ask yourself when doing this research:
Will this school help me with my career goals?
What are the alumni of this school doing after auditioning?
What is the private teacher I would be working with known for?
What kind of school do I want to be at?
University, Community College, Conservatory, etc.
Do they offer courses in my special interests?
Music Entrepreneurship, Audio Recording, Music Therapy, etc.
What ensemble experiences are available at the school?
Marching Band, Jazz Band, Wind Band, Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Mixed Chamber Ensemble, etc.
Can I afford to go to this school?
Make sure to do research on TA positions, scholarships, fellowships, and other money opportunities!
Are there graduate students at this school?
Do they offer study abroad?
Do I have a special connection at this school that would be worth exploring?
Teacher of your teacher, Band Director is an alumnus, etc.
How much would it pay to live there for 2-4 years?
New York City cost of living vs. Rochester, NY cost of living.
How far would you be living from friends and family?
Are there gigs available in this area?
Do you have someone that would be coming with you like a significant other and what are their needs?
While this is just a small list of questions, figure out what other criteria are important and write them down. If you find schools that align with the answers to these questions, put them on a list and order them by how close they are to the ideal situation you would like. Don’t be worried if you have a long list of schools. When I went through a similar process I came up with close to fifteen I thought could be good homes. The next step is to dig deep with each possible home!
Step #3: Dig Deeper with Each School
Once you have a list, the next steps are really important. Doing at least one of these can really help figure out exactly what attending a school is like and hopefully save you some time and money.
Option 1: Visit the School
Nothing can really beat visiting a school. It gives you a real-time opportunity to sit in on classes and rehearsals, take a lesson from a professor, walk the campus, watch a concert, and more. When auditioning for my undergraduate degree I took a couple of visits to the University of South Carolina which totally sold me. I took a lesson with my future professor Dr. Scott Herring and was blown away by the knowledge he was able to share with me. I took a tour of the campus and absolutely fell in love with the beauty of the horseshoe. I was ecstatic about the level of my potential colleagues in the Drumline and percussion studio and had a great day playing with the Marching Band in the stands of Williams-Brice Stadium during the Spring-Game event.
If you are looking to set up similar experiences I suggest looking into school tours, reaching out to the potential private teacher for a lesson (which may oftentimes be free), and look into ensemble clinics. If you can attend even one of these events, this can be something that can make or break your decision to invest time and energy into a school.
Option 2: Find Opportunities to Network with your Private Instructor
Luckily for musicians, there are tons of amazing opportunities to meet awesome people who can be lifelong colleagues, friends, and teachers. For me, that event was the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale. This was a solo and chamber percussion festival that brought together elite instructors and students to make some really amazing music (and memories).
While attending, I had the opportunity to work with almost all of my potential private instructors, including two of the three I auditioned for. I played in masterclasses, was coached in chamber ensembles, and attended clinics taught by the instructors. While they all provided insightful lessons and guidance, I gravitated towards the playing, teaching, and personalities of certain teachers. By the end of the week, I started making some decisions based on these interactions and had managed to determine my two top schools.
If a summer festival isn’t possible I would also suggest looking into other events like PASIC, days of percussion, masterclasses, clinics, etc.
Option 3: Talk to Current Students
If options 1 and 2 aren’t on the table, reaching out to people to ask about the program can be a good alternative. My third school came from talking to a current student at Chosen Vale. She gave me a ton of information about the teacher, the studio, and the overall experience which ultimately convinced me that it was worth auditioning.
Having been on both ends of this conversation, I think the easiest way to go about this is to send them a direct message and ask if they have a minute to talk over the phone. Most people are going to agree to talk to you, so don’t be shy! It is also worth mentioning that there are some possible cons. The first is that the information may be biased because students could be trying to actively recruit potential colleagues. The second is that deciding to audition for a school without first-hand experiences can make it feel like a wild-card audition. I really didn’t know what to expect when auditioning for my third school. I had never met the teacher, hadn’t been to the school/area, etc. Luckily I was blown away by the school, but some people are not as lucky. One of my colleagues auditioned for a school and had a less than pleasant experience, which ultimately felt like a waste of time, effort, and money to them.
Step #4: Create Your Final List
With this newfound information from Step 3, you can now start making some decisions. What I suggest is categorizing the schools into green for yes, yellow for maybe, and red for no. When I went through a similar process I decided to only audition for my three green schools, however, if I had more time and money I might have thrown in one or two of my yellow schools.
After coming up with your final school audition list, it would be a good idea to bring this list to a teacher to get final confirmations and thoughts. If you feel really secure about the schools you picked, it’s now time to pick repertoire and start the preparation process!
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this article useful in the chaos that is deciding to study music. While I certainly don’t deem myself an expert in this area, I thought it would be helpful to share my own experiences. Let me know if you have any questions about auditions down below! I look forward to sharing the next article in this series where I break down my thought process to finding pieces for auditions.
