All You Need to Know About College Auditions and Applications
by Shannon Kennedy
When senior year in high school rolls around, you usually have a good idea
of what you want to do. Having already been through this process myself, I
feel that it would be beneficial to share it with other people who may be
going through the stress of the same process.
The most important thing about college applications and auditions is to do
everything as early and soon as possible. Submit your applications and stuff
the first possible day, the sooner you apply, the more likely there is to be
money you can receive as a scholarship. It is the same with auditions. Sign
up for the earliest auditions, schools usually hand out money as things
happen, so there is more in the beginning than there is at the end. If you
audition the last day, it is a 99% chance that there will be no scholarship
money left and maybe not even space in the program because they already
filled all the slots.
As far as preparation for the audition, or how long you have been playing
before your senior year, auditions are in the spring, giving you plenty of
time to prepare. Unless a student is auditioning at elite music schools,
there is a lot of flexibility about what level a student entering a university
should be at. No matter what level, however, students are required to
know their major and minor scales the whole range of the instrument,
etudes, and a solo piece from the standard solo repertoire.
The auditions are usually classical auditions, however, some schools offer
jazz auditions, or let you play one jazz tune with an Aebersold or tracks
during your classical audition. At a jazz auditions, the students are asked
to play their scales, blues in concert F, Bb or C, and another piece of their
choice. Some schools also ask for rhythm changes.
Each program is unique, and takes only a limited number of students.
Around the audition, schools post their audition requirements on their
websites, and you should strictly adhere to their guidelines.
Sometimes students worry about how long they have been playing their
instrument, but as long as you work hard to prepare for your auditions, the
colleges will usually take you into consideration and you should do fine.
There are several things that you should take into consideration when
looking for schools to apply to:
1) Major. What do you want to study? Just music? Jazz? Classical?
Composition? Look for schools with strong programs in what you wish to do.
2) Location: Do you want to go far from home, or stay close?
3) Cost: What can you afford? Some schools look to have a diversity of
students economically and geographically and are willing to hand out
scholarships accordingly. It also helps to do scholarship auditions, maintain
a high GPA, and score well on your SATs and ACTs. It doesn't hurt to take
both of the tests. Also, diversify yourself - don't just do music, participate
in a wide variety of activities - this will help you a lot.
Some really good music schools: Eastman School of Music, Boston School
of Music, Berklee School of Music, USC. Each school is unique in which kind
of music they stress - some it is classical, big band, or small ensemble jazz.
You should apply to the school that best fits what you are interested in.
If you plan on becoming a music major, whether to teach or perform, you
are going to be playing a lot. So, your schedule will be filled with music
classes. To prevent going to school for more than four or five years, I
recommend taking academic GE (general education) classes during the
summer.
If you do not want to be a music major, but want to continue studying
music in college, a lot of schools do not require that you audition for the
music program, but only the individual groups, whereas music majors are
required to do both auditions. Music majors also are required to do recitals
either every semester or year. If schools offer lessons, music majors study
an hour a week, whereas non-music majors are only required to study half
an hour every week.
As a music major your freshman and sophomore year, most of you classes
will be theory, history, etc., and you don't really start performance classes
until your junior year with the exception of concert bands. If you are really
good, however, they will make an exception and admit you into some of the
other groups.
I hope that this information has helped you with your college process, or
has at least answered a few of your questions. If you have any further
questions, I would be happy to answer them.
As far as my college career, I am currently a student at Cal State
University Long Beach as a Woodwind Performance and Jazz Studies major
with a minor in Composition and Business. I applied to USC, University of
Miami, UCI, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, and Berklee School
of Music. After hearing back from all the schools, I was stuck between
Berklee and Long Beach. I ended up deciding on Long Beach so that I would
not have to move across the country.
