Auditioning for college can be an exciting time. It can also be a source of great frustration, confusion, stress and anxiety for parents and students alike. How do you even begin to narrow the field of choices? How do you determine where you’ll have the greatest chance of getting in or getting scholarship assistance? How do you determine which teachers may be a good fit, or if the majors available will work for you? In the next series of posts, we’ll examine some of the things you can do to have the most successful auditions possible.
How to find a college that is a good fit for you.
College Mentality
One of the things over which singers obsess, is the question of “am I good enough.” Yes, you have to learn to sing well, that’s a given, but remember, colleges (especially for the undergraduate degree) are not looking for a finished product but rather, raw talent and potential.
Remember, you are “interviewing” the college to see if it is a good fit, not the other way around. Don’t worry so much about measuring up, but about finding the right fit for you.
Hopefully you’re studying with a teacher you trust enough to take advice about when and if you are ready to audition for college. Hopefully your teacher will be also be able to accurately assess your abilities, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and guide you to those schools that are the best fit, not just those schools with a well-known name, or a prestigious reputation.
Assume you’re in a good place vocally. What are the most important factors to consider in auditioning for college? Here are the things I recommend to students, ranked in order of importance with the most important first.
Criteria for choosing a school
- Instructor
- Financial Aid
- Tuition
- Choice of Major
- Size of program
- Facilities
- Housing
- Location
- Climate
Instructor:
The teacher should be the first thing on your list. I don’t care if you’re at the most “prestigious” university in the world. If you don’t have a teacher that knows what he’s doing, it won’t matter. Connections and networking will only get you so far. you may progress in spite of a bad teacher because of your natural talent, skill and intelligence, but is that a chance you want to take? That teacher may be at a small school or a big school. A school that is well known or one you’ve never heard of, but it is by far the most important factor in my opinion. Don’t dismiss smaller schools or those without a big reputation if there is a good teacher there. At the same time, don’t apply for big name programs if you don’t like the instructor options or you have not had a positive experience with a teacher in a sample lesson. When you visit a school, it’s a lot like dating. People are on their best behavior. If you don’t like what you are seeing, there’s a good chance it won’t get better.
Financial Aid:
What is the scholarship situation? Are scholarships available? Are they need based (based on your family’s income and what you report on the FAFSA) or merit based (usually based on your academic, athletic or artistic merit)? Are the awards given as loans, grants, tuition waivers, tuition reduction etc.? You’ll want to find out those specifics. Hint: you want grants, you don’t have to repay them under most circumstances! Are there any external scholarships that can apply to that school or program, or are you not able to use them without negatively affecting your need-based scholarship award? Don’t be tentative about scholarship questions. Ask blunt, bold questions to the admissions office and the faculty members you contact. You don’t want to get in to the audition process and find that your chances of a scholarship are minimal, or that there are only 2 significant merit-based scholarships and no grants available. Many students are afraid to ask financial questions up front for fear that it will hurt their chances of getting in. If you don’t ask, and the financial situation is not tenable for you, however, it won’t matter anyway.
Tuition:
How much is yearly tuition? Does that include housing? Are fees and books extra? What about meal plans? What’s the bottom-line cost for you to attend school for one year. Is the tuition so high that you’ll be in hundreds of thousands of dollars debt by the time you graduate? If so, going to one of those schools, unless you can afford it, is a bad idea. In general, if you can afford it, go to the place that checks the most boxes. If not, go to the place that pays for you to go, especially for your undergraduate degree, then look at a different scenario for your Master’s or Doctorate degree.
Major:
This will sound unbelievable, but we do have students that apply to Vanderbilt who intend to major in a subject we don’t offer. On the other hand, we have others who wish to do a version of a degree that doesn’t currently exist in that specific form, and we’re able to talk through different possibilities that may allow them to do what they want to do. Does the school allow you to double major? Is the double major a double degree or a double major? Can you minor? Are the lessons sorter or more expensive for a minor? In other words, does the school have a program or pathway that allows you to do exactly what you want to do at the time you apply? It may change one year in, but if they don’t have the major or program you want, they probably won’t for at least a few years, so don’t hold your breath. Many students go to a certain school with the hope that they can make it work or. that the school will introduce the exact major they want after they start. Not a smart move. At most schools the process to introduce new courses and majors is months long, so the chances of you taking advantage of a new major that isn’t already in the works when you start is slim.
Size of program:
Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond? Are you self-motivated, or do you need someone to light a fire under you on a regular basis? Do you need intense competition to thrive, or are you able to make progress on your own? In a big program, are you able to accept the possibility that you may not ever have a principal role in the entire time you study there? If that happens, is that school still worth your time and tuition? Are you interested in competing with graduate students for roles or seats in a course, or would you prefer to be at an undergraduate only institution where you have access to all of the opportunities?
Facilities:
Is the school equipped with what they need for you to pursue your intended major or track? Do they have a theater with a pit? Are there enough practice rooms? Recital halls? Is the music lab equipped with updated equipment and enough work stations? Are the classrooms properly configured, or are they missing necessary elements for music instruction? Are there other theaters on campus or nearby that are used by the music school?
Housing:
Is the cost of housing included in the tuition breakdown? What about residency? Can you get in state tuition if you’re not from that state, or will you have to pay out of state tuition the entire time you are there? If the schools you are considering are private schools, the tuition rate will be standard for all students, regardless of residency which is very different than state schools. Are there dorms on campus? If the dorms are off campus, will you need transportation to get to them, or can you walk? What is the cost of parking if you do have your car? If you live off campus, do you have to find a place on your own, and can you live there all 4 years, or just some of the years. How many people will you have in your room? Do you share a bathroom or a common area? Is there a kitchen or do you have to eat at the dining halls? How are your roommates chosen? Does the school have a party reputation, and if so, are you ok with that? What about Greek Row and all involved fraternities and sororities? Is that a deal breaker for you, one way or the other? Do you want to be a part of that? How secure are the dorms? If you have trouble with anything housing related, whom do you contact, and what’s the chain of command should that individual not be able to resolve the issue? Can you have pets? There are hundreds of questions related to housing. Decide now what you need to have in your space to be comfortable. Everything from allergies to ambient noise can pay a significant factor in your success.
Location:
Does the city you will live in only exist because of the college? How expensive are flights in and out of that city directly? What is the closest major flight hub to your city? What is the culture like in the city in which you would live? Are there work and performance opportunities available there? Is the city safe? Easy to navigate? Are there performance opportunities outside of college in your city? Other styles of music? What about the arts, are they alive and well, or is the college the only thing for miles around that does anything arts related? Are you ok with city that has nothing to do, or do you need to live in a large hub with diversity and growth?
Climate:
This sounds ridiculous, but even the climate can play a huge role in your success. Some don’t mind living in frozen tundra or having one month of sunshine per year. Others need daily sun to thrive. Some have to have all 4 seasons or they will go crazy. Do you really struggle with allergies? Need to live by water or close to the mountains? Will you be flying or driving home frequently? If so, will the weather prevent you from leaving or getting back on a regular basis? Though not a major factor, this can most certainly influence your happiness and stability in college. You can’t always have everything on your wish-list, but given the choice. between two good schools with good teachers and significant scholarship awards, my guess is that you’ll pick the one where you can be outside at least part of the year. You’ll already be stuck in a practice room quite a bit anyway!
Bottom line:
Once you’ve considered these factors, you should be able to get your list down to about 10 schools or fewer. I recommend no more than 5 schools total for your final list. Of the students I see come through the audition process, those that have more than 5, on the whole, are scattered, ill-informed about the process and the school, and often don’t even know which major they want to choose or what they want to do with a degree in music.
What else would you include in this list? Please share your experience or important lessons you’ve learned during this process!
