I don’t know how many of you are going to go into the arts for college. but here’s some advice I’ve put together based upon what I've been going through this year. We’ll go chronologically.
- Start looking and thinking about schools as early as you can stand. I didn't know what I wanted to do until the first week of Senior year, which is TOTALLY fine, but if you can reduce your deadline stress do it.
- Keep an eye out for schools with good music programs, it doesn't have to be a conservatory. You will find opportunities all over the place.
- When you apply to schools, please apply to many. If only for my peace of mind. I applied to six, and at this end of the process I wish I had applied to more.
- Some schools have their applications on a platform called DecisionDesk. It’s essentially a less user friendly CommonApp.
- A lot of the larger schools will ask you to send in a pre-screen recording. This is an audition to see if the school wants to see you for an audition. Put effort into it, and dress nice. Santa Cruz fancy =/= Professional. Don’t worry if you get rejected from this, from what I've heard it’s a common occurrence. Three out of my six declined to invite me for audition based upon my recordings (this is why I say you should apply to lots of schools).
- Please, Please, PLEASE! Look at your application deadlines as early as possible. Early Action for music schools and programs tends to be different than non-arts schools.
- There will be a short reprieve between first and second semester, but not for you. Now it’s time to practice practice practice. Work with your teacher, and for the love of god memorize your material as early as you can. Using a piece you memorized two years ago? Perfect, make it better.
- Put planning into your audition calendar, all that travel is not forgiving. Print out blank calendars, work on rough drafts, talk to your parents. Anything helps.
- Around this time, you should hear back from schools. Nothing so relieving as an admission decision, but you’ll find out if you've been invited to audition. Make your travel arrangements at this point. No Sooner.
- There are days when you open your email and see “Thank you for your application, regrettably you have not been selected to audition,” in some variation or another. Those days suck, but if you applied to plenty of schools (the opposite of what I did) these emails won’t be so worrying (think you're stressed now? Imagine what happens when there’s only three schools in the country that you might be accepted to).
- When it comes time for in person auditions, be sure to rest as much as you can (haha I know), and drink tons of water. Wear comfy clothes when you travel, and make sure you have one good audition outfit (think East coast business casual). Pack snacks, and relax. You've done all your work (you should have at least), the rest is out of your hands.
These are just some tips I have from my experience. I’m going for vocal performance, so I don't know how this applies across the board. But if you're going the same way I have, Good Luck!
I 1000000000000% AGREE WITH THIS LIST!! I only applied to six schools as well, 5 of which required an audition this year, and I so wish I had applied to more. Getting rejected from every single program is a punch to face by the Hulk, and it really sucks, but you can't let it tear you down. Give yourself a day or so (maybe 2 days, A WEEK MAXIMUM), and sit down and analyze your audition. What went well, what didn't go well? What could you have done differently at the audition and during the rehearsal process. I didn't pick my material until this year, and that was a huge mistake. You're going to be going against people that have been working on their material for over 2 years, and somehow aren't sick of it. You're going to be going up against people that have been doing this since before they were even a fetus.
ReplyDeleteThese are definitely some great ideas, but my problem is, what if you do not want to sing in theater? Are there colleges that teach you to become a professional pop singer? It sounds strange, but I feel like for singers who want to be pop artists, there are no college options for them, unless they want to be a classical singer, jazz, opera, or theater singer. Even though pop music can be repetitive, it doesn't have to be. Why isn't it considered a profession like jazz and opera singers? The argument I'm trying to make here, is that there should be some type of division that caters to students wanting to perfect their voice in the fields of pop music, as I do. When you think of pop music, so many are repetitive and autotuned. But what I mean is the kind of pop music produced by singers with serious vocal chops like Ariana Grande, Adele, Christina Aguilera, etc. There should be more performing arts colleges that focus on that kind of singing, to expand their range, and become great singer-songwriters like Sia. They should have classes based on theory and vocal training, with less classical singing as a requirement. I personally really admire Sia, because she has written so many amazing hit songs (Diamonds for Rihanna, Titanium, Elastic Heart, etc.) But overall, it would just be very cool to have that kind of focus in an arts school rather than just the more modest forms of music, for lack of a better term.
ReplyDeleteMohini, Berklee College of Music
ReplyDelete