Mastering Music School Applications

Interested in applying to music school but don't know where to start?

This post will help you find schools to apply to based on YOUR priorities, organize your applications, and put your best foot forward in auditions.

It’s important to think about your applications as a learning process, not simply a competition. Applying to music school will make you a better performer, practicer, writer, and learner. I hope these tips will give you more time to focus on practicing, learning about schools, and developing your network.

Below, I’ll focus on some concrete tips for getting your application materials together. I’ve found that applications give students a lot of passive anxiety and get in the way of your musical preparation. As such, I wanted to focus on organization of the more logistical side of your applications.

If you’re applying to music school, I hope these tips make your work easier to read, more consistent, and more effective.

Should You Even Apply to Music School? What even IS music school? What is Music?

Hold on there! These are all good questions, if a bit too deep for a blog post. Let’s take on the first two of this in the name of framing.

First of all, studying music is about becoming a better person through the humanities, about self-actualization through the arts. As such, a music degree is really terrific training for almost any discipline. At the same time, keep in mind that your goal is to change yourself and change the world. Nothing less.

Studying music at the undergraduate or graduate level can take a number of different forms. You could take a few music classes, play in an ensemble, or take lessons while studying a different discipline. You could pursue a music degree within a liberal arts school, weaving the study of performance with a broader education around the sciences, humanities, or (almost) any other discipline. Or you could take on a performance major, narrowing your path of focus on music-specific courses to deepen your practice.

None of these experiences is objectively worse or better than the other, and there are amazing performers without music degrees, and countless examples of people studying music and moving to another field.

Your goal is to find the right balance of experiences and learning that will help you actualize your goals.

“Personal opinion alert: I love the contextualization and critical thinking that comes from studying music within a liberal arts context, and recommend as broad an experience as possible to those looking for undergraduate degrees. At the graduate level, focus can be helpful…”

Selecting schools: “Better” ≠ Better

Let’s say you’re convinced that studying music in college is right for you. How to decide where to apply?

In general, quality of instruction at American universities is so high that a motivated student can achieve astonishing results almost anywhere. Whereas traditionally elite institutions might tout the impact of network (sustained access to industry leaders as professors and guests), attention (smaller class size and more advising hours), resources of school (grants, opportunities for students, facilities, etc), and curation of student body (perhaps more likely to stay in professional contact with your cohort for longer), success in a music school might depend on a very different set of parameters!

Ecosystems of the Arts

Think about choosing a school as choosing an ecosystem in which you will live, grow, develop, and shine. While overall quality of school and the most amazing private teacher are certainly a part of that, they are not the only animals in the jungle. Let’s say you love collaborating with composers on new works. Perhaps a school with a strong composition program and ample opportunities to take on independent projects is critical. Maybe you want the context of studying music within a liberal arts framework, or the buzz of a big city vs a smaller town (with lower cost of living). Articulating your preferences and desires with regard to learning experience helps clarify your application journey, forcing you to be more specific in your goals. It also reduces anxiety by framing your application/audition process as one of self-actualization instead of competition.

💡 Hot tip: my belief is that for those interested in an undergraduate degree in music, an elite, top 5 school is not a requirement for professional success. A great teacher, a motivating community of peers, ample time and space to practice, and careful professional development through festivals and masterclasses, and financial burden are more important. For graduate school, where the goal is to pivot towards professionalized activities, the exposure and access of a “better” school might be what you need. But, maybe you’d rather have teaching opportunities, a low cost of living, or something else?

Here are some lenses through which you might both find schools to apply to and evaluate schools in which you’re interested. Some might be extremely important to you while others might be less of a priority.

  • Type of School

    • Is the music program a department of music, a school of music, or a conservatory? Music departments tend to situate music within a liberal arts framework. Schools of Music offer a bounded experience within a university, allowing students to major in performance while still taking classes beyond the confines of the School. Conservatories and Institutes are the most focused, with narrow degree paths around excellence in performance.

  • Type of Degree

    • In my estimation, the degree one receives is less important than the experiences contained within.

      • Undergraduates: a music performance degree (BM) is more focused and includes fewer electives than a BA. Within universities, most BA and BM degrees are similar, although you might find some variance among departments of music and conservatories.

  • Location

    • Is the school in a small college town or a bustling metropolis?

  • Major Professor

    • What are the major professors in your instrument like? Are they prominent in their field? Are they specialists, focusing on one discreet area, or are they generalists, capable of guiding students down many paths? Does the school have a number of faculty in your instrument, or just one? Do students have sustained contact with faculty, or are they aloof and remote?

  • Quality of School

    • Yikes! Tough one. Does the school overall offer a quality educational experience? Even if you’re interested only in music, having great science/humanities/math courses is transformative.

  • Strength of Program

    • Strength can be measured in many ways. At its core, a wonderful music program engenders self-actualization through the study of music and the arts. More specifically, you might ask:

      • Does the program you are considering have a successful track record of alumni success?

      • Does the program create opportunities for its students to develop musically and engage professionally, generating meaningful networking and professional development opportunities while providing transformative musical training?

  • Student community

    • Student community can be measured in many ways

      • Diversity of student body, measured by any number of parameters

      • Collaboration or interaction between students

      • Availability of student-centered activities

    • Within music schools, we typically think of interlocking circles of interaction

      • Major instrument studio: what are other studio members like? Do they get along, or is studio class a battle royale?

      • School at large

        • Many schools of music and conservatories feel like high schools, with students taking many classes with the same cohort. What’s the energy or vibe?

  • Professional opportunities:

    • Does the program give you opportunities to perform? To teach?  To develop your craft in a meaningful way? To record yourself and develop your professional portfolio? To add to your resume?

  • Time

    • Will you have sufficient time to create and develop an independent project or to allow for meaningful reflection from your experiences? (see “cost”)

  • Health and wellness:

    • Does the school offer resources around musician health? Are there physical therapists on staff? Can students work with audiologists? What about the school’s commitment to mental health?

  • Commitment to sustainable careers

    • A good school will help you discover career pathways and take meaningful steps towards attaining them. Some thoughts to consider

    • Does the school have an office of career development, or a similar hub that combines resources around helping students both ideate career possibilities and attain them?

    • Are there courses or seminars around making a career in the arts?

    • Does the school offer help pinpointing professional goals, finding opportunities, raising funds, developing portfolios, or other career support? Does the school collate and circulate professional opportunities?

    • Does the school offer resources for students to travel to auditions or conferences, or for attending summer festivals?

    • Is there a robust network of alumni that can provide networking opportunities?

    • Does the school have an office of international programs and scholarships that will help you identify fellowships and other study abroad opportunities and mentor/guide you through the application processes?

    • If none of the above, do the faculty take a hands-on role in mentoring and guiding the students?

  • Location

    • Is the school somewhere you’d like to work professionally? Since you’ll be spending significant time there, look for a geography conducive to your professional development.  Is there freelance work in the area? Are there opportunities to create events?  Is the location easily accessible? Is the weather good?

    • How does cost of living relate to tuition, financial aid, scholarships, and work study?

  • Facilities

    • Are there plentiful practice rooms on campus? What about rehearsal spaces that students might book?

    • If you play an instrument like piano or percussion, how robust is the school’s instrument collection?

    • How accessible is the campus? Is it easy to walk, bike, or drive there?

  • Exposure

    • Does the program connect you with a larger professional network? Will you have opportunities to perform in significant venues, or with prominent guest artists? Or, will you have sustained exposure to faculty who might be professional gatekeepers or enablers in your career?

  • Cost

    • The true cost of college (especially music school) is tough to measure and is wrapped in a tight ball which includes return on investment, cost of living, financial aid, and a whole lot of anxiety! Some things to think about with cost:

      • Availability of Financial Aid

      • Availability of performance-specific scholarships

      • % of financial aid awarded as student loans

        • In recent years, there has been greater transparency around the practice of using loans as “financial aid.” It’s important to be specific and honest here!

      • Cost of Living

Culling Your List

How to find schools?

Discovering schools to add to your list can be challenging. If you have a private teacher or musical mentor, speak with them to get an initial framing. Beyond that, I recommend using your priorities as a filtering and discovery mechanism. If you are interested in learning from an esteemed teacher, check where your favorite performers teach. If you are interested in a school that has strong track record of professional success, look where some of your heroes went to school. For percussionists, seeing who is active and achieving acclaim in the Percussive Arts Society scene—winning the percussion ensemble competition, faculty performing or presenting at PASIC—is a low-hanging fruit. You might also consider innovative research universities where your favorite blog writer teaches?

How many schools should be on your list?

The number of schools you apply for is less important than the type of schools you apply for.  Organize your list of schools by types:

  1. Dream school! I already bought a sweatshirt and mug.

  2. I’d love to go to this school, and stand a good chance of getting in. I’ll get the sweatshirt at orientation.

While I’m rooting for a perfect match with your dream school, all-or-nothing thinking can be dangerous. If you can, have a few schools in the second category.  You never know what might happen. A current student might stay an additional year, your favorite school might lose some funding, or they could face an influx of applicants.  To a point, applying to more schools is helpful because it maximizes your chances, and the time taken to apply for more schools is not significantly more than applying for one school (if you are organized and diligent about these).  While I don’t think it’s a good idea to apply for a school you don't want to attend, narrowing your list of “favorite” schools before you apply can be dangerous.

Why else is number of schools less important than you might think? Let’s say you are interested in east coast conservatories. If you apply to 5 similar schools, the chances that a number of other prospective students have also selected the same schools is fairly high. From my perspective, the most important metric of how many schools should be on your list is meaningful diversity of applicant pool

Organizing Your Applications

Next, I recommend making a spreadsheet organizing what you’ll need at each school.  The goal here is to do as little work as possible, so look for commonalities between schools’ requirements.  Even if you’re an organized person, having all the information in one place can give you peace of mind while you practice.

Be sure to track:

  • Application Deadlines

  • Link to application (for easy reference)

  • Application log-in info.

    • I recommend using a password manager (I like 1 pass), but keeping track of at least your user ID on your spreadsheet can help save you time and the agony of remembering which dog’s name you used with “1” and “!”.

  • Prescreening repertoire.

    • Not all schools require prescreening recordings. If you’re applying to a school that does, prioritize the videos since most faculty members will look at them first. Here, the goal is to see what might work for multiple schools what might work for multiple schools. Keep in mind, some schools might have different technical requirements for pre-screening tapes, requiring a single take vs accepting multiple videos for pieces.

  • Personal statement required?

  • CV or Resume required?

  • Transcript sent?

  • Number of recommendation letters required?

You can use a spreadsheet to track your progress getting the applications together.  Here’s one I made that you can use!

Time Management

Give yourself due dates for each of these steps to minimize your stress and get parts of your application out of the way as soon as possible so you can focus on practicing.  Ideally, you’ll want to leave plenty of time to record your pre-screening videos (if necessary), the most significant part of the application process outside of the live audition.  Here’s a sample timeline, presuming a December 1 deadline:

  • As soon as possible:

    • Solicit letters of recommendation. Ask your recommenders permission to list them on your applications, and be careful to note whether the school solicits letters directly or if you have to collate and send letters.

    • Select audition repertoire

  • October 18—November 1

    • Write and revise draft of personal statement and send to someone for comments

    • Complete draft of CV or resume and send to someone for comments

    • Log into application website for each school. You never know what surprises you might find!

    • Organize your transcripts

  • November 15-21

    • Record the prescreening, giving yourself extra time to edit, re-record if needed and finalize the file exports

    • If you don’t need to record prescreening videos, spend this time practicing!

    • Upload video files to YouTube or school-recommended file service

  • November 22-24

    • Submit applications, leaving extra time to double, triple, quadruple check your materials

  • Thanksgiving

    • Take some time off! I can attest from personal experience that working in the basement of your grandparents house through the entirety of the holiday break is not going to make a meaningful difference in your life. Eat some brussels sprouts instead!

With rigorous deadlines for the “paper” elements of the application, you can spend more time practicing.  Not sure how long these written elements will take? Use the Pomodoro Technique! For those concerned with their writing, leaving extra time to have a trusted advisor or peer read and offer comments is essential. I recommend working with an editor to get another set of eyes on your writing if you feel uncomfortable. This allows you to spend more time revising your work and more time PRACTICING for the audition, researching schools, making contact with the faculty, taking lessons, and playing mock auditions.

Remember, this timeline might not work for you.  What matters is that you think about getting parts of your applications out of the way with regularity instead of doing most of the work at the end of the process.

Audition Repertoire

What should you play for your audition repertoire? As little as possible

Look for repertoire that meets as many schools requirements as possible, so you can focus your energies on presenting your best possible performances.

Faculty tend to look for well-rounded performers with strong fundamentals and some degree of interest towards one or more disciplines.  Unless the school to which you are applying has a strong speciality, plan a program that shows your versatility while highlighting your strengths.

I recommend to my own students that they work to stretch themselves in some areas while picking familiar repertoire in others. For percussionists, that might mean a keyboard solo that’s challenging to you combined with a snare drum solo that shows your chops.  You don’t have to learn all new music for the audition—I’d rather my students spend their time refining their performances, since the recording process adds significant drag.

Absent specific requirements, I recommend selecting repertoire that would be familiar to the faculty at your schools.  The faculty are trying to evaluate your musicianship, and it’s easiest to do so with repertoire they know.  While your curatorial sensibility is important to the work you’ll do at your school, if you select a newer or relatively unknown work, buttress that selection with other opportunities to evaluate your core skills. Show off your tone, touch, musicianship, and interpretation, not your anxiety!

One of the great joys of teaching these days is the breath and diversity of interests my students bring to bear on their practice. Songwriting, pop music experience, non-western musical cultures, extracurricular collaborations, interdisciplinary work: In my opinion, these interests form a significant part of one’s musical personality and should be highlighted.

Let’s say you are interested in a career of creating and facilitating new collaborations. Showing your ability to do so is actually the thing that’s going to help you the most getting into school, instead of just lobotomizing yourself to play what other people play. If you think of your audition in this way, you are no longer in competition with others. Instead, you are striving to be the best version of yourself, and that’s a powerful reframing.

While many music schools have fairly narrow audition repertoire, there are ways to show your other skills:

  • ASK! Don't be afraid to ask if you can present something outside the schools written audition repertoire. As I wrote above, you are looking for the best ecosystem in which you can thrive. Measuring the faculty's response to your desire to show your musical personality can be a powerful indicator. Along that vein. if you are waging war on a school’s audition requirements, perhaps that means it’s not a great fit? Just saying…

  • If the school asks for a solo work, present that piece you commissioned, or a work that shows off the best facets of your playing or your engagement with non-Western musical cultures

  • Send some supplemental videos highlighting your work, either when you are in contact with the faculty ahead of your audition (see below) or as part of your pre-screening or remote audition materials.

  • Bring it up at the audition or interview

Don’t be afraid to be bold here!

Pre-Screening Recordings

Some of the schools on your list might require pre-screening recordings. Some tips

Start recording yourself ASAP

I’ve written here about the essential value of recording to practicing. With pre-screening tapes, recording yourself helps prepare you for the actual recording session. Just as you might play through a recital before going on stage in front of an audience, before you track your tapes, set up some mics and give yourself a recording rehearsal. Make sure to wear your recording clothes. Listen critically to what you record to make concrete changes to your approach. At the same time, watch carefully to see how your visual presentation aligns with your perceptions. Giving yourself a little bit of time to make meaningful tweaks can ensure that you sound and look your best on your recording.

Use a Producer

While it’s certainly possible to record yourself, having a friend or colleague serve as a producer can allow you to focus on playing your best without critiquing yourself mid-take.  At the same time, a producer who knows you well can help manage your energy level during long recording sessions. A friend or colleague in the room can also mitigate that special flavor of performance anxiety: recording anxiety.

Find someone to help you engineer

Some percussionists are terrific audio engineers and videographers.  For those that aren’t, invest if you can in your recordings.  This could mean paying a professional to record you, or trading favors with a friend.  Having a great sounding and looking recording reduces the effort it takes to hear YOU, and highlights your playing.  At the same time, the pressure if having a limited amount of time with your engineer helps keep you on track and professional.

Takes/Titles

Check with each school as to whether they want an unedited take, or different videos for each piece.  While most schools allow you to type in information, including titles on your video is a helpful redundancy for tech-challenged faculty.

Make it stand out.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Make it stand out.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”

— Squarespace