What are some common mistake made before, during after the audition process by would-be music majors? Well, don’t forget to actually apply. He says it with a grin and a grain of salt, but Espen Jensen, Indiana’s Jacobs School of Music’s admissions director, is serious about the core message: “Don’t think talent is going to get you all the way there.” He said some students neglect parts of the application, don’t reply to requests for information, or sometimes even “messages we leave on their phone,” thinking that the audition process itself is all it takes. It’s not a job you’re auditioning for, remember, it’s an actual university or college, and there are still such things as grades that are taken into account!
“Make sure you know the difference between your love for music and being a music major,” notes Paris Brown, director of conservatory admissions at Lawrence University. Music has to be more than a hobby or a way to “de-stress” because “Guess what?” says Brown, “being a trained musician isn’t about being de-stressed; it causes stress. You may get here and not realize, ‘hey, I’ve gotta do this 5-6 hours a day.’ It’s important to understand the reality of a conservatory education. Many students opt to take music classes and continue to pursue their music while majoring in another subject.
“This actually happened to me,” says Webster University’s admissions officer Hannah Ingram. “That’s why I’m sitting here and I’m not a professional musician.” After experiencing burnout from an intensive formal musical education, Ingram is now a self-described recovered musician who plays for enjoyment and who wants students to understand the demands and stresses, but also the ultimate rewards for those who choose the conservatory route, and later, careers in music. Webster’s placement rate for Music Ed majors is 100 percent. Professional musicians—like the other performing arts—is a riskier endeavor, but “it depends on the commitment and motivation.”
The three spoke to college advisers at the Independent Educational Consultants Association’s (IECA) spring conference in Indianapolis.