A Guide for High School Singers
College is for three things:
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- To get exposure to a variety of subjects and choices in music and the rest of the world too;
- To attain a firm musical foundation in theory, history, repertoire, and solid vocal technique; and
- To learn how to learn thoroughly and efficiently.
So the first consideration for the high school student is to find a college that will offer a variety of high quality musical and academic experiences. It is important that you have a good voice teacher too!
High School was fun, wasn’t it? You were good, right? You were probably one of the best singers in your choir. Your best times were touring or giving concerts and you probably won lots of awards for your singing. Treasure those memories! They are yours forever.
You are about to embark upon the new world of higher education. Think of college as being a really good honor choir. All the best singers in all the best high schools will be sending their students to your college. It is possible that you won’t be the very best any more. That’s OK because it is time to learn! If you knew everything you wouldn’t need to go to college. Time to step up your game!
There is a HUGE world of singing out there for you to discover. What will be your new favorite type of music? What will you find that you are really good at? What new vocal acrobatics will you master in four years? What will your junior and senior recitals be like?
Even the most savvy high school singers will be blown away by what there is to know in the field of music and how many choices there are! New trends in music are emerging every day. You are smart. You wouldn’t be going to college otherwise. So, go and explore.
I suggest that you take a variety of courses beyond the music department too. Use your electives to take whatever really interests you. In that way you’ll get a good idea of what is available for your future. The same goes with music. Take as many elective courses in interesting subjects as you possibly can. Go to a school that offers lots of choices that interest you.
When shopping for a college, look at all the colleges and departments, not just the music department. At the undergraduate level, it is best to get a whole university experience. Go and live in the dormitory and have a wonderful time. No, I don’t mean partying all night. I mean meeting new people and staying up all night talking about racial tensions in Los Angeles or women’s rights or politics. Get other people’s perspectives on musical issues too. What is happening to opera these days? Can you really get famous by posting on You Tube like Justin Bieber did?
What about a voice teacher?
Your voice teacher will be your best ally at the university. Not only will he or she help you build a strong technical foundation in your instrument, but your teacher will know the best classes, ensembles and performing opportunities available to and appropriate for YOU. So you’ll need to find a teacher that is knowledgeable and personable, someone you trust. Usually girls like to study with women and boys with men. You might feel differently. If there are a few teachers at one university, check out everyone that sounds interesting. The faculty in the music department will usually honor your request for a specific private teacher once you’ve been accepted so you’ll want to know whom to request. Don’t feel nervous about requesting. This is a big decision. Your voice teacher will be your most important resource at college.
Voice lessons are one-on-one so you’ll want to feel really comfortable with your teacher. A smart junior will start looking into the universities and schedule campus visits right away. Call ahead to request a sample lesson with any voice teacher that seems interesting to you. You can Google them or look them up on the campus website. Get to know who the teachers are and how their students sound. If you live near by, go to concerts to see what kind of music they usually do.
Check out the post on this site called “How to find a Great Voice Teacher.” It gives you ten things to beware of and ten things to trust when encountering a new voice teacher!
Meanwhile, test your sample voice lesson using the list below.
Sample lesson checklist:
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- I feel comfortable in a room alone with this teacher.
- I feel welcome and free to sing.
- I feel the teacher understands my goals.
- I feel the teacher understands my voice.
- I feel the teacher gave me good advice on how to sing more easily.
- I feel I received suggestions about new things to try to improve my singing.
- I feel the teacher is knowledgeable about the voice.
- I feel the teacher likes my voice.
- I’m glad I came.
- I look forward to coming back.
If you can check seven out of ten, then keep this school and teacher on your list. If not, walk away and don’t look back!
What about choir, musical theatre, and opera?
Good universities will offer a variety of musical experiences. Below is a list of performance opportunities usually offered at the university. Take a moment to check the ones that interest you.
______Mixed choir ______All women’s choir ______All men’s choir
______A cappella choir ______Jazz choir ______Chamber choir
______Opera chorus ______Opera solo roles ______Musical theater chorus
______Musical theater roles ______Jazz band soloist ______Afro-Latin soloist
______Early Music Ensemble ______New Music Ensemble ______World Music Ensemble
______NATS solo auditions ______Concerto Competitions ______Oratorio Solos
If a college has several of the opportunities listed above, then keep it on your list. If not, let it go. Once you’ve found a few good voice teachers with correspondingly good universities you have your long list.
How to narrow the long list to between 3 & 5 top choices
Let’s say you have ten colleges that each have a good voice teacher. You may want to apply and audition for all of them, but that will be costly. Application and travel fees, not to mention accompanist and musical costs, can add up fast. I suggest narrowing your list down to three to five colleges where you feel you would be happy and might also be accepted.
How do I know if I’ll be happy there?
That’s a good question! I believe that you have to visit a campus before committing to live there for four or more years. When you are on campus you can tell right away if you feel comfortable. When my niece was looking for colleges, we visited three campuses. Two were pretty exclusive private schools with good music departments and good flute teachers (she is a flute player) and one was a big state school with a good flute teacher. She had been accepted into all three. I really liked one that she really hated. She said that she felt really awkward around the other students. I think you have to take those types of experiences seriously.
When we walked onto the big state school campus she knew immediately that she was home! I was totally surprised but since it wasn’t my decision, we went with her gut. It paid off. She loved her college experience and graduated at the top of her class!
So go with your gut. Just walk around campus and talk with people. Make sure you get a tour with another student leading it. That helps you feel comfortable asking real questions. Then take your best guess and go for it!
How do I know if I’ll be accepted?
Another good question! Well, you’ll need to ask questions about both quality and quantity.
First quantity: how many people apply and what percentage gets in? It is important to know the numbers. Too many students set their hearts on places that only accept a few new students, most of whom have already been pre-selected by the teachers. This is why you want to establish a relationship with a possible voice teacher that you love before the audition. That teacher should (and most likely will) let you know what your chances are. Teachers cannot make promises but they are your best bet in knowing your chances.
Second quality: once you know how many singers apply, how many get in and your new teacher’s opinion on your chances then take a look at the students who are currently attending that college. Are you like them? Do they have similar grade point averages and a similar level of singing as you do? Do you see people who you might want to be friends with? This will help you decide whether to spend your time and money to audition. Again, make your best guess and then go for it with all your heart and with great confidence. You cannot control the reactions of the acceptance panel but you can control what you offer. Give it your best shot and make sure you have a back up plan.
The Audition
It is best to take an audition in person. This may not be possible for you if you are applying somewhere far away. You usually have the option to send a CD or a DVD. Make sure it is of high quality and includes a photo and something that shows your personality and desire to be successful in your field and at the university. Make sure that your application is complete as well so they will have all your information when they see your DVD.
If you take the audition in person you’ll bring copies of all your application material in case they don’t have it in front of them or have not yet seen it. At the audition, make sure to take time to be calm. Be rested, well fed, happy and ready before walking into the audition.
If you have taken a sample lesson, ask the voice teacher for any advice about the audition. You’ll feel more comfortable coming onto campus for the audition if you’ve already met one or two of the teachers. During your audition sing your best and speak eloquently and confidently. Ask good questions because you are still not sure where you might want to go. Remember, the university needs you just as much as you need them. You can be picky.
Audition happy! Have some fun and really get into the music. The more music you make and the more fun you have, the more likely it will be that they’ll want you to come to their university. Remember, the teachers are committing to a relationship with you for four or more years. They want someone who they’ll like and who’ll be successful. So be successful in your audition and in conversation with the panel. Kick it!
May 1
That is the deadline for letting your university know whether you’ll attend. Hopefully you’ll have heard from all the universities well before that date. So before May 1 you’ll have to sit down with your family and decide. This is a general deadline and many universities call it a soft deadline. You’ll have to find out how hard or soft it is at your university.
Hopefully you’ve received at least two acceptance letters. If so, then you’ll have to discuss matters other than the quality of the institution. Presumably, both universities are good and both want you. Now you’ll go on to consider things like: housing, finances, geographical location, etc. Depending on what kind of scholarship offers you have, you’ll be able to know which university offers you the best value. Unfortunately, scholarship offices don’t always follow the May 1st rule. You might not know your full award package until later.
Keep calling the scholarship offices to find out what your awards might be until you know. It is OK to bug them a bit because then they’ll remember your name and when your file does come to their desk they’ll tag it and hopefully let you know right away.
Congratulations on completing the complex process of choosing the perfect college. May your college experience be mind-blowingly inspiring and successful!
Before you go…just a word or two about paperwork. College is all about paperwork so you might as well get used to it. Now it will be up to you – not your parents or guardians — to keep track of all your important documents. Right now buy a big expandable file and label it IMPORTANT COLLEGE DOCUMENTS. Go ahead and put your acceptance and scholarship letters into that file. From now on you’ll need to keep any official document with a signature on it or anything having to do with money, in this file. If something comes via email, print it and put it into your IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS file. If you keep an electronic file, make sure you have lots of back-ups!
Every university makes mistakes and I know of too many students who have been “purged” from the system without any back-up documentation to rebuild their status quickly. Some people have to drop out of school because of a glitch in the computer system at a college. KEEP ALL YOUR OWN PAPERWORK. Do not let that happen to you.
One last word on paperwork that probably should have gone up top but I didn’t want to scare you. Applying to colleges requires not one application, but many. See below…
Application Paperwork
University application (usually on-line)
Music Department audition and application (usually in person or by CD/DVD)
Scholarship applications
University Scholarships
Music Department Scholarships
Your own Community Scholarships (Lions & Elks Clubs, Chamber of Commerce, State scholarships, City scholarships, Musical Scholarships)
University Application
Let’s start with the university application. Each university will charge a nominal fee for applications. It doesn’t seem like much but those fees do add up. Some students like to apply for several universities even if they aren’t the best just because the deadlines are so early. That’s not a bad idea if you can afford it.
State schools will often push deadlines earlier and earlier with each budget cut. This is their way of limiting the enrollment. Check. Double Check. Triple check deadlines! They have a way of changing mid-stream. You don’t want to have to wait a whole year to apply if you miss the deadline.
You have to be admitted to the university before you get an audition date for many schools. Often, however, music departments schedule auditions too early for the university to have made its decision. So, you might have to audition somewhere before you’ve been admitted. Remember, just because you have been admitted to a university doesn’t mean that you’ve been admitted into the music program and visa versa. Make sure you get TWO letters of acceptance: one from the university and one from music department. Keep both in your new IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS file.
Music Department Audition/Application
To schedule an audition for the music department you’ll need to contact the music department office. Often there are a few hoops to clear before you are granted an audition. Start early since every school’s entrance requirements are different and any misstep might disqualify you for a whole year. You have to have the right form submitted to the right office at the right time. Keep good records, it can be confusing! Keep your notification of audition letter in your IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS file.
Scholarship Applications
There is a large bundle of scholarship money that goes unused each year just because students don’t know where to look for it and how to apply for it. I’ve listed all the places to look: the university, the music department, and your community. Each of those places might have several sources. The usual suspects at the university are: the scholarship office, the foundation office, and alumni office, the “Friends of Music” (or the equivalent) office, and possibly offices of fraternities or sororities.
In the music department there might be departmental scholarships based on merit or other unique types of scholarships. Ask the music department’s secretary for a full list. Sometimes a second audition may be required for scholarship that is separate from your entrance audition. Make sure to note the differences.
Ask your high school counselor if there are community scholarships available and get those forms filled out and sent in before the deadlines. Apply for everything, you never know. Keep copies of all your scholarship applications (where?) in your IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS file.
OK, that’s it.
If you want to have a private consultation on your own unique search for a perfect college, just email me atsusan@sensationalsinging.com. Good luck and Break a Leg!