Posted by anon on January 03, 2001 at 17:45:57:
In Reply to: Re: Re: College auditions posted by Brandyn on January 03, 2001 at 16:55:03:
Brandyn:
I am not sure what you mean by "bad grades," but you should be aware that the Univ of Cincinnati expects conservatory students to be in the top one third of their senior class and there may even be a minimum SAT score to go along with it. USC is actually a fairly rigorous school academically; although they may cut some slack to musicians, the avg SAT is over 1300 and grades and class rank are top 10 percent or so of one's senior class.
Eastman should not present an academic barrier, nor if I recall correctly will NEC. BTW, I am not sure if Chester will be there or not - you should ask before committing (or even auditioning for that matter).
Sounds like you live in the Midwest - what state? As an in-stater, the academic hurdle is lower. But if you live out-of-state, the standards of admission go up. If I recall correctly, one should have an 1100 SAT as an out-of-state applicant to Indiana, for instance, and the same sort of hurdles apply at Michigan and I assume Michigan State.
I urge to really think through the conservatory thing - that is a very narrow music experience compared to what is going on in the big state schools.
Most of all, I wish you luck. My original post was not intended to "discourage" you but to make you aware of some of the downsides to auditioning at the big name schools if you haven't had any previous contact. Sounds like you have received lots of good encouragement and will do well at any school.