Applying To Music School? How To Narrow Down Your Apply-List

When I first put together a spreadsheet of schools I wanted to apply to, it was SO LONG. (Seriously, I have email evidence). Whether you have a long or short list of schools, knowing where to actually apply to is so important.

In order to narrow schools down, there were 3 key things I considered. Today we unpack all of these strategies. Sit down with me and let’s chat about this!

1. The power of trial lessons

Trial lessons are such a game changer. They are literally opportunities for you to see how well you work with a certain teacher. Because we are all humans, sometimes teachers and students don’t work well together, and sometimes they really do! This is your chance to figure that out.

You can just email the teacher and say that you are interested in the school or program and ask for a trial lesson.

If you want to learn more about trial lessons, here are some good episodes for that:

The Ins and Outs of My Trial Lesson Experience

Trial Lessons Coming Up? Here’s How To Prepare For Them

2. Visiting schools – what to remember

The next thing to do is actually visit the schools. You can do this before you audition or after. If you are auditioning is person, you will see the school then.

There are a few things to remember and consider if you like when visiting schools, they are:

• The teacher
• The campus
• The opportunities/programs
• The surrounding area/city

If you want to learn more about this, here is an episode for that: Visiting Music Schools? Here Are 6 Top Things To Keep In Mind

3. Knowing the audition repertoire — do they overlap?

I auditioned for 12 schools in 3 countries, and it was a whole lot of audition repertoire. Luckily, I had some pieces overlap, and I suggest you do that too.

I invite you to make a spreadsheet with the schools’ audition repertoire and see which ones overlap. You can see how much work you will need to do, and you can talk to your teacher about whether or not you could do it.

Comment below where you are applying to, and let’s encourage each other in this journey!

All my best,

Eleanor