Musick

Have not heard anything either, don't despair!

Your points are certainly heard/read... the matter of musical taste is subjective and the quality of a school depends on many factors and isn't usually a house of cards. Rather than just myself, I have a whole community of musicians and scholars that are interested in less narcissistic art and music, and instead in the artist/musician seeing himself/herself as an important representative and leader of a large group of people. That said, I strongly believe that the purpose of music is to engage with others in a reliable way. Commercial success? Not what I'm talking about... that's more proof of connection with business interests, and the rest is their expertly conniving ways of distributing that material to the unthinking masses. I prefer to communicate with the thinkers, but catch that word again, "communicate". I see my job as finding the match for my original ideas, ideas which should be those of a cultural leader. Not everyone is trying to do it that way, and I object to the sorts of things I think of as the masturbatory arts, but I like everyone to be happy and if there is a place for people who are into that sort of thing... great. It's not for me though. Different strokes for different folks. Yes who knows how admissions to composition programs work. I've heard everything from it's so competitive and everything has to be perfect, to extremes like GPA and GRE don't matter whatsoever and it's all about your composition portfolio and professional record. Alas, you'll all know where I end up attending. Best of luck to you as well.

Thank you for further explaining your thought process. I didn't imply that, I stated it directly. Can't pause and wonder at the same time, but I did consider other possibilities. I do not think that downvoting is meant for the purpose you used it for, nor is it very informative. So, I'd love to know not that you disagree... but why you disagree, with either of those statements. Are you comfortable sharing that? You were not the preacher, it was @.letmeinplz// . I'm sorry that you perceive me as touchy, I assure you that's not the case. So once again... why do you think Berkeley isn't the kind of school that promotes music no one wants to listen to? And why do you think that Berkeley musicology will not change / has not changed after Taruskin's retirement? I'm not sure how much thought you put into your dissent, but hopefully it's plenty... because I think it would be quite informative to others considering Berkeley for music studies of any kind to have our different points of view on the department ethos. If you're up for elaborating on your point of view, I'd love that.

My plan is definitely to talk shit about the programs that reject me and then laud as the academic heavens, any programs that accept me. After all, that's exactly what they are for me.

Yeah, given the touchy nature of what is discussed on this forum... I can imagine everyone has their own way of dealing with acceptances and rejections. I just do my way and let others do theirs. I find it especially annoying to be preached to about how I "should" respond to admissions results. I think it's all in good fun, and those who want to bicker will always find something to bicker about. As far as votes, you're getting an upvote brother. Hope you get some good results soon too!

Interesting point of view. Thank you for your opinion. I'm curious, do you suspect that I didn't fill out my application lineup with some schools that were not near my top choice? I certainly did, as there are actually only two schools at which I honestly have a POI... but it's foolish to just apply to two schools. Furthermore, I did not actually pay them, I received a fee waiver as a result of an organization I'm part of. Interesting that you say you don't care, but you took the time to type that message to me. Are you even a music applicant?

Hmm... I wonder why @unitstructures keeps downvoting my latest posts. It's not a particularly informative way to express dissatisfaction. Do you disagree with something I said? Have I offended you? I hope my questions make you feel more comfortable expressing your point of view directly, I'm interested in it.

Yeah now that I've received my first decision... I shall lose sleep nightly as I expect others to come in soon. Hopefully better ones! Sorry to here Berkeley shafted you too dude. But oh well, Taruskin retired... just think about how Berkeley musicology probably isn't what it used to be. I've been going through my list of cons about it and no longer care much that they didn't want me haha.

Well as it turns out, my morning news is... UC Berkeley = reeeeeejected. It's okay, not my top choice... didn't even really choose the right person as my POI and when I sat in on a seminar there I thought they were another school just heavily invested in the kind of music that no one wants to listen to. 0a, 0w, 1r so far.

Hell yeah dude! Congratulations. What / with whom are you going to be studying there if you choose to attend? I am still waiting for any word from anywhere... negative or positive.

Yeah everybody I'm in the same boat... applied to six programs and have heard back from zero. About the only blight on my record is my undergrad GPA and general shenanigans of appearing to change my mind every year and a half of my BA about what I wanted to do with my life. Other than that, perfect GRE, perfect GPA at the MA level, research projects done on three continents. According to the results posted in here only one of my schools has reached any decisions about anyone.

No idea about CUNY... but I heard directly from Stanford that they interview "finalists" who have 1. not yet made the next cut 2. not previously met with their POI in person. So don't despair... if you weren't contacted you could either be a sure advance to the next cut regardless, or it's because your POI already knows who you are and has talked to you. No idea how interviews work at other schools but this is what I heard from Stanford.

Did anyone else apply to UC Berkeley? I did for composition and I just saw on the results search page that someone posted an acceptance. They were accepted way back in late January. I haven't heard a thing from Berkeley and the website still isn't updated. Wondering if I'm screwed...

Hello, probably too late for this to matter but I thought I'd share my idea. I think it's pretty well understood that we keep improving and that our most new and innovative work won't necessarily already be recorded. I had this situation with one piece I was really excited about, so I submitted the score only. But I also included as many score+recording combos as the requirements asked for, 3-4. I'd say you're fine as long as it's clear you chose to do that not for lack of recorded music, but because your newer piece is very central to who you are as a composer currently who might be studying at this particular school next fall.

I applied to Stanford for composition and haven't heard back yet. I don't know if they have a predictable or systematic way of passing out acceptances/rejections... But according to the results search here, in past years a lot of rejections would have already happened. Acceptances seem to come in March

I know him through just the things you mentioned. We've crossed paths in my conference participation.

Nice... I'm acquainted with Robert Peck. Did not apply to LSU though. I'm trying to get a PhD in composition.

Hey guys... I applied to a bunch of PhD and DMA programs in music composition... just joined this forum. Do they always interview applicants? What if I went to the schools and had meetings with my persons of interest on my own before the applications were submitted? Also... is it any of you who had an interview with Stanford today? I saw that posted in the results section. Lastly... LSU guy, who is your POI for theory?