klavierstucke

Is that a statement of purpose or "Personal Statement"? It sounds to me like the Research Summary is vaguely playing the role of the former and the "Statement of Purpose" sounds like a "Personal Statement". But I could be wrong. PS is distinct from SOP

This is not my field, but a recommendation: I would look at the Current PhD Students page on the websites of the programs you are applying to. Often the students post where they got their previous degrees, so you can get a sense of whether students "generallý" had an MA before attending the program. I have also been annoyed by how dodgy some of these schools are on their sites regarding degree requirements, at least for musicology. They don't specifically say whether you "need" a bachelor's or masters', and its not stated bachelors cannot apply, but you look at the current students page and they all already have masters. It would seem unusual that any school would prefer the student to have an MA just for the sake of the MA. AFAIK, for more creative programs (I'm coming form a music perspective) such as music composition, english composition, fine arts, etc. MA is usually needed before the PhD. But I think this is more because they are looking for a more impressive portfolio with awards and other recognitions, that requires time of any sort after completing a bachelors--often done in an MA.

Eastman

Thanks for bringing this up; I've seen it before, but I just wish the table could be sorted by institution...

Hey all. I've had a lot of free time this summer so I figured I'll start the thread for kids applying to Musicology/Composition/Theory etc. grad programs to begin in Fall 2019. Plus I'm curious to know who else is applying! I'm applying to musicology phds at the following: Northwestern, Eastman, Duke, UPenn, Stanford, Brandeis, Cornell, NYU, CUNY, UChicago, Columbia, UCB, Princeton, Yale, Harvard. May or may not narrow it down, but I've been told to cast a very wide net. My research interest is 20th century Russian/Soviet music. My earliest deadline is Eastman, on Nov. 1...only 4 months away! Let me know whats up!

I'm also planning to apply to Musicology PhDs for Fall 2019, so I'll share with you what I've learned so far. Just some background: I'm a rising senior that's doing a BA in Music at a liberal arts college, but I also have significant experience with performance and composition, and I hope to do a comp minor if I manage to get into one of the school that offers it. Your background as an opera singer can be a big plus for your application if you frame it right in your apps. I am also a performer and composer, and my musicology advisor has told me to emphasize my distinctions in these areas; it really helps you stand out from the big pile of musicology applicants, many of whom have relatively little experience in the 'creative' side of music. It would be particularly beneficial if your proposed research interests align with the music you studied in your masters, or perhaps even just related to opera / vocal music in general. Have you become proficient in reading one of Italian/French/German at this point thru your singing? That would also help. I've been scouring a lot of university websites and their lists of current graduate students, and it is definitely not uncommon that there are instrument majors (though mostly of bachelors) going on to PhDs in musicology. I think as long as you have a decent background in history and theory, you are as competitive as anyone else. If you want to become a music history prof, I've been told by many profs if you don't get into one of the 'top" programs, don't go. To beat the dead horse even more, yes "top" an erroneous concept, but indeed there are only a handful of schools that monopolize the job market for musicology phds. As far as I know, these schools are Yale, Princeton, UCB, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, NYU, UChicago, Columbia, UCB, UCLA, Indiana; to a slightly lesser extent, Duke, CUNY, Eastman, UNC, UIUC, OSU, Brandeis. I couldn't tell you which ones are more likely to accept those with a performance degree. Duke offers a performance practice MA degree that you can opt to complete as part of your musicology phd, if that is something that interests you, certainly your background as a performer will be beneficial, and worth mentioning in the SOP. UChicago and Cornell also seem particularly appreciative of blurring the boundaries between performance, composition, theory, & history. I would also guess that musicology programs housed in a School of Music (ex. Eastman) rather than in the School of Arts and Sciences (ex. Yale) would consider more significantly your performance background, but take that with a grain of salt, I'm really not sure. Good luck!

I can't speak for your field, or really any outside my own (music history), but I suspect the case is similar. Though take this with a grain of salt. For example, for music theory, generally phd holders that win jobs come from only a handful of institutions: https://medium.com/@krisshaffer/so-you-want-to-be-a-music-theory-professor-b81e72751603. Perhaps that won jobs in "the institutions with one job won" category came from less "prestigious" schools that had a good advisor. I imagine if you google around theres some similar studies about History. I'm planning to apply to Music History PhDs this fall. I have about 15 schools on my list, the 15 that best place phd graduates into tenure track academic positions. If it means anything--almost every faculty at all 15 of these schools received their PhDs from one of these very 15 schools. Almost without fail. Mind you these are the "tippy top" institutions, and it would be madness for anyone to fixate on getting one of those spots, but it's not a particularly encouraging sign. I'd be personally willing to sacrifice a potential better advisor for a school that places very well. I would see what has happened to the advisees this professor has taken on.

Thanks, that's reassuring! I actually compiled my entire list from going on Columbia's website (since I knew them to have good placement), seeing where faculty got their PhDs; then seeing where faculty at those institutions got their PhDs. I surveyed about 20 uni websites; UCB had 9, Harvard/Yale/Cornell 5, Columbia/UChicago/Upenn/Stanford 4, Princeton 3, and 2s & 1s for the others. It is actually a bit scary how homogeneous it is, just wanted to make sure i wasn't missing any.. I know Duke also publishes these kinds of admissions statistics; for 2017-2018 average quant for matriculated students was 155 and verbal 158. I imagine the average are at most, a few points higher at the more competitive ones. Also, I'm curious if you would be comfortable sharing (either here or through PM) your experience in applying to grad school. I'll be applying this fall and I want to make sure I do everything right...

Hey, what schools seem to the best at placing musicology phd recipients in teaching positions? Here's my list so far. Princeton, Yale, UCB, Columbia, UChicago, Stanford, Cornell, UPenn, Harvard Slightly less competitive, still decent placement: Eastman, Duke, Brandeis, CUNY Let me know if I missed any. Also, does anyone know what kind of GRE score I should aim for? (3.9 music gpa, great writing samples and recs)