Music Fall 2021 applicants

[TheWacoKid]

1 minute ago, purposelessplayer said:

I really think that one update is not legit...

Dang, to think someone is clout-chasing on the anonymous Grad Cafe results board...

That does help with perspective, though - I remember at the general info meeting before interviews the assistant dean was fairly vague about when any program would make decisions. Have you reached out to the composition faculty since the interview?

[purposelessplayer]

Just now, TheWacoKid said:

Dang, to think someone is clout-chasing on the anonymous Grad Cafe results board...

That does help with perspective, though - I remember at the general info meeting before interviews the assistant dean was fairly vague about when any program would make decisions. Have you reached out to the composition faculty since the interview?

I haven't. Relatively speaking it hasn't been THAT long. But still, I hope we hear back sooner rather than later!

[JustAnotherComposer]

Again, I’ll say I know someone there who got ghosted there after an interview only to be admitted in April. They were just on an internal waitlist.  

[TheWacoKid]

On 3/4/2021 at 12:17 PM, Timewilltell said:

Congrats on all the acceptances!

Has anyone heard anything about when CUNY and Cornell will be releasing decisions? 

CUNY sent some PhD composition interview emails this morning!

[Timewilltell]

Thanks for letting me know. I applied to DMA in Composition. Not sure how to interpret radio silence. 

[frauleinstein]

Who was that Brown waitlist? Has anyone been accepted to Brown for musicology and/or ethnomusicology? Still haven't heard much here...not sure if that means a rejection is coming or I'm on the same internal waitlist

[purposelessplayer]

Waitlisted @ Northwestern - 2 others posted that today as well.

[TheWacoKid]

1 hour ago, purposelessplayer said:

Waitlisted @ Northwestern - 2 others posted that today as well.

Same here! I get the feeling the week of April 15th is going to be especially hectic for decision-making this year ?

[Timewilltell]

I emailed CUNY. They won’t be releasing decisions until sometime in April. 

[TheWacoKid]

1 hour ago, Timewilltell said:

I emailed CUNY. They won’t be releasing decisions until sometime in April. 

Is the DMA composition process different from the PhD one?

[Timewilltell]

I’m not sure, but there are only four seats in total this year, I understand. 

[freshavocado]

22 minutes ago, TheWacoKid said:

Is the DMA composition process different from the PhD one?

I applied to CUNY last year—a professor there told me that the DMA and PhD application processes and programs are virtually the same, so much so that they were considering nixing the DMA altogether and just having a PhD. So I would assume that admissions timelines for the two are also virtually the same.

[JustAnotherComposer]

It’s a Waitlist-a-thon at Northwestern! 

[purposelessplayer]

37 minutes ago, JustAnotherComposer said:

It’s a Waitlist-a-thon at Northwestern! 

Yeah, not sure what the heck's up with that. I think they interviewed 8?

[musicOhNology]

Has anyone heard anything from IU musicology? At this point I think any decision will feel like a relief just to end the limbo. 

[musicOhNology]

22 hours ago, musicOhNology said:

Has anyone heard anything from IU musicology? At this point I think any decision will feel like a relief just to end the limbo. 

UPDATE I got accepted lol, so nevermind! V happy!!!

[freshavocado]

Congrats!

For anyone else who's waiting on Wesleyan, a prof. told me today that they're aiming to send out decision by mid next week. Let's hope that's the case.

[musiclibk]

46 minutes ago, musicOhNology said:

UPDATE I got accepted lol, so nevermind! V happy!!!

Congrats!! I'm only in the MA program right now, but if you have any Bloomington-related questions, I'd be happy to help. Just PM me! 

[musicologyLife]

2 hours ago, musicOhNology said:

UPDATE I got accepted lol, so nevermind! V happy!!!

I also got accepted! I'm very happy to finally hear!

[SendNukes]

Hello! I got selected to a program of choice and I'm waiting for decisions from two other programs. Now if I do get accepted to these programs I'd be in a bit of a conundrum honestly. So I thought what better than to ask a specialized group of people in Music? So here it goes:

Accepted to Georgia Tech MS Music Technology, with an official letter coming in a week or so. The other two programs are NYU Steinhardt MM Music Technology and CMU MS Music & Technology. International student, so fees and funding matter. Ideally, I'm planning to work in the industry after my master's, so no subsequent academics for now.

1. From what I've researched Georgia Tech is a top school for engineering and tech, and its MS program website reflects a similar picture. They go into a lot of tech, electronics, coding, and so on; with top connections - most grads go on to work at Bose, Apple, Google, etc. RA, TA would be available; fees and expenses would be most ideal out of the three.
2. NYU also focuses a lot more on recording, mixing, the music and creative aspects in their MM program - what I ideally would like to pursue as a career. No RA, TA, but student jobs are available, and possibility of an international student scholarship; although high fees and expenses. From what I perceive, NYU would have better connections and opportunities in music, given its location. 
3. CMU MS Music & Tech is a fairly nascent program, with no PhD program, so I think it doesn't reflect a developed curriculum. Assuming high fees and expenses, and no scholarships. But nonetheless, I'm open to thoughts on why one could attend CMU.

So given the ideal situation that I get accepted to the other two:

Should I focus on fees and funding (i.e. NYU or GaTech lol)? If I select GaTech, are there opportunities to get into recording, mixing, film/TV/music? Does MM or MS make a difference in the industry?
 

[freshavocado]

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about music tech.

My two cents: Follow the money. It's not wise to take on inordinate debt for any kind of music program, music tech included. There are only a few kinds of professional degree in which high debt may not be a problem, such as law school or medical school, where you know you'll be making that $$$ right after you finish. Clearly, we're in a different situation. If you have a great financial deal at a great program—one that sounds better than the other two already—then this sounds like a no-brainer to me. I'm of course assuming that money is a consideration for you. If not, then know yourself out I guess, haha.

[DrF8]

On 3/12/2021 at 11:57 PM, SendNukes said:

Hello! I got selected to a program of choice and I'm waiting for decisions from two other programs. Now if I do get accepted to these programs I'd be in a bit of a conundrum honestly. So I thought what better than to ask a specialized group of people in Music? So here it goes:

Accepted to Georgia Tech MS Music Technology, with an official letter coming in a week or so. The other two programs are NYU Steinhardt MM Music Technology and CMU MS Music & Technology. International student, so fees and funding matter. Ideally, I'm planning to work in the industry after my master's, so no subsequent academics for now.

1. From what I've researched Georgia Tech is a top school for engineering and tech, and its MS program website reflects a similar picture. They go into a lot of tech, electronics, coding, and so on; with top connections - most grads go on to work at Bose, Apple, Google, etc. RA, TA would be available; fees and expenses would be most ideal out of the three.
2. NYU also focuses a lot more on recording, mixing, the music and creative aspects in their MM program - what I ideally would like to pursue as a career. No RA, TA, but student jobs are available, and possibility of an international student scholarship; although high fees and expenses. From what I perceive, NYU would have better connections and opportunities in music, given its location. 
3. CMU MS Music & Tech is a fairly nascent program, with no PhD program, so I think it doesn't reflect a developed curriculum. Assuming high fees and expenses, and no scholarships. But nonetheless, I'm open to thoughts on why one could attend CMU.

So given the ideal situation that I get accepted to the other two:

Should I focus on fees and funding (i.e. NYU or GaTech lol)? If I select GaTech, are there opportunities to get into recording, mixing, film/TV/music? Does MM or MS make a difference in the industry?
 

I also applied to NYU for music tech. Out of those 3, I would choose NYU because music production/audio engineering is one of the focuses in the program and that's what you want to do, whereas the other programs you applied to don't have this focus. NYU also has an advanced certificate in Tonmeister Studies, which is recording/producing classical music but with opportunities to produce other music. If you get accepted into NYU, I would look into whether you can tack on the certificate as that would look really good on your resume for sure.

Given your career goals, I would not have applied to Georgia Tech or CMU. There are other schools that have master's programs better suited for music production, such as Peabody JHU, American University, Middle Tennessee State, U of Miami, and Berklee NYC. 

The Audio Engineering Society website is a good resource:
AES Education Directory by Program Type

Feel free to DM me to discuss further.

Edited March 14, 2021 by DrF8

[SendNukes]

12 hours ago, DrF8 said:

If you get accepted into NYU, I would look into whether you can tack on the certificate as that would look really good on your resume for sure.

I do know about Tonmeister, but you have to see it from an international student's perpective. Every lost minute could be utilized for an already hefty debt

12 hours ago, DrF8 said:

Given your career goals, I would not have applied to Georgia Tech or CMU.

As for applying to Georgia Tech and CMU, I've kept my all my options open, and I don't mind working in tech because of my engineering background. Just that my first preference would be production, recording, etc.

Another factor I've kept the tech option open, is because I haven't seen studios, labels, or music companies (those that offer production and recording engineer jobs) sponsor work permits to international students. A majority of those permits go to technical roles in the tech, product, and gaming industries. My research may be limited and I'm happy to be proven wrong, but again, this is in an international student's perpective.

[freshavocado]

Alright, gang. I'm sending in my signed offer letter tomorrow, so I'll be logging off of here for a good while. Best of luck to all!

If you got in somewhere, congrats. If not, don't lost heart. I went 0-8 last year and tried again, this time netting a great offer. Some people try three years or more in a row. It really is a crapshoot—don't take it personally!

[Timewilltell]

Rejected from Cornell. One more rejection to go for a full sweep. 
 

Congratulations on all the acceptances!