Fall 2022 Evaluation for Music Theory PhD Programs

[pianoman2022]

Hi everyone!

I'm a rising senior at a pretty prestigious LAC, and am planning on applying to about ten PhD programs in music theory this fall.  I'm pursuing a BM in Music Education/Piano Performance and a BA in Psychology, and my main area of interest for research is music cognition.  Grade-wise, I have a 4.0 GPA for each of my majors and a 3.99 GPA overall.  I took an independent study last fall with a music theory professor where I wrote two short (~20-page) papers to serve as writing samples for graduate school, and I'm currently in the process of writing my senior honors thesis which I hope can also be a writing sample (but only for the programs that allow you to submit an entire thesis).  My GRE scores are 160V, 150Q, and 4.5AW (not great, I know, but I'm hoping my GPA carries more weight than these scores, and several of the places on my list do not require GRE scores).  I now have my entire thesis committee finalized, so I'm hoping that my advisor and readers will all agree to write letters of recommendation for me.  

Here is my current list of schools: Eastman, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, CUNY, Chicago, Michigan, WUSTL

Can anyone give me any feedback on what my odds are of getting in at least one of these programs?  I know that I'm applying to all fully-funded PhD programs, but I've had to pay for undergrad completely out of pocket with no scholarships (and no real financial aid at all, besides loans), so it's really important that grad school does not cost any additional money (I'm still up to my neck in loans for undergrad).  

Thanks in advance!

[BWV 211]

It sounds to me as though you are very qualified! But in the end this is really just a crapshoot, and dozens of qualified applicants will be rejected from every program, while acceptance letters will be handed out for sometimes the most arbitrary reasons. I think that one of the best things that you have going for you is the breadth of the net that you have cast; it seems to me that with your credentials, at least one of those ten programs should accept you with funding. We're all rooting for you! 

 

As for the GRE scores, I've applied to several of the same schools (for Musicology), and the GRE requirement has been waived, ostensibly due to the pandemic (though I expect to see the phasing out of standardized testing requirements to become the norm). But even if they are being reviewed by your programs, my advisor told me that GRE scores are so distant that admissions committees only really consider them if all else is equal. If nothing else, the weight of standardized testing scores seems to be loosing its grip; Yale, for instance, required them for the Musicology PhD last year (at the height of the pandemic), but has discontinued the requirement for this year. 

 

Applying for a PhD in Musicology, I was one that fell through the cracks last year (accepted to three programs, but only funded at my master's institution). I decided to enroll so I could use the year gaining experience and building my CV, which I did; I now have conferences ranging from regional (various AMS chapter meetings) to national (SAM 2022 and volunteering at AMS 2021) to international (IMS 2022), experience designing and teaching my own college curriculum, a position as program annotator for a medium-sized professional orchestra, and, most importantly, a revise-and-resubmit from the Journal of the Society for American Music. But I wouldn't describe myself as confident as much as I would curious to see what comes next. At some point we will all make peace with the fact that we presented the best versions of ourselves that we could, and that the rest is up to chance. But I have hopes that we will still get a shot at a PhD this admissions cycle!