Music Applicants Fall 2025

[gradLH23]

16 minutes ago, r123456 said:

has anyone heard from UPenn? it seems like they might have sent out interview requests already but I haven't seen any admissions decisions... trying to stay hopeful lol. i have a few acceptances/offers for MA/MM programs but Penn was my top choice going in

I interviewed with UPenn in Ethno in January, but haven’t heard from them yet…

[r123456]

1 minute ago, gradLH23 said:

I interviewed with UPenn in Ethno in January, but haven’t heard from them yet…

ahh okay!! I don't want to say too much about myself on here but i had a long talk with one of the profs a few months before apps were due and I thought it went well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see :') Thank you though!! how did you think it went? what did you think of the program?

[oyster347]

On 2/14/2025 at 3:45 PM, BeepBoopApple said:

Congratulations on the Toronto offer! That's a great achievement and a great program. I mostly applied to schools in the US -- McGill is the only program I applied to in Canada.

Thanks! I applied to a good amount of US schools too- are you still waiting on any? I've heard from everywhere in the US I applied (most recently Princeton and Northwestern), except Yale and was wondering if most others are in the same boat. The sooner waitlists start moving the better lol

[gradLH23]

2 hours ago, r123456 said:

ahh okay!! I don't want to say too much about myself on here but i had a long talk with one of the profs a few months before apps were due and I thought it went well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see :') Thank you though!! how did you think it went? what did you think of the program?

I thought it went well, and was pretty friendly and with somewhat creative questions! That said, I don’t know anything about how they do their choosing! Wishing you luck!!

[r123456]

20 hours ago, gradLH23 said:

I thought it went well, and was pretty friendly and with somewhat creative questions! That said, I don’t know anything about how they do their choosing! Wishing you luck!!

Thank you!!! good luck to you as well :^D

[kcomp]

Hi all! Has anyone heard back from UC Berkeley, UCSD, or Harvard? I applied to their DMA/PhD composition programs but haven't heard anything back yet.

[BeepBoopApple]

23 hours ago, oyster347 said:

Thanks! I applied to a good amount of US schools too- are you still waiting on any? I've heard from everywhere in the US I applied (most recently Princeton and Northwestern), except Yale and was wondering if most others are in the same boat. The sooner waitlists start moving the better lol

I've not heard from Harvard, Yale, and Columbia and am not really expecting from them since they're so particular about the kinds of theorists they admit.

[gradLH23]

1 hour ago, kcomp said:

Hi all! Has anyone heard back from UC Berkeley, UCSD, or Harvard? I applied to their DMA/PhD composition programs but haven't heard anything back yet.

Harvard has admitted its ethno and musicology students…not sure if they have the same schedule for composition? 
 

I haven’t heard back from UC Berkeley or Columbia, I don’t think they’ve finalized their admits yet, and didn’t apply to UCSD or Yale! 

[soso1123]

Does anyone know what the deal is with UCSB composition? 

I am considering applying for a graduate degree in Music there and have heard a lot of opinions about this department...hoping to see if anyone here might have some more specific insight.

[Do_You_Like_Apple]

On 2/9/2025 at 12:02 PM, gradLH23 said:

I just want to say that last year I was waitlisted at two places, rejected from two places, and the only place I got in was just not the right place for me.

I took the risk and decided to reapply.

I applied to 10 schools this time, all really great programs. So far I have heard back from 5 and have 4 admits and 1 waitlist. 

I never fully believed I’d have such a hard choice ahead of me. 

Don’t lose hope! 

Did you reapply for the ones you didn’t get last year?

[gradLH23]

23 minutes ago, Do_You_Like_Apple said:

Did you reapply for the ones you didn’t get last year?

Yes! I reapplied to those (there were only a few) and others! So far 3 of the 4 I applied to last year have admitted me this year (the other I’m still waiting to hear about)!

[ItsASecret]

Anyone want to claim the Columbia waitlist?

[Gradmusic]

Has any music theory applicant received an interview from Yale? I haven’t received either an interview or a rejection.

[Musicology_PhD]

On 2/15/2025 at 5:48 PM, r123456 said:

has anyone heard from UPenn? it seems like they might have sent out interview requests already but I haven't seen any admissions decisions... trying to stay hopeful lol. i have a few acceptances/offers for MA/MM programs but Penn was my top choice going in

Everything is kind of a mess right now all over the place. There's an article released today specifically about Penn: "Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid federal research funding cuts". This is in the humanities I believe, as a response to the NIH cuts and other grants being cut with keywords that offend the current administration

Edited February 22 by Musicology_PhD

[r123456]

On 2/22/2025 at 1:54 PM, Musicology_PhD said:

Everything is kind of a mess right now all over the place. There's an article released today specifically about Penn: "Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid federal research funding cuts". This is in the humanities I believe, as a response to the NIH cuts and other grants being cut with keywords that offend the current administration

I hadn't seen this! Ugh this is really really frustrating. I won't hold out hope for them, then. I hope they communicate with applicants about this if it ends up affecting their admissions this drastically :((

[maryblair_.]

On 2/22/2025 at 1:54 PM, Musicology_PhD said:

Everything is kind of a mess right now all over the place. There's an article released today specifically about Penn: "Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid federal research funding cuts". This is in the humanities I believe, as a response to the NIH cuts and other grants being cut with keywords that offend the current administration

Yeah, this is definitely the case. Of some of the programs I'm familiar with, at least for ethnomusicology, program sizes that are usually 5-6 admissions per cycle have dropped to 2 or 1. Funding is scarce, and departments seem reticent to promise anything. It's rough this year.

[gradLH23]

14 hours ago, maryblair_. said:

Yeah, this is definitely the case. Of some of the programs I'm familiar with, at least for ethnomusicology, program sizes that are usually 5-6 admissions per cycle have dropped to 2 or 1. Funding is scarce, and departments seem reticent to promise anything. It's rough this year.

What programs usually take 5 or 6 applicants? I’ve never heard of any program taking more than 4…

[maryblair_.]

1 hour ago, gradLH23 said:

What programs usually take 5 or 6 applicants? I’ve never heard of any program taking more than 4…

Indiana has taken more in the past, since their department is on the larger side and just ethno and folklore. 

[gradLH23]

2 minutes ago, maryblair_. said:

Indiana has taken more in the past, since their department is on the larger side and just ethno and folklore. 

Sure, but I think they also don’t fund everyone equally.
 

I think that even if this is a worse year than others, many of the well funded programs regularly select 3 or less students per year 😞

[maryblair_.]

2 minutes ago, gradLH23 said:

Sure, but I think they also don’t fund everyone equally.
 

I think that even if this is a worse year than others, many of the well funded programs regularly select 3 or less students per year 😞

No I completely agree! I just gave that larger size that I knew of because that's one of the schools I'm dealing with at the moment. You're right though, even in a "good" year, it's very rough, especially given the funding question.

[oyster347]

Has anyone has gotten/knows of an acceptance for Princeton musicology? I've only seen other waitlists or rejections- my hopes aren't too high for getting off the waitlist, but curious to know how many they let in

[sc711]

Waitlisted at UT Austin, someone please deny their offer haha!!

[DrF8]

Brooklyn College Sonic Arts sent out interview requests yesterday (on a Saturday, surprisingly - not that I mind). Also, my last app is in - yay!

[musickeeper]

On 3/1/2025 at 7:31 PM, sc711 said:

Waitlisted at UT Austin, someone please deny their offer haha!!

Not sure if you're in musicology or composition, but you might not want to get your hopes up. When I got my admission notification (musicology) I was told that at this time they can't promise funding and asked to let them know if I got an offer elsewhere. I know the grant freezes aren't helping things but it's still incredibly disappointing.

[sc711]

4 hours ago, musickeeper said:

Not sure if you're in musicology or composition, but you might not want to get your hopes up. When I got my admission notification (musicology) I was told that at this time they can't promise funding and asked to let them know if I got an offer elsewhere. I know the grant freezes aren't helping things but it's still incredibly disappointing.

So are you going to turn it down?