Applying for Fall 2010 Music Megathread

[Timothy Vallier]

On a separate note. Anyone heard a peep from Columbia?

[Jason Thorpe Buchanan]

Hi Timothy,

Maurice Wright originally contacted me on Feb. 5, and I took the exam via email a few days later, about 100 multiple choice questions and a writing sample on a piece of your choosing. They are nominating me for a fellowship, but no official word yet on specifics. I don't know about whether they have made other offers, I have three good friends that are there currently and two of them are on good fellowships, one is currently adjunct and might be starting his doctorate in the fall.

I will keep you updated as I receive more info. Thanks!

- Jason

Welcome Jason,

Can you give me some info on Temple. When did they contact you? Did you take the exam? What was it like? Did they offer you money? Have they made any other offers to other people?

I'm real curious since they handle all fellowships really early and then divvy out TA and general acceptances later.

[Whistler1979]

Hi, everyone--

I guess I'm a bit of a latecomer to this forum and this thread; I just discovered it yesterday. It seems a wonderful way to pass the time while waiting and hoping.

I'm applying to PhD/DMA programs in composition. It's my first time applying.

Some background info: undergrad @ Cornell (music); MM in choral conducting at Yale; MM in composition at San Francisco Conservatory. Good GRE's in verbal/math; pretty good in the writing section.

I applied to Michigan, Eastman, Indiana, Juilliard, Northwestern, Univ. of Oregon, Penn, and USC. I received alarmingly quick rejections from Michigan, Eastman, and Indiana. Juilliard followed in rejecting me roughly mid-January. I was miffed to read that some of you had heard from Northwestern as early as you had; they didn't reject me until about 10 days before interview/audition weekend. (I found that to be rather galling--professional courtesy, folks! We have lives!)

I have passed the first round at Oregon and am still waiting to hear from Penn and USC. (Did anyone else on here apply to Penn or USC, and if so, have you heard anything?)

It may well be that this just isn't my year; I know a number of people who have had to apply a couple of times before gaining admission to the program(s) of their choice. And all in all, it seems like a horrible year to apply--more people competing for fewer spots (thanks, economy).

To anyone who has applied more than once: what kinds of things are you doing / did you do to strengthen your application the second/third/nth time around? Did you try to cultivate any kind of personal relationship with the faculty at the place(s) you wanted to go?

Thanks for reading. Because I'm so late to this thread, please accept my blanket congrats to all whom have been accepted already, blanket condolences to those rejected, and blanket courage to those still waiting to hear.

[Soclose]

Hi Whistler,

I also applied to USC. I had a professor who recalled getting his acceptance to USC in mid-April, though this was about 10 years ago. I have just resigned myself to being thankful the longer it takes if this pattern is still in practice.

[jose]

Welcome Jason and Whistler, and congrats on your progress so far. Thanks for the info on Harvard, musico.... this should be a pretty exciting week, although I'm anticipating a nice solid rejection from them.

Whistler, it seems like you've got a much heftier academic background than many people applying, but I'm not sure if two masters degrees are that much of an asset or not. I've got the impression that 90% of the application is the portfolio and 10% everything else (undergrad and masters degrees, GRE's, LOR's, SOP's, writing samples etc.). So when I got rejected last year I focused almost all of my time on composing and listening (aaah, listening... the often overlooked and underestimated younger brother of composing). I bought a ton of cd's of the professors I was interested in and listened to them constantly, and I think that helped me really weed out the ones I wasn't 100% passionate about, and it also influenced my compositions for the better. It's defintely expensive, but no more expensive than this whole ridiculous application process, and I'll have this music for the rest of my life (hopefully!).

So... yeah, if anyone ends up getting rejected across the board and wants to try again, I guess I would highly recommend listening to a LOT of different music written by the composers you want to work with. That's perhaps what has made the biggest difference for me personally.

[/my two cents]

[Whistler1979]

Thanks, Jose, for your reply and your thoughts. I hope for your sake that the news from Harvard is better than the "nice solid rejection" you anticipate.

I am certain that you're right re: the 90%/10% mix of portfolio/everything else in the success or failure of one's application. It might even be more steeply tipped toward the portfolio than you suggest.

Again, good luck to you and to everyone here. Here's hoping we all get lots of good news soon.

[Whistler1979]

Bounced from Penn today. Rejection came in the form of a message delivered through the online application system. Still waiting on USC and Oregon.

[angesa01]

Looks like it was a rough day for everyone. Question for the UWashington Musicology poster: did you get a mass email or a personalized email? I applied to the same program and I'm anxiously refreshing my email!

[vikkilynn]

Those bastards. I heard UPenn only took 2 people anyway...........

[yehk]

I called Yale, they say there are still Committee meetings, but nobody in the Grad Administration works today, I should call back tomorrow.

I also called Harvard... results were sent out by regular mail yesterday... thus it depends where you live, you'll receive it in the next days... Good luck!!!

totally bet that my harvard snail mail will take a year to get here (England), just like my Peabody snail mail never did, which made me miss my interview.... FML

[Soclose]

Reject from University of Chicago

[Whistler1979]

Sorry to hear it, soclose.

[Soclose]

Thanks, Whistler. I was really hoping to get back to Chicago as I lived there for 30 years and still have a lot of family and friends there. But it appears that schools that got 50 applications 2 years ago are now getting 80+. I applied to 9 schools for my masters a couple years ago with 1 waiting list and 1 accept, so I was a little better prepared for it this time and don't take any of this personally. Still...

[mus68]

I called Yale, they say there are still Committee meetings, but nobody in the Grad Administration works today, I should call back tomorrow.

I also called Harvard... results were sent out by regular mail yesterday... thus it depends where you live, you'll receive it in the next days... Good luck!!!

Thanks very much for that info musico! I'm kinda surprised they're still having committee meetings...I had pretty much assumed that no news probably equalled bad news, but sounds like it's not quite over yet?! Did you get any more info out of the Grad Administration if you got to speak to them after your post?

[musico]

Thanks very much for that info musico! I'm kinda surprised they're still having committee meetings...I had pretty much assumed that no news probably equalled bad news, but sounds like it's not quite over yet?! Did you get any more info out of the Grad Administration if you got to speak to them after your post?

Yes, I did hear from them one more time: "you will hear from us when it is all done" ! So, I assume no one should be in a hurry from Yale....

Also, regarding NYU, the process is in its middle and will keep going until April 15th. Again, no hurry.

Stil waiting for Harvard snail mail in NYC, although given the fact I did not receive a phone call makes me think I am out of the game.

For those who are interested, I am withdrawing my wait-list acceptance at Princeton, because I got into Columbia (in Comp. Lit PhD) ! If by any chance I hear positively from Yale, Harvard or NYU, I will withdraw as well.

Good luck for everyone !!!

[Timothy Vallier]

Composer, was that you that posted a Duke acceptance? If so, congrats! If not, was it anyone here? I still haven't heard anything official from them so imagine I am in some sort of limbo between rejection and wait list. Also, HUGE congrats on Columbia musico!

[sary2106]

Composer, was that you that posted a Duke acceptance? If so, congrats! If not, was it anyone here? I still haven't heard anything official from them so imagine I am in some sort of limbo between rejection and wait list. Also, HUGE congrats on Columbia musico!

Hi Timothy,

I'm new on here, but when I saw your post I thought perhaps I would jump in. I was rejected from Duke in January. In the email that I received, they stated that they were accepting NO musicology PhDs and only ONE composition PhD, due to restricted funding. The impression I got was that all of their decisions were made at that time. Hope this helps ease the stress of waiting?

[composer]

Composer, was that you that posted a Duke acceptance? If so, congrats! If not, was it anyone here? I still haven't heard anything official from them so imagine I am in some sort of limbo between rejection and wait list. Also, HUGE congrats on Columbia musico!

Hi Timothy, Thanks! I was just notified yesterday by email that I had been moved up from the wait list. Still waiting to hear back from some other places, but as I have a preference towards Duke, I will probably accept.

Hopefully we will all know the rest of the results soon enough. Good luck to you and everyone!

Bryan

[Whistler1979]

Congratulations on Duke, Bryan--great news.

I got bounced from USC today--postal mail. Somehow it's nice to get an old-fashioned rejection letter instead of an even more impersonal e-mail or .pdf of a rejection letter.

[Jason Thorpe Buchanan]

Soclose on Jason's computer, not realizing Jason is signed in----

First accept today - Iowa. Waiting for other schools seems that much easier now.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Jason Thorpe Buchanan

[Whistler1979]

Way to go, Jason! Congrats.

[Jason Thorpe Buchanan]

Not Jason. Soclose (Brian). We go to school together. But thank you.

If I can ask, Whistler, where do you live? I am wondering about postal response from USC.

[Whistler1979]

I'm in CA, in the Bay Area. Mail usually gets to/arrives from the LA area quickly here.

[angesa01]

This Harvard snail mail is certainly creeping: Boston to NYC usually takes 3 days, tops. I wonder if the admin ass. knew the results were definitely being mailed? All I can think of is they were prepared on Monday, picked up by campus mail Tuesday and actually sent out into the world on Wednesday? Clearly I am overanalyzing, but I'd like to know where my rejection letter is.

All my mail is going to my parents because I'm in transit currently--on the phone with my dad on Friday, he says "You didn't get rejected from Harvard!" So I was pretty pumped and he repeated, "You didn't get rejected from Harvard today!" Then I asked for a clarification, and he said "Well, actually, you just didn't get a letter."

So that messed with my blood pressure!

Hope all of you are coping, and congratulations on all the great news above this post! Terrific schools and sounds awesome.

[yehk]

Haha your dad sounds awesome. I'm waiting for the same snail mail to arrive, but across the ocean in England. Feel my pain when you all get results and I'm alone in my country twiddling my thumbs.