So you are thinking about grad school?

Hello colleagues,

Since I have just gone through the process of applying to graduate school, I might be of some use to any of you who are considering that road in the near (or semi-distant) future. If you are, my advice is to determine for yourself why you want to go to grad school in the first place. If you want to go to a place that will let your creativity and love for electronic music flourish, I would be sure to choose a place that does that. If you want to write very avant-garde, or even overwhelmingly traditional tonal music, you should look for a school that does this. The best way to figure this out is to research the faculty and talk to current students.

You may think to ask "but Michael, there are so many schools, I can't do that for all of them!" This is true. At this crossroads, my next steps were to determine what else I wanted from a school. Since I went to UNT, I intentionally sought out smaller programs. I also decided that I wanted a teaching assistantship at my degree location. Then, I simply google-searched (yep, that's right) for schools.

Now, this type of research can be helpful, but it can also be redundant and waste some time. You can look up in a book "The best 100 music schools in the country" or whatever, but it still might not be catering specifically to you. Whenever I would ask general questions in my undergrad, like "which are good grad schools to go to?" I would only receive the general responses (Juilliard, Indiana, Michigan, Peabody, etc.) which were no help to me. So, in my google search, instead of searching for big names, I went to message boards and things were composers had posted their own schools they felt proud of. Using this method, I DID find a lot of normies, but I also discovered some I had never even considered, or possibly heard of, such as OKCU, Roosevelt, DePaul, Syracuse, and here, to name a few. Once I had a nice list, I researched them and applied my strict criteria to them. I wanted a place where I could have an assistantship, and if possible, have that assistantship cover all of my tuition (a hard hope.) I wanted a small program with a supportive teacher(s) who didn't push me to compose in any specific style. I wanted a school was either in or near a big city, so that I didn't die socially as a composer. Lastly, I wanted a school that did not have a doctoral program in composition, so that my degree wouldn't be overshadowed by the doctoral students (which also is a major contributor to getting an assistantship, with PdDs for competition.)

So, I ended up selecting 4 schools, Duke, Redlands, Syracuse, and JMU. JMU was my safety school, because as researched, it did not look very hard to get into (and as it turned out, it wasn't.) I wouldn't necessarily say you NEED a safety school, and especially in today's economy, it may even be a bit big-headed to think that schools aren't filling up when everyone is trying to rush back to get extra education. At any rate, knowing acceptance rates are important too. I luckily got into 2 of my 4, but I know people who applied to 10 and got into none, because they chose only programs that were incredibly difficult to get into (NEC, Eastman, Boston, Indiana, etc.) These schools are prestigious, yes, but consequently, everyone applies. Like, hundreds. At Duke, when I visited, I discovered they had about 75 applicants, and were taking 1-2. So, in reality, It was as thought I were applying to 3 schools instead of 4.

One thing that should also be considered is that some schools require you to audition or interview in person. Somehow, I lucked out in applying to 4 schools that did NOT require this. This can be a serious consideration, for example, if you live in Texas, and the closest school you applied to was in North Carolina. Ironically, however, I ended up visiting all three east cost schools on my winter break, as I am from Virginia, and ultimately chose to attend the only school I did not visit. If you apply to schools that are far away, make sure that you have enough money to possibly fly, get a hotel, possibly a rental car, and come back. Driving can also cost time and money.

When I visited Duke, they had asked if I had submitted a writing sample. Now, this was not requested in the application. Similarly, I learned that they not only look at scores, but writing samples, test scores, grades, festival attendances, performances, and more. On that score, my chances looked incredibly smaller. Some schools, however, such as Peabody, look ONLY at your music. If you are completely prepared and researched, you might not get a nasty surprise like that, so research as much as you can.

Another thing some schools look at is what you are writing in terms of scope. If you don't have an orchestra piece you are submitting to Indiana, then why bother? It is practically a waste of a hefty application fee. Some schools may want you to submit an electronic work too, to see how well-rounded you are. Some however, may want to hear a distinct mature compositional voice, or others may want to hear music that jives with their own biases and tendencies.

A good way to find out these things, is to E-MAIL the professors. Do not be afraid to ask them questions, because after all, they are just people. If you show your interest early and ask questions, it might help them remember your name when they are going through scores and making decisions. (Maybe not.) On the flip side, if you email them and they are not kind to you, or are too busy to respond to emails, maybe that is not a teacher you want to study with.

Ultimately, what is most important is your music. This does not even mean just how it sounds. If you have a great recording and a great idea, if it is written in heiroglyphics in dried play-dough, it just isn't going to work for you. The faculty will start judging your music as soon as they set eyes on it, so scores you submit should be beautiful and flawless. If they find flaws, or if it isn't neat or professional, they will take it as a reflection of your degree of sincerity towards your music. In other words, if you don't think your music is special enough to put the time into making it look professional, or if you lack the ability to do so, why would they want to have you? In this same vein, good recordings of beautiful scores are important too. Yes, they may say the accept midi, but I do know for a fact some faculties do not even listen to those tracks on principle. You may be better off not submitting a midi recording if you don't have a real one. After all, a great performance recording can only help you.

Finally, I would like to re-stress that you should know why you want to go to grad school. What will it help you accomplish? On a related note, if you are going to pursue further studies past that, you might even need to learn a language (French or German perhaps), so looking up what your courses would be at any potential institution is not a bad plan either. In short, know what you are getting yourself into. Don't allow room for doubt; if you have questions, ask them. If you are unsure of something, research it. The entire process could take months to years, so it is not too early to start looking if that is your ambition.

Good luck to those of you who are choosing to undertake it!