Stepping Stones to College Admission
(as published in the fall, 2003 issue of School Band & Orchestra
magazine)
by John Kuzmich, Jr.
November 19, 2003
So many questions, so many schools and expectations. Obviously, the more time a plan has, the better its chance for success in the college admission and scholarship area. Two years of preparation can make a big difference for a college-bound music student without the senior year “rush job.” A four-year plan can creatively shape students for college admission as a music major. I’ll attempt to outline the process of what should take place during each year of high school and you can be the judge of how to use these ideas in whatever time frame you have to work with. Freshman Year Survival is the theme of your freshman year. Get involved with everything possible in your music department: vocal and instrumental. You can only make good decisions if you have lots of good personal experiences to draw on. Success is a big part of developing good self-esteem; besides, life isn’t a spectator sport. Explore all the music education your program has to offer. Participate in jazz and classical ensembles plus marching band and chamber music. Being able to improvise is important; it is instant composition in real time. Learning how to use computers in music may not be a traditional freshman activity, but there are some students in your school who are already doing it. By the time you attend college, it will be to your advantage to know how to compose/arrange with Finale 2004 or Sibelius. Generating an automatic accompaniment with Band-In-A-Box and jazz solo transcribing with Transcriber software would be an excellent educational experience. College music theory/ear-training proficiencies are never easier to achieve than with computer-assisted instruction with such software applications as Auralia and Musition by Rising Software, Essentials of Music Theory by Alfred Publishing, Music Lessons by MiBAC, Musica Practica by Ars Nova, and others. Sophomore Year Finding a private music teacher is important for the college-bound student. No school music program will cover all repertory for individual instrument in preparation for college. Essentials of embouchure, sound production, sight-reading skills and etude and solo repertory can never be pursued too early. Unfortunately, high school students don’t necessarily focus on this essential procedure until well into their junior and/or even their senior year of high school. The sooner you get started with private lessons, the sooner you will know if you are cut out for the college scene. On top of everything else, you will need to prepare for the SAT and/or ACT tests. You would not believe the disappointment that ripples through students who are talented and have decent grades but don’t test well on these national tests. It is possible to get admission into a good school with fine talent and good music achievements. If your ACT/SAT scores are not competitive enough, get an English or math tutor to help you improve those scores. Junior Year Learning about the college music department is a necessary “evil.” Too often, students only apply to colleges that their friends are applying to. Be aware that there are two kinds of colleges that you should apply to. First, there’s the kind of college that has a prestigious music department that only offers music scholarships to potential music majors and few if any to non-music majors. Then there are other colleges that want to attract good musicians regardless of what their major is. These colleges will offer scholarships to music majors and non-music majors alike. Senior Year Be aware that colleges will probably make up their mind about offering music scholarships and admission for the upcoming year sometime in April or May. If the college music department belongs to the National Association of Schools of Music and if you are offered a music scholarship, a contract will also be given to formalize acceptance of the scholarship offer. The scholarship contract is a binding contract, so you cannot easily “jump ship” to another college once it is signed and sent in. Also, if you should want to transfer to another college after freshman year, you will first need to get approval for transferring and seeking a music scholarship. This procedure is much like that of NCAA sports where strict rules and procedures apply for college transfers. Attitude Is Everything Believe me, the sooner you develop a positive attitude toward excellence, the sooner you will mature in your preparations. It is never too early to get started on the college recruitment trail. Remember, good musicianship talents and expertise can pay dividends for college recruitment. Success may not come easy, but with a plan, you have something to strive for. For 33-plus years, John Kuzmich has guided high school music
students through their college music major admissions and scholarship
auditions. A public school instrumental music and computer educator since
1966, Kuzmich has taught in New Jersey, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois,
California and Colorado. He is currently teaching at Carmody Middle School
in Lakewood, Colo. For a special flyer on college recruiting, please set
browser to full frame and go to: http://www.kuzmich.com/college2.pdf
and set it in Adobe Acrobat to 50% to a 66.7% view. |