As my very fancy and extensive biography indicates, I am a fourth-year BM candidate for a degree in Music Education. Since I plan on going to graduate school for composition, naturally, I did a little bit of research before taking the plunge. It is generally recommended that six schools are a good range for those looking to pursue advanced degrees - reach schools, bread-and-butter schools, and of course, safety schools. Six is a good number because you can have two of each, and if you're anything like Bartok, you can appreciate that sort of symmetry.
Thus, six schools were chosen, or choosed, or chased? chast? I chose six. It was not until that I began working on the applications for each school did I realize just how poorly equipped I was to be able to complete all of the applications in a timely and stress-free manner. Before we invariably delve into the intricacies of applying-technique; mixed with my own personal experience - something I feel that may be entirely unrealistic to separate - I think it is important to redirect some misconceptions about graduate school.
It costs soooo much money!
Well, yes, but so does a vehicle, and people buy those all of the time and they aren't thrown in jail for doing so. Worst comes to worse they repossess it or you end up on a gameshow answering ridiculous questions while your family and friends laugh at you. You just can't put a price on public humiliation. But I digress...
A professor once said to me that you should not pay for an advanced degree with money from your own pocket - it should come in the form of a TA (teaching assistant) or GA (graduate assistant) position. Indeed, many schools offer several types of these. While some are more rewarding / competitive than others, they will most likely cover at least a generous portion of tuition costs. In addition to having tuition waved, these positions also include some sort of stipend. Additionally, since most master's programs are around 32 credits, you are going to end up taking about 8-9 credits a semester, which for a graduate student, is considered full time. This is important to know because 8-9 credits is going to equal about 3-4 classes, which means that you will have time to work at least a part-time job while you are going to school. Between the part-time job, the stipend, the tuition waiver, and generous friends, paying for graduate school should be pretty easy.
I mention this particular misconception because this was one of the largest reasons for my hesitation in this academic pursuit. It was not for want of motivation, passion, drive, or interest, but the two dollar signs: $$
Now I will intermingle advice from personal experience with sprinklings of anecdotes from those actual personal experiences.
First thing's first:
1.) Make sure you read the school's website carefully! Musicians have the unique experience of having to apply to the graduate school first and then applying to the music school. In many cases, it immediately doubles the amount of work that needs to be done for each school. In addition, the graduate and music school will have their own set of requirements, and if they are not met, your application will be considered ineligible.
Additionally, make sure you read about all of the requirements for the music school - music schools have set application requirements, and specific departments (such as composition / theory / brass / woodwind / etc) will have their own requirements that need to be met as well.
Some pieces of information that you should try and look for:
This list is not comprehensive, but it should at least be a good frame to draw from.
Many school websites are not accurately maintained, so you need to look in several different places in order to find everything that you need. There are some things that I only found because I went back through the website for the 20th time looking for anything that I might have missed.
Supposing that you happen to have all of the above information for one particular school, then begin the application process. (Most schools have online applications, so you can start them, save them, and then come back to them later.) As you go through the application process, write down everything that you need to do in order to fully complete the application. For example, here are some things that you are probably going to need for your application:
Time. Give yourself lots of time. Begin the application process as early as humanly possible. Give your references as much time as possible in order to submit their recommendations for you. Give yourself time to complete the gathering process of all the materials I listed above (also not comprehensive.) Because of my inexperience, I did not realize exactly how much time it would take to complete six (twelve, remember?) applications; along with assembling my portfolios and mailing them, which had to bereceived not post-marked by a certain deadline. This lead to many, many very near-sleepless nights. Most schools will ask for anywhere to between three and seven scores for portfolio consideration. That said, if you've only got five scores that you feel are strong, it would probably be a better idea to send five strong scores than five strong and two weak.
Now, printing and binding.
Assuming all of your online and written application writing has been just dandy, let's pretend that you're ready to print / bind everything to get it ready to be mailed.
If you've ever had printing done at Staples or any other office-type store, you know it can get expensive pretty quickly. If you are planning to send six scores (let's say ten pages) to six schools, that's 360 pages of printing - and then you have to add in the cost of binding and postage. Expensive! When I was getting ready to do my printing, I think I estimated that it would have cost me around $150-175 to print and bind everything that needed to be done.
Instead of spending that much money (keep in mind that application fees range from $45-75 and you have at least six of them!) I decided to purchase my own ream of 28lb extra-white, non-glossy, recycled paper and print it myself.
Paper = $15
Printer Ink = $40
10pk CD-R= $5.97
A very nice and generous friend letting me borrow their printer = priceless
A very nice and generous professor letting me use their binding machine = priceless
So by having a friend and a nice teacher, I was able to save about $100 getting my materials ready for the applications.
Even with all of my huffing and puffing, near-sleepless nights, and vampire-like activity, I still only made it to the post office
10 minutes before it closed on the last day I could mail things and still make the deadline for each school.
The moral of the story:
1.) Spend time formatting all of your scores as soon as you finish them - especially if you like them.
2.) Start the process early.
3.) Be Organized - write everything down!
4.) Be nice and friendly - have at least one friend and one nice professor willing to help you.
5.) Do as much as you can by yourself, but don't be afraid to reach out for help if you really need it.
I am looking forward to the next few weeks as I should begin to be hearing back from some of my schools about possible interviews.
Much like I felt back in October when my piece for chamber orchestra was read through, there is no going back. Once these important people have seen and listened to your music and have read your name, there is no going back, there is no more being unknown: what you provide them is not only their first impression of you, but their only impression of you. Hopefully that impression you make with the portfolio is such that they want to get another impression of you in person.
Until then,
Training Wheels: Off
December 22nd, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment