Anyone else have a student applying to grad school?

[Hoggirl]

I was trying to remember how long ago the college sub forum was added. Maybe it's time for sub forum for grad/professional school as well!

[Sunshine State Sue]

Maybe it's time for sub forum for grad/professional school as well!

 

It's difficult for me not to do the research about applications, majors, etc.  I want to pester ds about deadlines, references, transcripts, etc. 

 

I think I need a homeschoolers anonymous group.  Hi, my name is Sue, and I'm a recovering homeschooler....  :rolleyes:

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Sue in St Pete

[Gwen in VA]

 

Dd music major is a junior, starting to think about grad schools.  Is it like undergrad where the audition counts for a lot, or is it grades or GRE based as well?  Grad school is a mystery..

 

 

At least in our experience, grad schools in music are interested in seeing a college transcript, recommendations, and a statement of purpose (length requirements vary). Most likely there will be a preliminary audition done by sending in recordings of pieces. If the student makes the preliminary round, then there is the in-person audition process....  No test scores of any kind are required -- the powers that be care about how good a musician the student is and is he at least a reasonable student, but the focus is on music, not on general academic prowess.

[plansrme]

That's a "yes" from Stanford!  She's already Rsvp'd to their accepted students day and has a Skype call set up with the guy who sent her the acceptance email.  

[amathis229]

That's a "yes" from Stanford!  She's already Rsvp'd to their accepted students day and has a Skype call set up with the guy who sent her the acceptance email.  

 

That's fantastic! Their d.school program - fascinating!

 

[creekland]

It's difficult for me not to do the research about applications, majors, etc.  I want to pester ds about deadlines, references, transcripts, etc. 

 

I think I need a homeschoolers anonymous group.  Hi, my name is Sue, and I'm a recovering homeschooler....  :rolleyes:

 

And there are some of us who wish we hadn't given up our guidance counselor roles for professional school assuming other "knowledgeable" people would provide correct info as long as the student did their part.   :cursing:   I "might" still be a "wee" bit miffed at that one having happened.

 

As least it all turned out ok in the end when influential powers that be learned of it.  But those "knowledgeable" people are still out there AFAIK.  :glare:

[MerryAtHope]

I think I need a homeschoolers anonymous group.  Hi, my name is Sue, and I'm a recovering homeschooler....  :rolleyes:

 

LOL, yeah, I'm not ready for the 12-step program yet! Thankfully I have undergrad students who (mostly!) appreciate my need to over-research (and over-think) things!

[Janice in NJ]

Dd music major is a junior, starting to think about grad schools.  Is it like undergrad where the audition counts for a lot, or is it grades or GRE based as well?  Grad school is a mystery..

 

Hi!

 

Chiming in with Gwen here. All applications have asked for a transcript; however, I suspect it's more of a sniff test. If you are seeking a Masters in Music Ed, most we have seen ask for a GRE, but it's not requested from performance majors. 

 

They do ask for a repertoire list with explanations - what was performed, etc. So if your student hasn't been tracking that, she should. Gwen mentioned a recording round prior to an audition. We have found that depends on the instrument. For example, piano and voice departments have asked for a recording; however, my student plays pipe organ, and the schools he has applied to haven't asked for a recording prior to the live audition. 

 

It is important to keep the resume in mind too. In the end, they are looking for strong players for performance programs; however, if your student needs money, it's important to keep an eye on that too. What kinds of jobs are available for grad students? TA for theory classes. Accompanying. Teaching lessons. Etc. In addition to focusing on performance, Ds has tried to gain as much experience as an undergrad in the areas that will make him competitive when it comes to getting the funding he is going to need in grad school - in terms of skill set and leadership experience. In his profession, there is also money to be made in off-campus churches. 

 

So for my kid, he has focused on building his resume in three areas:

 

1. Performance - competitions and recital experience

2. Departmental employment - teaching assistant for theory classes; accompanying for recitals, studio classes (sight reading), and department choirs; singer/section leader in a touring choir (as a section leader, he runs sectional rehearsals)

3. Off campus work: Organ Scholar experience all four years of undergrad

 

His resume has these sections:

 

Music Awards: list of competitions/scholarships won

Education: Degree info

Solo Recitals: List

Experience: Employment and volunteer work in college that make him departmentally employable in grad school

Music Activities: The catch all (For example, he has taken voice lessons all four years. He took time this past fall to travel to another state to attend an organ improvisation conference on his own. Etc)

 

I hope that helps. Momma brag here: as a winner in the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition last year, the lad will be playing this summer at the Organ Guild's national convention as one of their "Rising Stars." The program will be offered on Michael Barone's Pipedreams Live Radio broadcast. Should be fun! 

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey 

 

P.S. Editing here. Note: if you look at what Ds has focused on, you will notice the DISTINCT absence of classes/grades. Yes, he needed to get decent grades for the past four years; however, for what he is planning to do, the difference between all A's and having a couple of B's thrown isn't a big difference. For example, A's within his department/major are important, but I suspect no one cares a bit if he earned B's in his gen ed classes. BUT if he had no experience as a theory TA? I'm sure that would be a strike against him. Keep in mind, he received NO academic credit for doing that - for multiple semesters - a VERY time consuming job. His off campus job also consumes a ton of his time as does the touring choir he participates in as a volunteer. (They rehearse for 7.5 hours a week - and that doesn't include the section leader mtgs with the conductor and the prep for the rehearsals he runs. Nor does it include prep time when he is accompanying. But a fantastic experience - YouTube video linked below - it was taken during their international tour (Japan/South Korea) last summer. Ds is accompanying the choir.) Again - no mention of either on his transcript. Competitions on his performance instrument? An enormous time commitment! And relevant for his path - but again - not on the transcript. 

 

Said all that to say this: every kid's path is different. So it's important to help them roughly sketch it out and then fine-tune it as you go to help them get their priorities straight. TOUGH to do - because they are in an academic environment that focuses on grades. Which makes the transcript seem like the most important thing. In Ds's case, his classes land almost dead last when it comes to where he is focusing his attention. Odd. Strange. But necessary. In Ds's particular case, the education he receives because of the environment tends to overshadow the education he gets in the classroom. 

 

(And I get it - the standard 2 hours outside of class for every hour in class. I have hammered that home since they started taking college classes while in high school. Bam. Bam. Bam over the head with that. However, if you map out this kid's schedule, it is literally impossible. Literally. There is no time left for the priority list. And if he skips that, he can't go where he wants to go. Hence - the priority list dictates the daily/weekly schedule.)

 

Sue: I hear you about the recovering homeschooler part regarding the application process. However, from what I understand, this really is just standard parenting at this point. As in we aren't being helicopter homeschoolers - the "regular" parents are a part of the grad school process to some extent. :-)   Kids have to those preliminary conversations with someone about what they want and how they are going to pursue it. No paid person is going to take the time to hash all of this out with them in the preliminary rounds. Once they have a rough draft, then I send them to go talk to the mentors/pros who are paid to help/advise them. Otherwise, the kid ends up being the dog at the new pan - wasting everyone's time because they just don't know how to approach this stuff. WAY less involvement then I had during the undergrad app process - night and day - but still needed to be there on some level. 

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Rock on!

 

Scroll 9:55 minutes in for accompanying clip.

It was toward the end of the tour; you can see how exhausted but happy they all are. 

Edited January 21, 2018 by Janice in NJ

[Sunshine State Sue]

Momma brag here: as a winner in the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition last year, the lad will be playing this summer at the Organ Guild's national convention as one of their "Rising Stars." The program will be offered on Michael Barone's Pipedreams Live Radio broadcast. Should be fun!

Very exciting!  Congratulations.  Please consider posting how we can listen to it. :bigear:

 

Sue: I hear you about the recovering homeschooler part regarding the application process. However, from what I understand, this really is just standard parenting at this point. As in we aren't being helicopter homeschoolers - the "regular" parents are a part of the grad school process to some extent. :-)   Kids have to those preliminary conversations with someone about what they want and how they are going to pursue it. No paid person is going to take the time to hash all of this out with them in the preliminary rounds. Once they have a rough draft, then I send them to go talk to the mentors/pros who are paid to help/advise them. Otherwise, the kid ends up being the dog at the new pan - wasting everyone's time because they just don't know how to approach this stuff. WAY less involvement then I had during the undergrad app process - night and day - but still needed to be there on some level.

Thanks for the kind words, Janice.  You are right.  It helps him to get a rough draft of an idea about the future and others help him fine tune it.

 

 

Scroll 9:55 minutes in for accompanying clip.

It was toward the end of the tour; you can see how exhausted but happy they all are.

Loved this.  Especially the Lux Aeterna and Daniel.  I spent a little time looking for more.  They sing like angels!  How wonderful that your ds gets to have such of a rich college experience.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2018 by Sue in St Pete

[SMMom1]

Mine wants to go to grad school in a couple of years. Meanwhile, she wants to work in the area of the masters she is interested in. For my indecisive kid, this is a great accomplishment. She has a clear view of her goal and has researched how to get there!

 

I always get a ton of students who want to apply to grad school, and I steer them towards this great site: https://theprofessorisin.com/tag/how-to-contact-an-advisor/

 

Have your daughter use this email template when contacting potential grad advisors. I call it the "magic email" and most of my students get responses when they send it out.

 

[DebbS]

My son is deciding between launching immediately into an m.arch program and taking a year off before doing so. I'm glad that he's seriously considering his options before making this decision. On one hand, it's hard standing on the sidelines and on the other, I'm proud that he's thinking this through in such an adult way!

My daughter is in her sophomore year as a voice major and her professors are already counseling her towards grad school. She has her junior and senior recitals planned a semester in advance so that she will be able to focus on auditions during her senior year.

[Eos]

 

 

Sue, can I join your group?

Edited February 6, 2023 by Eos

[Sunshine State Sue]

Sue, can I join your group?

Absolutely.  :lol:   Maybe they'll start a sub-forum for us.

 

[Gwen in VA]

 

She's currently a classical performance major but is heading into historic performance

 

Historic keyboard -- how fun!

 

Dd2 was interested in that -- she played harpsichord at Colonial Williamsburg both solo and as part of a performing group for several years and also did continuo for an early music group so got to know something about it.

 

Enjoy the journey!

 

 

 

 

[Gwen in VA]

We had multiple family crises last fall, so I could not focus at all on dd's decision to apply to grad school. She did it 100% on her own.

 

I lost my sanity last fall for multiple reasons, but grad school applications was not on the list! Thankfully it worked out well -- she is VERY organized! :001_smile:

[Mabelen]

I always get a ton of students who want to apply to grad school, and I steer them towards this great site: https://theprofessorisin.com/tag/how-to-contact-an-advisor/

 

Have your daughter use this email template when contacting potential grad advisors. I call it the "magic email" and most of my students get responses when they send it out.

Thank you so much for your input. I have seen some of my daughter's emails to professors. She is actually pretty good. In later elementary and middle school, I would run my emails through her for her input and final approval. Once she hit high school, I always had her email her teachers herself, running her communications with them through me first, and copying me in the email.

 

Having said that, that template is particularly useful because it is so specific to grad school. I will share it with my daughter. I am sure she will appreciate it and will benefit from it. There is also a lot of other useful information in that website, so thank you so much again.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Great news! Ds24 received an offer from Kansas State University to enter their PhD program in evolutionary biology. He plans to study systematics. He is waiting on UCONN to see if they can secure funding for him. We are so relieved. He will have a place to go in August.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[Pawz4me]

Our niece found out yesterday that she was accepted into grad school!  And it's at the same university DS19 attends. She'll only need to be on campus a couple of days a week and I think she's hoping he'll let her set up a cot in his apartment. :lol:

 

DS22 will be working a few years and then (probably) applying to a full time MBA program.

[elegantlion]

I received a graduate assistantship at one of the schools in which I applied. Still waiting to hear from the other, hoping to get a similar offer from them. 

 

I started pricing apartments this week. That's going to be more of an adventure than the entire application process. 

[Mom22ns]

I received a graduate assistantship at one of the schools in which I applied. Still waiting to hear from the other, hoping to get a similar offer from them. 

 

I started pricing apartments this week. That's going to be more of an adventure than the entire application process. 

 

Congratulations! Assistantships are announced April 1st here, so I'm still waiting to hear. 

[Jenny in Florida]

My daughter made it through the on-paper application round and was invited to participate in a full-day "artist review." They did some info meetings, ensemble work, solo presentations and an interview.

 

She felt it went well, but now has to wait until mid-March for the actual notification.

[J-rap]

I received a graduate assistantship at one of the schools in which I applied. Still waiting to hear from the other, hoping to get a similar offer from them. 

 

I started pricing apartments this week. That's going to be more of an adventure than the entire application process. 

 

That's so great!

[J-rap]

My dd has decided to just apply at grad schools in Europe.  Her first choice is France.  She has to take a French fluency test in Chicago next month, which should (hopefully!) go fine.  Other schools in the UK and elsewhere have later deadlines, so she'll get to those next.  She really has no idea what her chances are.  The top two programs in France accept just five international students.  

[Gwen in VA]

Dd2 just mader her grad school decision public -- she will be attending the Master of Sacred Music program at Notre Dame, a two-year program for organists that focuses not only on organ performance but also sacred music, theology, and liturgy. It prepares students to be directors of music in liturgical churches with strong music programs.

 

She will have a two-year internship at the basilica there.

 

And best of all, it is fully funded and comes with a stipend! :-)

 

:hurray:  Happy mama dance!  :hurray: 

[dirty ethel rackham]

And more great news. Ds24 was also accepted to UConn! On paper, that is his first choice, but he hasn't visited them yet. The professor who he'd work with will be out of the country until late march. He has to let the other program know by early April (they upped their offer by $5000 a year.)

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[Janice in NJ]

Dd2 just mader her grad school decision public -- she will be attending the Master of Sacred Music program at Notre Dame, a two-year program for organists that focuses not only on organ performance but also sacred music, theology, and liturgy. It prepares students to be directors of music in liturgical churches with strong music programs.

 

She will have a two-year internship at the basilica there.

 

And best of all, it is fully funded and comes with a stipend! :-)

 

:hurray:  Happy mama dance!  :hurray:

 

This is FANTASTIC, Gwen! Congratulations!

 

My guy finished his last audition this past weekend. Now, he waits. Fingers crossed for that funded/stipend combo here as well! Boy, do we need it. LOL! 

 

Once again - please pass my congratulations along to her! WooHoo!!

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

[plansrme]

My math geek is about to begin criss-crossing the country for accepted student days for her math Ph.D. programs.  She has a desk in the shared grad students' office, and she keeps a list there to record her professors', fellow students' and post-docs' votes about where she should attend.  Everyone has an opinion, and this lets her assure everyone that their opinions have been duly noted.  She has had some heart-to-hearts with current professors who know the individuals who would be her likely advisors, and she'll meet the potential advisors on her visits.  A couple of them have already reached out directly to her, and several have had their students contact her.  (You will note that the parallels to a cult just keep piling up. . ..)

 

Each of the schools pays her expenses to visit them, which is awesome.  I'm really excited to hear about her experiences and keep threatening to accompany her.  She is not amused.

[SeaConquest]

My math geek is about to begin criss-crossing the country for accepted student days for her math Ph.D. programs. She has a desk in the shared grad students' office, and she keeps a list there to record her professors', fellow students' and post-docs' votes about where she should attend. Everyone has an opinion, and this lets her assure everyone that their opinions have been duly noted. She has had some heart-to-hearts with current professors who know the individuals who would be her likely advisors, and she'll meet the potential advisors on her visits. A couple of them have already reached out directly to her, and several have had their students contact her. (You will note that the parallels to a cult just keep piling up. . ..)

 

Each of the schools pays her expenses to visit them, which is awesome. I'm really excited to hear about her experiences and keep threatening to accompany her. She is not amused.

So excited for her. Add my vote for Stanford to her tally. :)

[plansrme]

So excited for her. Add my vote for Stanford to her tally. :)

 

I'll let her know.  :)

 

My middle daughter, the swimmer, also is lobbying for Stanford because--Katie Ledecky; also, Stanford's women just won the Pac-12 conference meet, see Katie Ledecky and, also, Simone Manuel.  I'm gonna guess that's an angle no one on her office tally has contemplated.  

[Sunshine State Sue]

Each of the schools pays her expenses to visit them, which is awesome.

I had never heard of this until my niece was being courted by PHD programs in Environmental Science approx 5 years ago. 

 

I am in awe!  :party:

 

[Frances]

I had never heard of this until my niece was being courted by PHD programs in Environmental Science approx 5 years ago.

 

I am in awe! :party:

 

It was pretty common, at least for STEM programs, back in the late 1980s when my husband and I were applying. My first ever plane ride was paid for by Cornell University. And my husband was flown all over the country for chemistry PhD programs.

[8filltheheart]

My math geek is about to begin criss-crossing the country for accepted student days for her math Ph.D. programs.

 

Each of the schools pays her expenses to visit them, which is awesome. I'm really excited to hear about her experiences and keep threatening to accompany her. She is not amused.

Ds, too, except he has a serious girlfriend who is a physics major at ND and the 2 of them have been accepted to many of the same schools. I think every trip is as muc about their getting to see each other as seeing the depts. ;)

 

if I was going to make a bet, I would guess the west coast is winning.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Ds was accepted into Mines Engineering and Technology Management program.  It's a 1 year MS degree. 

 

I am going to have to talk to ds about financial aid.  I called the office today and the guy was not friendly.  It sounds like ds has to go through FAFSA and since he'll be a grad student, he will be an independent student.  Maybe he'll be able to get something that way.  He said teaching assistantships and research assistantships come from the department and ds should talk to the department.  I'm not sure if ds has done that.

[plansrme]

Just wanted to pass along an interesting observation my math geek came back with after her first math Ph.D. accepted student day.  This is a school with a top-ten math graduate school, and several people with whom she spoke there asked where else she was considering.  To a man, they told her to go to School X but to come back to them for a post-doc position.  A professor from another well-known math program and with whom she has interacted a lot, told her the same thing, i.e., I would love to have you, but you may NOT come here, but do come back for a post-doc.  So much for trying to keep an open mind!  I am weirdly touched by these random bits of unselfish advice from people who are in a position to know what they are talking about.

[8filltheheart]

Just wanted to pass along an interesting observation my math geek came back with after her first math Ph.D. accepted student day.  This is a school with a top-ten math graduate school, and several people with whom she spoke there asked where else she was considering.  To a man, they told her to go to School X but to come back to them for a post-doc position.  A professor from another well-known math program and with whom she has interacted a lot, told her the same thing, i.e., I would love to have you, but you may NOT come here, but do come back for a post-doc.  So much for trying to keep an open mind!  I am weirdly touched by these random bits of unselfish advice from people who are in a position to know what they are talking about.

 

Did they elaborate as to why?  Did they explain why they accepted her into the program, but then not recommend her attending? 

[plansrme]

Did they elaborate as to why?  Did they explain why they accepted her into the program, but then not recommend her attending? 

 

They all say School X is a better Ph.D. program than their own.  Also, School X seems to have money stuffed in the air vents.

[8filltheheart]

They all say School X is a better Ph.D. program than their own.  Also, School X seems to have money stuffed in the air vents.

Yay for their honesty!  Glad that they have been so upfront with her.  

[SeaConquest]

They all say School X is a better Ph.D. program than their own.  Also, School X seems to have money stuffed in the air vents.

 

Follow the money!!

[madteaparty]

My dd has decided to just apply at grad schools in Europe. Her first choice is France. She has to take a French fluency test in Chicago next month, which should (hopefully!) go fine. Other schools in the UK and elsewhere have later deadlines, so she'll get to those next. She really has no idea what her chances are. The top two programs in France accept just five international students.

May I ask what her degree will be in?

[8filltheheart]

Ds just finished his visit at what he thought was going to be his #1 choice and he wasn't disappointed. He says the dept is what he is looking for. So I might have something happen that I could never imagine...a child who is a CA resident. Berkeley is looking like it will most likely be his destination unless his next visit completely blows him away.

[plansrme]

I think I can officially announce that my math geek will be entering the Ph.D. program at Stanford in the fall.  She visited this week and met potential advisors (2 of whom already knew who she was because one of her GT mentors had called about her well in advance of her even applying--go GT!) and current students, sat in on some reading groups, drank the Kool-Aid. . ..

 

Interesting observation:  In her group of 20 accepted students visiting this week, there were 17 men, 3 women.  Other than hers, their undergraduate degrees were all from Ivys, U of Chicago and Berkeley (which I don't actually count as a state school for this purpose).  I find it hard to believe that 95% of the top potential mathematicians in the U.S. are all getting their undergraduate degrees at HYP. :glare:

[J-rap]

May I ask what her degree will be in?

 

Sure -- The specific degree varies a bit depending on the schools.  Right now she's applying to two different programs both at the same university (in France).  One is in political science with a concentration in comparative policies, and the other is in political science with a concentration in migration studies.

[madteaparty]

Sure -- The specific degree varies a bit depending on the schools. Right now she's applying to two different programs both at the same university (in France). One is in political science with a concentration in comparative policies, and the other is in political science with a concentration in migration studies.

Thanks! Best of luck to her!

[J-rap]

Thanks! Best of luck to her!

 

Thank you!  Yes, fingers crossed!  

[Jenny in Florida]

So, just under the wire to allow me to do this before the Great Board Shutdown of 2018, I'm pleased to announce:

 

My daughter was just accepted into the Master of Arts in Applied Theatre program at CUNY School of Professional Studies.

 

She was getting a little nervous, because they had been told to expect decisions by "mid-March." She sent a follow-up e-mail to a contact at the university a few days ago and then received a note addressed to all applicants saying that they would send notifications as soon as the "admissions structures" were in place. So, at that point, she figured it might be a while yet.

 

But she received her congratulations e-mail about 30 minutes ago.

 

Whew.

[Mom22ns]

On 2/25/2018 at 9:15 AM, deblane@mac.com said:

Congratulations! Assistantships are announced April 1st here, so I'm still waiting to hear. 

I'm super excited to announce I received a graduate assistantship! 

[elegantlion]

I am a first alternate for a GTA at my school. They are working to find other funding for me for first semester and they are fairly certain they can fund me after that. Worse case scenario is I live at home, take 1-2 classes which means I would only have to commute 2-3 days a week, and I could keep my job at the museum on the weekends. 

[8filltheheart]

Ds has made it official and has decided to attend Berkeley. Now he is stressing about finding housing. ;) 

[Hoggirl]

Congrats, 8!  Ds has a high school classmate who is headed there as well.  Some sort of biology/anthropology something or other.  Waaaaaaay over my level of understanding! 

[madteaparty]

29 minutes ago, Hoggirl said:

Congrats, 8!  Ds has a high school classmate who is headed there as well.  Some sort of biology/anthropology something or other.  Waaaaaaay over my level of understanding! 

Totally unrelated, but I think I met some of your DS’s classmates this month while traveling (their spring break). It’s a tiny world!