Is anyone here studying music in college? If so I'm curious about your audition experience. What college or university? How difficult would you say it was to get into the program? What was required at the audition? Also, did you earn any merit-based scholarships?

I am a junior in high school and plan to major in music composition. I'll have to start sending out applications in the near future and I'd love any advice from people with experience.

if ur a junior (Gr10?) then I wouldn't think too much about it. Start of Grade 12 is usually when people start thinking about it. Early admissions for most universities are around November. If u do this, they will send you a notice of confirmed qualification sometime late april to early june. I'm a music minor so I can't tell you anything about the auditions to get in but I would assume its not hard at all if you're not planning on performance major. On the outline, it wrote recommend completion of RCM 8 or equivilant for performance majors so I would assume they look more for musicality and talent over technical skills. Now my university is not exactly best known for music so if ur looking to go to Europe or something, u might want to have finished the outside curriculum in your instrument.

BMUS splits into 3, composition, history, and performance. Each would have different requirements. you are also free to swap your major within your faculty after u enter it. Since majority of the courses you take in the first two years will be required by all 3 focus u have plenty of time to decide even after you enter.

But, if u wish to pursue film/video game/TV scoring then a BMUS becomes really optional. You would be much better off trying to get into a specialized school that teaches you how to score for that genre specifically. I hear its extremely hard to get into those though.

I'm in grade 11 actually, so I'll have to start applying next year. I would love to go to a school such as the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. They have a program for film music in specific with lots of ties to Hollywood. But the tuition is like $40,000. :'(

The best thing to do is to look at the website itself, get in contact with the university, etc. Definitely start working on your composition portfolio now. No college (or good ones, at least) want new compositions or pieces written that aren't truly proficient.

The best thing to do is what mazeppa said. The requirements can variate from one university to another.

In my conservatory the requirements are to submit three(3) original compositions written in its totality(the score). It must be for 3 instruments or more, of any combination. And to have at least a recording of one of them. It can be live or digital recording. The scores and the audio recording will be evaluate by a jury of the composition department.

Then you must be able to perform one of your pieces in your instrument. That will be evaluated too.

And finally you must go for an interview. Part of that interview will be a discussion about the pieces you submitted. So you must know well your own pieces and have an understanding of them and your goals in the pieces.

One recommendation I can give is to check the professors of the university. And if you are going to submit various works, keep them variate. Show that you are not sticking to a particular style or instrumentation. And make the notation completely clean, no weird stuffs or bad notation. And finally, understand your compositions, your desires and goals.

Edit: I forgot, in my conservatory you must take a theory and solfeage test. I guess that apply to other universities too.

I´m 15 years old and i´m in a conservatory in my country, Mexico. Here you need to pass an test with your instrument an one test of theory (solfeage) you need to go to an interview and.. i really don´t know much about music compositions because i´m studying another i don´t know how to say in english, sorry ^^UUUU ok, the point is that is kind of difficult to acces but if you really afford (?) it you gonna be in the conservatory ;D it´s difficult when you are in because the subjets are hardest than college but it´s so beautiful to play with guys that have your same age and play with professional musicians that i don´t konow how to say in english agaiiin T.T!!!! (vale la pena) sorry... i think i don´t help so much but... it´s incredible that you want to study music!!^^ aaaa one thing... here english is obligatory but.. i think you really don´t have problems with that xDDDD take care ; D it was a placer to write something here xD ;* Good Luck!!!

My auditions at the University of Utah were a bit different because the composition major doesn't technically begin until your third year in the program. Here you simply audition with your instrument (which for me is voice) and then they interview you. Sometimes there is a theory test. Then, if you make it through a year of composition seminar (usually taken your second year in the program), which is a small lesson-like setting which one of the composition faculty teaches, then you automatically go into the composition major.

If you are sure you want to major in Music, are going to a classical/jazz-based school, and have never read any type of sheet music; then I strongly recommend getting a good private instructor as soon as possible. You may not master everything before the audition, but at least you will be more prepared. If you have not had any type of formal music theory instruction, this will be another thing working against you. Introductory Music Theory courses will cover basic scale development, key signatures, etc, however you will find yourself falling extremely behind if you do not have some experience.

You will probably not have to declare your major until your third semester at college, however you should start brainstorming ideas on which program you believe is best for you and what kind of learning environment interest you.

Thank you all for the helpful advice and personal experiences.

I went on a campus visit to the University of Missouri, Kansas City. The school has an excellent conservatory that I would like to attend. While there I sat down and talked with one of the composition professors. He said that I'll need to submit between three and six notated scores of any style or instrumentation. I will also need to audition on an instrument and possibly go through an interview.

I still have a solid year before I have to audition and send in scores, so I have time to put some compositions together. He said that midi realizations are acceptable along with the scores. I am planning on auditioning vocally as a baritone. I think that I'm in pretty good shape as long as I can do well on the singing audition.

As I side note, I am taking my second year of music theory as an independent study student at my high school. Next year will be my third. I am in concert band, pep band, jazz band, and a madrigals choir. I went to state solo contest for voice and received a fairly high rating (II). I'm hoping that those things will look good on my resume...I'm quite anxious honestly. :heh: