Applying to Graduate School for Saxophone? Here are 10 things I want you to know!

    This past week, I was fortunate enough to present a lecture at the 43rd International Navy Band Saxophone Symposium entitled “Applying to Graduate School for Saxophone? Here are 10 things I want you to know!” After receiving a-lot of positive feedback (and forgetting to include all the information I had planned due to nerves), I decided to write out this presentation in hopes to share it with you all who could not make the presentation/conference.

    Applying to graduate school is an exciting opportunity that we all take when pursuing a masters or doctorate degree, but there’s information that people aren’t prepared for until it already happens. This article explores those little bits of information. Before we dive into the top 10 points, I wanted to start by saying this article is a realistic approach to applying to graduate school by exploring the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly (this is a saxophone version, but some of the points here can apply for all instruments and/or non musicians). This article is NOT slander towards any school or professor; in fact no school is mentioned for that reason. Finally, this article is not a full proof way to get into graduate school.  Anyway, without further ado, let’s start! 

1.) Start Early

    It’s imperative to start preparing for everything as soon as you figure out you want to go to graduate school. The first thing one should do is ask their private lesson teacher for recommendations. This is a good starting point because your professor knows you and your playing best and can point you in the right directions. From there, you want to gather a list of schools that you potentially want to apply for and see some general information about them. What are the audition requirements? What is the timeline looking like? Usually there are three kinds of deadlines. You have the big school deadlines that have a pre-screening round that are due by Dec. 1 of every academic year. Next you have the schools that have a deadline around January or February. These schools usually consist of your medium sized school, but several great programs fall into this category as well. Finally, you have schools that do not really have a deadline. These consist of your smaller schools and just like the other two, there are very great schools in this category as well.  

    After gathering your list of schools, narrow the list down to which schools you want to apply to. In a later point, we will talk about how having to many schools will increase your budget. See what these schools require for their auditions and incorporate them into your practice routine. For example, most, if not every, school will require major and harmonic scales, but some may potentially include thirds, fourths, fifths, whole tone scales, diminished scales, chromatic scales, and the list goes on! It is important to note that the professor may not even ask for these during the audition, but the sooner you start incorporating these into your practice sessions, the safer you will be when the professor asks you to play these for them. It is better to be safe than sorry.

    Finally, reach out to these professors via email! Every professor has a university email. I usually label my email "RE: Inquiries from a Potential Graduate Student". From there I introduce myself, very basic info about me (i.e. where I am attending, who my lesson teachers are, and what I am interested in pursuing". From there, I like to ask simple questions like "Do you have any openings for the upcoming academic year?" and "Is it possible to schedule a lesson in the upcoming future?". This has the potential of you spending more money in the process but getting to connect with a professor and see what the potential could be, is a vital part of seeing where you want to go. Finally, I attached a copy of my resume and a few recordings. This is optional and it is important to note that the professor may or may not look at these documents. Sending an email is crucial because it does put you on the professor's radar and this gives you information as well. Throughout this whole process it is important to know that you are trying to find information as well. As true as the statement "Professors are looking for students" is, the opposite is true as well. Try not to view it as a one-way street. 

2.) Let’s talk about all these documents

    Every school you apply to is going to have specific documents they ask for ranging from your CV or resume, all the way to a video introduction. It is best to find, or make, a template that you enjoy using that is also clear and concise. Please do not use the fancy templates that are confusing to read. Do not make the reader do more work to know about you than they must. Once you type up all your documents, remember to save a PDF version for each school. Sending a word document is okay, but pdf is more official and, it cannot be edited by the reader. 

    Another important topic to bring up in this point is to not use the same document for every school you apply to and just replace the school's name. Professors can tell if you do this, and it does not show your individuality to the reader or readers. Having reasons why you want to go to this university is super important. Maybe you have had professors that are alumni of the university you are applying to and love the way they teach. Applying to get the same experience that your professors had is one more reason that can make you stand out over the "I want to study here because the school is amazing" response that the professors will see. 

    Finally, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!  As embarrassing as it feels to have your friend point out common mistakes in your articles, the one extra read from someone else will save you the mistake of accidentally saying "Dear Graduation Selection Committee," instead of "Dear Graduate Selection Committee,". This was a mistake I made this year when typing up one of my statement of purposes to a college. I only realized that I made that typo after I submitted it for review. 

3.) Start saving your money

    Even before you start to apply to graduate programs, you are possibly going to want to take a few lessons or have conversations with your potential professors. Unfortunately, time does cost money. Lessons can cost anywhere from free to $100 a lesson. Some professors even do offer free "mini" lessons to talk about their university, but they do involve minimum playing. I would say 15 minutes max after talking about the potential program. In my opinion, if the budget allows, try and pursue the longer lessons to see how the professor and you interact not only verbally, but with your playing as well. 

 

    The average graduate school application cost is about $50 for musicians. If you apply to five schools, that is already $250.  There are some extremes that can be as high as $140 and even higher! Not only this but sometimes you must pay to apply to the school, and then must pay to apply to the school of music on top of that! It is easily fall into the trap of applying to too many schools and then having no money to travel to audition. Narrow that list of schools down to fit your budget. 

    Now that you applied and took a few lessons, there are even more costs to consider. Maybe you want to travel to the university in person before your audition to check it out and do a few more lessons with that professor. While this is a cool option to pursue, it does add up. Next, we must look at travel expenses. Flying and driving can make that budget tight, and some universities are not in a convenient spot from the airport. Finally, food is another cost must keep in mind. Of course, we have to check out the local home business that everyone says is amazing, but on a three-day trip spending $10-$20 a meal quickly adds up to $90-$180 on food alone for the trip. 

    Probably the best advices I can give you is to reach out to friends or family in the area if you have any! Hotels are probably the most expensive parts of the trip after flights. Having a friend let you stay with them saves a huge chunk of money. To give a realistic expectation of what you would spend, I applied to six programs form the 2021-2022 audition season the total coast added up to $2,238.00. Figure out what your budget is and apply/travel accordingly, so you do not find yourself in a tight situation around audition season. 

4.) Everyone has something to say about everyone and everything

    As we all know, music is a VERY opinionated field. While it is okay to ask your mentors/guardians/friends about where to look and who to study with, it is VERY easy to fall in the trap of asking too many people. Let us say you ask your private lesson teacher about potential schools, and they say, "You should apply to schools A, B, and C" then you happen to mention to your band director you are applying to graduate schools. Their response might be "Oh you should apply to school D, E, and F". Upon hearing this you might reply "Oh sweet, I am also applying to these schools".  Be prepared for their opinion about the programs to be presented for the good or for the bad. This situation can quickly spiral into four different professors saying you should apply here and now you have twelve schools on your list and you cannot afford to apply to all the schools.

    While seeking a professional opinion is important, it is important to also know that you have your own goals and interests and that at the end of the day, it is your money you are spending. Do not let your list grow so much because of others' opinions on teachers and programs. 

5.) The Five W’s

    This point is a catch all. You are going to be asked multiple questions. It is vital that you have answers to these for yourself, for your close friends/mentors/guardians, and for your potential future professors. Here are the Five W's

 Who:

    Who do you want to study with? Please avoid the answer "because they are good." Yes. We know. This answer is unoriginal and does not make you stand out. Personally, I want to study with someone if they are an open communicator, supports new music while maintaining the importance of the classics, and provides information that extends beyond music. 

What:

    What do you want to study? Obviously, you are pursuing a degree in saxophone or some form of music, but there is no one specific area to study. Do you want to dive deeper into music with electronics? Do you want to have a stronger presence in chamber music? Do you want work on arrangements of your favorite orchestra works? There are so many possibilities and I encourage you do dive deep into thinking about what you want to study.

When: 

    When do you want to pursue this degree. Some students and professors love the idea of taking a year off from school to explore the world, get real life experiences. Others, like the route of going all the way through your degrees with no break to prevent complacency or losing momentum. The path you choose is entirely up to you. Personally, I did take the year off from school route. During this time I clinicianed at local high school and middle schools where I gave private lessons, hosted chamber ensemble rehearsals, led sectionals and rehearsals, and also worked a small time job at a local steakhouse. I unfortunately did lose a little momentum with my practicing, but the experience I gained from giving lessons and teaching at schools were well worth the time away from school. 

Where:

    Where do you want to study? For me, I like being close to home. Naturally the first college I went to was only about an hour and a half away from home. Once I graduated from my undergraduate university, the idea of traveling a little further from home to study became more comfortable. I still am not in an area where I am comfortable living across the work on my own yet, but that is not everyone! Some people do like just packing up and going somewhere far away. Regional weather is another big factor to some people. Some people refuse to live up north just because of the cold weather and vice versa. 

    

    Another question I was asked was, "What about studying abroad?". This question probably could have an article on its own, but there are a few good points to note. First, some colleges overseas include money to travel and study in your tuition. So, if you spend $8000 in tuition, depending on your school, they could offer you a $1000 travel fund. One thing to be aware of is that there is a possibility that your degree is not "honored" back in the states. This is very selective, and it truly depends what school you are looking at overseas.

Why:

    

    Why do you want to do this degree? It is very common to hear the answer "Because I love music.". Again, this is a very common answer in a profession that is very saturated with people who love music. Find your reasoning as to why you are pursuing your passion. Loving music is a great quality to have, but it does need to go deeper than that. 

    

6.) Choose diverse programs 

    This point is a double meaning, the first of which refers to schools. It is important to consider factors about the school you are applying to. Is the school a large, medium, or small school? Each one of these options presents its own pros and cons. What about studio size? Of course, you want to attend somewhere where you be challenged, but how many members in a studio is too many for you? What about performance opportunities in the area? Big cities, while more expensive, will have more gig opportunities over small towns, which are cheaper to live in. 

    The second point in this topic is related to building your audition program. Please do not, build an entire program in three months. This will not happen. It is also imperative to choose pieces that multiple schools require. For example, most requirements state that you have to use a transcription. By including one transcription on your program, you just saved the stress of learning too many works. It is better to build a program of three to five works than learn eight different pieces and only using those works at one school each. 

    I tend to build my programs by including a transcription, a standard work (I.e. Glazunov, Ibert, Albright, etc.), an unaccompanied work, and a work that includes extended techniques (Altissimo, Multiphonics, Slap Tonguing, etc.). Sometimes these pieces can also be combined. For example, the Bach "Flute Partita in A minor" is a great work because not only does it cross off the transcription check mark, but it also checks off as an unaccompanied work. This also leaves open the choice to now pick a fourth work that I want to include on my audition program! This year I decided to pick works that I learned over my whole undergraduate career instead of using my senior program. When i used my senior program to audition for programs I found that I was prone to burn out easier since most of the pieces I played I was working on for almost 8 months by the time auditions rolled around. Whichever route you choose is completely up to you, but it is important to keep your mental health in mind.

7.) The Three “P's” to a graduate auditions 

    You finally made it to the audition! Congratulations! All your hard work is finally paying off and you get to experience the thrill of an audition. Here are the three "P's"

    Playing: Your playing is important! Obviously, there is a level that you have to be at in order to qualify to be considered. Going in and messing up the easiest part of the Ibert Concertino da Camera really is not an option at some schools. Keep up with your fundamentals and scales during the audition season. Even though the possibility of the professor not asking for these in the audition room is possible, it is better to be safe than sorry. 

    Presence: The term dress to impress is the best advice I could give. There is such thing as over dressing for an audition. Avoid wearing the tuxedos and tuxedo tails, while these are professional articles of clothing those are more used for nighttime and very professionals performances. As important as it is to be presentable, it is also important to be comfortable. The last thing you want to do is be in a suit from your freshmen year of college that is tight and hard to breathe in. If a suit is outside of your budget, a button up shirt with a tie and a sweater is a good choice as well since it resembles a suit like appearance. 

    Politics: Sometimes you can do everything right. Your technique is flawless, your intonation was spot on, or you feel like you and the professor had a great connection, but then the results are the complete opposite. This is just how higher education works and it could be for a number of reasons outside of your control. Be aware that this exists, but do not fear it. 

8.) DONT get obsessive 

    As your audition approaches, the inevitable happens. We start to mess up the parts of music we never mess up, we start getting frustrated, travel and work messes with the practice schedule. There are a number of factors that can lead to you stressing out, but always remember:  

    1.) You have a life and you need to live it. Music also exists outside of the practice room and social events help build us as musicians.

    2.) Your take on a work is not going to blow a professor out of the water. Yes, it is important to produce quality work, but at the end of the day, you are going to study with the professor to learn their approach and lessons on music.

    3.) A professor will make it known if they want you at their university. This, however, does not always mean money. It can be as simple as them saying "We would love to have you in our studio, but the program has no money to give you.". Professors will always be honest and upfront if they want you at the university. 

 

9.) Be Prepared for…

At last, your results have come out. Let’s talk about the different kinds of results that are possible.

Accepted with Assistantship/Scholarship:

    This is awesome! congratulations! One thing that I was told about this route is that even though you have tuition paid for and a monthly stipend, you still should expect to take loans out to pay for housing, groceries, gas, or anything that the monthly stipend does not cover. Very seldom does the stipend cover your costs and leave you with money left over. Being accepted with a scholarship is the same except the amount of money will vary, and there will not be any job duties like an assistantship would provide. The benefits to this is if you wanted to work outside of school to pay for school or bills, you do have more time on your hands than you would with an assistantship. 

   

Accepted:

    Getting accepted to the graduate program you want to attend is awesome and feels like a huge honor, but it is important to bring up that not everyone that gets accepted into a program receives aid. In my cases, the professor has been kind enough and upfront about this. Whether you want to attend the school because of this is entirely up to the individual. Yes, there is a possibility that maybe throughout the year you can be considered for a scholarship and potentially move into an assistantship. The opposite of this is true as well. At the end of the day, it is really up to you.

Waitlisted:

    To me this is the worst one. Yes, you are still being considered, but it depends on the students that were accepted. Looking at it from the mindset of "I was not the first choice so why should I consider going here anymore." is a negative way to look at this result that I will touch on in a few paragraphs under. While the statement is true, there are other ways to look at this result. After a few weeks/months you will be notified if you were accepted or denied. The possibility of financial aid is still possible! This result is just dependent on many factors and adds just more time to the process.

Denied:

    Of course, out of all the results, this is the one we do not desire whatsoever, however this is a real possibility. Yes, you are going to be upset, sad, or stressed. Yes, you might question yourself as a musician. These feeling are a normal part of being a human, but at the end of the day there are two important things to note:

1.) Do NOT fall into the mental trap of blaming something or someone for the results. This is advice I received from a friend at my undergraduate and once I heard it, it stuck with me. Could the professor already have someone else in mind? Possibly. Did your instrument create some kind of bias? Who knows. At the end of the day no matter what happens, having the mentality of blaming someone or something doesn’t help you grow as a musician and person. Could you intonation be off? Possibly. Could your technique be subpar to the other candidates. It is a possibility. Looking at what you CAN fix is going to be much more beneficial than looking for answers you cannot fix. It is important to be aware that sometimes these inconveniences happen, but also to always strive for the best you can be. 

2.) A professor's decision whether to admit you or not does not determine your value as a musician. Frequently I see musicians say "I did not get accepted to this university. I must not be good enough." The graduate school audition process has so many variables that assuming one variable is almost impossible unless you can confirm it 100%. When it comes to all these auditions, the statement “Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst” is really relevant in maintaining good mental health during such a stressful process. 

10.) Enjoy the process!

    Even though applying to graduate school can be a stressful, time committing, and expensive process, there are so many positives that can come out of it. Traveling was at the top of my list. I was fortunate enough to visit beautiful cities, towns, and even villages, trying out the local restaurants that serve amazing food, and meeting new friends that I could potentially work with in the future. Even when visiting the Navy Band Symposium this past week, I came across multiple people that I met during my audition process and being able to catch up with them was such an amazing time. Finally, throughout this process, you learn new information. Even if the results are not what you have hoped for, information was still learned in the process. One of the most useful things I learned on the trip was if you pack a carry-on suitcase with everything you need, you can check that back for free when you arrive at the airport, instead of paying $30 each way. This saves you the trouble of carrying a personal item, your instrument, and another suitcase on top of that throughout the airport. At the end of the day, I hope this article gave you, the reader, an insight to some parts of the graduate school audition and to those about to enter their auditions throughout the upcoming months...

Goodluck!

If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, and/or scathing rebuttals, please feel free to reach out to me by email: chasearomans@gmail.com

Chase A. Romans