Office of Admissions Blog

By Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

I do know that the title for this tip doesn’t make a lot of sense, so be patient and read through this blog – the practical tip is at the end!

Our brains are incredible, miraculous things.  Everything we do – colors we see, moving our toe a millimeter, is driven by a signal from the brain.  Our brains store literally millions of pieces of information at a sub-conscious level that are informing us every second without us actually being conscious of it.  Try to remember how you learned to read – isn’t it amazing to think that at one point in our lives, we didn’t know the letters of the alphabet?  Much less that the letters went together to form words, which form sentences, which form books, newspapers, websites, signs….It’s all there, but it’s become so automatic that we don’t even realize the volume of information that it takes for us to read.

Different types of information is stored in different places in the brain – a neurosurgeon could tell us exactly where in our brain memories are stored, large motor activities are controlled – research has even show that the lack of certain chemicals in the brain actually affects our ability to be happy.  What is miraculous, however, is that the brain can actually adapt to injury – if a certain area of the brain is injured, the brain may be able to literally move the information to another section of the brain, so that someone who lost the ability to speak, or even walk, can actually re-learn how to do so.  You may have read about Kevin Pearce’s head injury if you’ve been following the Olympics.  He is an American snowboarder who hit his forehead (yes, he was wearing a helmet), during practice for the half-pipe event.  He is at a brain-rehabilitation hospital, and will have to learn how to walk again.

If a river is blocked, small streams may start, and over time those streams will create their own beds and become rivers.

I am struck by both of these images. Our brain is quite literally who we are, and it is capable of incredibly adaptability.  Somehow, it relates to auditioning.  I went to the website of the hospital that Kevin Pearce was sent to, and found the following information about Skills Training therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):

Skills Training is based on none other than practice! Patients just practice a skill over and over until they master it. And, the more that their practice relates to something functional or useful – like driving, reading or writing, or following instructions – the better.

So, the most common way to help people with TBI improve their attention is by practicing. It helps when therapists monitor their patients’ performance and give them ideas and feedback. They also found that attention training seems to work best when people are trying to learn new, difficult functional tasks or re-learn old, complex tasks. … And, practice does lead to improvement. Ask any concert pianist or Olympic skier.

Ok, so where am I going with this?

Mental practice.

Our brains control our fingers and feet, our vocal cords.  Our brains are our musicianship, our imagination, our concept of beauty, our desire to be artists.  Martha Graham said: “That is what technique is for – liberation.”  Liberation to express what we want to express, to communicate what we want to communicate.

So, here’s the tip:

Take the time to practice your music in your head.  In your mind, hear it perfectly, musically, expressively – know exactly what you want to happen, note by note, phrase by phrase, beginning to end.  If your brain practices – your brain knows what your absolute, most wonderfully imagined performance is – the streams will become rivers.  Your brain will communicate to your fingers, your breath, your embouchure, your vocal cords – the river bed will be so deep that your audition will be truly be the best performance that you are able to give.

by Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

You may have heard this before, but it bears repeating – practice in your audition outfit and shoes.  Too tight/too high shoes, a jacket that restricts your bow arm, a dress that keeps slipping – these are distractions that you don’t need when you are in the audition room!  And don’t just try everything on – play in the outfit.  What feels good walking around isn’t necessarily comfortable to perform in.  It’s surprising how much we can tolerate something uncomfortable, such as a restrictive shirt or high heels, in our daily life.  I remember a singer who wore a beautiful dress and high heels to an audition – she walked into the audition room, stood there for a second, and then asked the faculty if she could take off her shoes to sing.  She said that she could feel that the heels were that little bit too high, and her pelvis was tilting to compensate and affecting her support.  I applaud her for recognizing that fact, and having the courage to simply do what she needed to do to sing well. But – she should have tried to sing in those shoes before the audition!

On a secondary topic – what exactly are suitable audition clothes?  Besides being comfortable (see above!), I would simply recommend nice attire.  Concert dress is fine, but not necessary.  For men, a nice shirt and slacks is fine – a suit and tie is not necessary.  For women, a simple dress, blouse and skirt/slacks is suitable – a performance gown is not necessary.  Basically, look like you made an effort to look good!

by Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching the Olympics almost every night.  Tuesday night was the Men’s Figure Skating short program (I actually watched Wednesday – DVR is a wonderful thing!).  One of the U.S. skaters, Evan Lysacek, skated an unbelievable program – nailed absolutely everything.  In the last Winder Olympics, he totally bombed his short program – and found out later that he had the stomach flu and was severely dehydrated.  He placed 10th after the short program, then went on to complete 9 triple jumps in his long program, and moved up to 4th overall, just short of a medal.

The commentators had spent a lot of the evening talking about how the achievement is to simply be able to go out and do exactly what they had done in their practice sessions while under the enormous pressure of the Olympics – sound familiar?

Scott Hamilton,  who was the last U.S. male skater to win both the World Championship and an Olympic gold, is one of the commentators for the skating events.  He said that Evan had asked him how he had prepared for the Olympics, and I thought that his response was phenomenal – and was also a great audition tip!

“Eliminate every would’ve, could’ve or should’ve – when you step on the ice at the Olympics [walk into your audition], know that you’ve done everything that you can to prepare for this moment.” – Scott Hamilton

by Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

We’ve written quite a few blogs about auditioning, and with our big Audition Week coming up in two short weeks, I thought it would be a good time to give some simple, practical tips that applicants can put into use for their Juilliard audition. Do search through our past blogs as well for some good suggestions – particularly past January and February blogs .

And check back – I hope that we will post every few days between now and March!

Audition Tip #1: Choose your first piece wisely

At 90% of auditions, you will be allowed to choose your first piece. This shouldn’t be a surprise – don’t decide in the moment! Think about all of the repertoire that you have prepared, and choose your first piece based on the following:

1. You can play it in your sleep. No kidding. It’s in your fingers, in your body, and even the worst nerves will not cause a major crash-and-burn.
2. You love the piece. Part of the job of the first piece is to get you settled – comfortable in an unfamiliar room, with the faculty panel staring at you – it’s not a situation that’s ideal for playing your best! But if you start with something that you love, you’ll create the mental space to relax and communicate the music – and after all, that’s what music is all about – communication.

Now here’s the tip in reverse:

1. Don’t start with a flashy, showy piece just to impress. Show us your musicianship first, fingers after that. We’d rather you play something simple absolutely gorgeously than play something fiendishly difficult and not play it well (see #1 above). Save fiendishly difficult for a few minutes in, after you’ve had time to relax a bit! If the faculty want to hear it, they’ll ask for it.
2. Don’t start with something obscure. There is absolutely no advantage to playing something that nobody knows – and frankly, it can be a disadvantage. In the relatively small amount of time of an audition, the faculty have a lot of information to gather about your playing. If they don’t know the piece, and depending on the specific piece, they may not learn much of anything – and then you’ve lost some valuable minutes! That’s not to say that you shouldn’t be interested in new repertoire for your instrument – just consider not starting your audition with it. Again, if the faculty are curious to hear it, they’ll ask for it.

by Sean Thorne, temporary Admissions Assistant

As a temporary staff member in the Admissions office, I am afforded the perspective of being involved without being invested. I am half way through my four month gig here at The J. I’m sure I could fill a bottomless carpet bag with all the I-wish-I-knew-that-when-I-applied-to-school moments of realization. Before the wind changes and I have to pack up shop, I’d like to pass some of those moments on to you!

So, here are the top three:

What’s in a name? Everything! Shakespeare got it wrong when he said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Understandably, many applicants have multiple names for any number of reasons. The application process is a daunting task for both the applicant and the admissions office. We are a lich-urally processing thousands of applications, each with variable parts. When applicants put different names on different parts of the same application, that doesn’t smell sweet – it smells confusing. So, all I ask is to pleeeeease be consistent. If you don’t like your name, then just call yourself Rose.

To thine own self be true. Let’s restore some of Shakespeare’s admissions cred – he was right on this account: Know yourself. That’s not an easy observation to fulfill, but, from my position, it gives applications greater specificity. With greater specificity you’ll be able to easily define your artistic and personal goals and, more importantly, why Juilliard is a good fit for you. Plus, college is a place where you will grow academically, artistically, and personally. You will learn much about yourself, your art, and your world. This is a tough city. This is a rigorous school. The real challenge is to still love the environment causing such stress and strain. If you work hard, you’ll create a reality for yourself that you never previously imagined.

That that is is. If you have a live audition coming up: congratulations! You’ve conquered the recording pile and given the wealth of pre-screening that is no small feat. Now is the time to let go of the outcome and have fun with your audition. Think of it not as a race towards an acceptance letter, but as a shopping spree. You’re out there in the world shopping around for a school that is the best fit for your talent and potential. If we’re not a fit, then keep shopping until you find something that does. To echo the point made in Lee’s haiku below, whatever is the result of your audition here you will be provided with new opportunities and surprises that you may never imagined happening. That is, there are no bad conclusions, just different opportunities. So – come prepared. Play hard. Have fun!

by Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

Let your heart drop once
Then know it is not an end
Just another path.

By Monia C. Estima, Senior Assistant Director for Music Admissions

As I schedule the 2010 Music Division auditions it occurs to me that:

• Surf rock is really groovy background music for reading over a thousand audition date request e-mails and plopping “X” applicant into “Y” audition slot. In particular, I like the Aqua Velvets, who are a self-described “…fascinating blend of spaghetti western, shimmering psychedelia, pristine surf, latin rhythms, mysterious faraway places, and a tongue-in-cheek dash of lounge.” Their album “Guitar Noir” was in heavy rotation on my WMP this season and I particularly enjoyed “Subterranea,” “Casbah Club,” and the title track. Please note: these guys are a band formed in the 80s dipping into, and merrily messing with, a musical style from the 60s. One of the pioneers of more “proper” surf rock is Dick Dale, “The King of the Surf Guitar.” (You know the main theme from Pulp Fiction? That’s his version of “Misirlou,” which is a Greek folk/pop song. Who knew? *I* didn’t!)
• Not all applicants take advantage of their chance to request their preferred audition dates when the opportunity exists. When I joined Juilliard in 2004 there was no such system in place; they just scheduled applicants and hoped that everything worked out for the best. It often didn’t. I got over 100 applicants asking for audition date changes that were impossible to make because the schedules were full. And we didn’t feel right asking folks who’d already booked their travel/lodging for their auditions with us to change their plans/lose money. So we didn’t ask them to–we’d wait for audition slots to open up from others’ cancelled auditions. Unfortunately, that meant the people who had audition conflicts sometimes waited till just three weeks before audition week to learn if they could audition on different dates. Those were difficult times for all of us, which is why I was more than happy to install this “audition date request” system. It’s a lot of work to get through in the first couple of weeks in January but it’s satisfying for me to do it, because I know I’m making life easier for our applicants. So when, say, 80% of applicants in a given music department put in their requests, I have to wonder what’s up with the other 20% who didn’t (some of whom then e-mail me in a panic because NOW they’ve got audition conflicts). Seriously, what’s up with that, dudes?
• Applicants should really consider creating a simple, professional, e-mail account to use in communications with the schools to which they’ve applied. For example, I would go with something like, “firstname-lastname@whatever.com.” I would probably not include in my professional e-mail address things like “booty” or “(some type of)–licious” or “(insert instrument)–diva” or “(insert instrument)–God.” Just sayin’.
• Some applicants don’t believe us when we tell them that they can’t audition on a date outside of audition week. Every year we get a handful of e-mails from folks who say they can’t audition in the first week of March (which is almost always when we have our music auditions). Just so you all know – that’s Juilliard’s Spring Break, so it’s pretty much the only time that we have space available for auditions (no classes! no performances! no students!), faculty available to listen (since they’re not teaching), and in general the resources to hear 1,400 folks. While it may not be the best time for all applicants (after all, what would be the perfect time for 1,400 people?), we don’t arrange special auditions, to be fair to the vast majority of applicants who moved mountains in order to audition during the originally scheduled dates.

O.K., that’s about all I’ve got time for right now; still have a few hundred e-mail requests to get through. Hope y’all enjoy the surf music and know that we look forward to welcoming you in March. Cowabunga, brah!

By Lee Cioppa, Associate Dean for Admissions

I was trying to come up with some good titles for this blog, and a couple that occurred to me were:

Ask and you shall receive

Or

Be careful what you wish for.

If you are an applicant to Juilliard this year in the Music Division, you have recently been asked to complete a survey for us. This is pretty standard for Juilliard Admissions – we like surveys! We are dedicated supporters of Survey Monkey, and collect lots of good information that help us understand how to improve our processes, from how we recruit to how we run auditions to even how we inform students of their admission status (that’s how we knew that our applicant pool was ready to go paperless – from responses on surveys saying that we should get the audition results up online!).

In this year’s survey, we included an open comment field, and asked everyone to give their thoughts on how we could better inform prospective students about the School, and/or improve the application process.

Well.

Ask and you shall receive.

And hey – be careful what you wish for!

But also – tidings of comfort and joy.

We got such great responses. I would estimate that half said that their experience with us was very good – and many that said that our application was one of the easiest that they had done.

As for the other half – it wasn’t bad news, or bad comments, or in my opinion, bad anything. I’ve gotten such great ideas already for how we can do things next year! We heard a lot about our website (we’re working on it, folks!), and that it would be helpful to have checklists, everything in one place rather than in multiple documents or web pages, clearer instructions – and these are things we can do. But we needed to know that these things were needed – otherwise, we would have gone on thinking that everything was perfectly fine.

In fact, that’s part of the reason that this blog exists – in fall 2007, when I was applying to nursery schools for my daughter, I realized how little information I had about nursery school – and more than that, how little information I was actually getting from the schools themselves! We (the Admissions staff) have a wealth of information about Juilliard and our admissions processes that is in our heads – we think that we are explaining things in our print materials, website and application, but perhaps we only think that because we are so intimate with it. And perhaps, to someone who hasn’t done this before, the whole thing seems completely mysterious and vague and unclear and confusing. I think that our blog helps (oh, and we got some comments on the survey that said it does!), but we can do more.

So, while I am comforted that many are having a good experience applying to Juilliard, I also find joy in the many comments that will help us do things better.

Thank you to all who responded – I hope you in turn will find comfort and joy in knowing that you will make the Juilliard application experience better in the future.

by Tina Gonzalez, Director of Financial Aid

Now that you’ve completed your admissions application, it’s time to start thinking about financial planning as well. Very few students can attend college without some form of financial aid, and our students are no different. Over 90% of our students are receiving some kind of aid through Juilliard, and over 70% are receiving scholarship. Here are some steps you can take now to help finance your college education.

1. Get organized! Make a spreadsheet of each school to which you are applying, and make a note of their costs of attendance, required financial aid materials and deadlines. Later on you can enter the scholarship offers you’ve received and compare them (federal financial aid should be similar at every school, since this money comes directly from the government).

2. Plan ahead! If you’re reading this, you’re already on the right track. Have a candid discussion with your parent or guardian and find out how much financial help you can expect from them. This includes whether they’d be willing to take out loans on your behalf, or cosign a student loan with you.

3. Educate yourself! Do you know the difference between a grant and a loan? In addition to learning about your schools, you’ll need to know about federal student aid as well. This includes grants, loans and work-study funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The best sites to visit are www.studentaid.gov and www.finaid.org. The information there is so helpful, we even refer to them ourselves when we have questions. In addition, you can go on the FAFSA website (www.fafsa.ed.gov) at any time to get a preview of your federal aid eligibility.

4. Do some research! In addition to saving for college, you should also research outside funding sources. There are plenty of free scholarship searches online such as www.fastweb.com. You can also write letters to local philanthropic organizations, especially ones with whom you have a religious, ethnic or professional affiliation. Or you can even throw yourself a benefit performance to raise money!

So, to get you started, here’s what you’ll need to apply for financial aid and scholarship assistance at Juilliard:

Juilliard’s scholarship decisions are based on financial need AND merit. The merit component is based on the strength of your entrance audition. The need portion is largely determined by the information on the following required items:

• The Juilliard Financial Aid application, which will be available online in January.
• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), if you’re a US Citizen or resident. This is available at starting January 1, 2010.
• A complete, signed copy of your and your parents’ 2009 federal tax form, or (for international students) official documentation of your parents’ salaries.

Detailed instructions will be available in the Financial Aid application. Our deadline is March 1, 2010. It’s extremely important to apply on time, as we are unable to award aid until all forms have been received.

I hope you find this information useful. We understand that everyone’s situation is unique, and encourage you to stay in contact with us throughout the process. If you have any questions or concerns along the way – even if you just want to make sure we’ve received your information – we’re here to help you. Good luck!

By Mónia C. Estima, Senior Assistant Director for Music Admissions

Hi again, Juilliard prospective applicants! Before you kick back with your family, load up on carbs, and sink into a tryptophan-enhanced food-coma this Thursday, let’s consider what the looming December 1 deadline means for YOU!

On December 1 the online application closes right after 11:59 PM (Eastern) on Tuesday, December 1, 2009. If you try submitting it after that time, you won’t be able to because it will shut off! If you’re online at 12:02 AM on December 2 and try to submit, you’ll get an error message telling you the deadline has passed. Do yourself a big favor—don’t wait until December 1, but try to finish up and submit it by November 30, because if you go to submit it and there’s some kind of technical glitch, you still have the following business day to rectify matters. Once you’ve submitted the application, you’ll receive an automated e-mail confirmation that it was submitted. After we officially “acknowledge receipt” of your application, you’ll receive another automated e-mail letting you know. If you believe you clicked “Submit” but you didn’t receive any automated e-mails, guess what? You didn’t “Submit” your application. If you realize this AFTER December 1—you’ve missed the deadline! Your application is LATE!

What else can make you “late?”

• If you chose to pay your application fee by check, and you mail the check out but it’s postmarked after December 1, that makes your application late.
• If your major is pre-screened and your pre-screening materials are postmarked after December 1, that will also make you late.

It may seem a bit nit-picky, to view an applicant as being late just because the application fee or pre-screening materials were postmarked the day after the deadline, but think about the hundreds of applicants who raced to their local Post Offices (or walked 15 miles in the snow, shoeless) just to postmark their stuff on time. Out of fairness to them, Juilliard must stand firm on the December 1 postmark issue. Also, for your own peace of mind, be sure to send your check or pre-screening materials by some traceable method (and keep your receipts!). If the postmark on your package is illegible and we question its timeliness, you’ll then be able to provide proof that it was postmarked by the deadline. (BTW, we’re getting lots of phone calls asking where y’all should mail your stuff–the mailing instructions are bar #1 on the home page of your online application.)

What happens if you’re late?

Ah, dude…We can’t just say it’s O.K., no matter what happened to make you late. It’s not that we wouldn’t sympathize, it’s that pesky “fairness” issue, as Admissions is charged with maintaining the integrity of the application process, for ALL applicants.

Generally, in the case of late application fees (for those who opted to pay by check), we can approve your late application ONLY IF there are audition slots available after we’ve scheduled all on-time applicants. The situation is the same for late pre-screening materials; those applicants’ pre-screening may be considered ONLY IF there are audition slots available after all on-time applicants have been pre-screened. Keep in mind, however, some departments’ audition slots will fill up rather quickly and, in that event, regardless of why your check or pre-screening was late, we will not be able to approve your late materials.

I know, I’m being *such* a Debbie-Downer! It’s only ‘cause I want YOU to be the applicant who ISN’T sweating bullets on December 1, wondering if you’ll be able to get everything that needs doing DONE by 11:59 PM. Take advantage of the holiday weekend, keep a slice of pumpkin or apple or pecan pie by your side (‘cause pie helps, trust me on this one), and wrap everything up by November 30. You’ll be happy you did.

*The drumstick and smoked sausage stuffing of this blog comes from a pre-Turkey-Day blog I wrote last year. The blog’s title comes from The White Stripes’ “Fell In Love With A Girl.”