essay about musical school

Eastern US Music Schools
Central US Music Schools
Western US Music Schools
International Music Schools
Arts High Schools
Summer Music Programs
Scholarships
Read Articles
Testimonials
Music Major Blog

Essays, Personal Statements, and Résumés for Music Students

Essays, personal statements and résumés for music students can be daunting. While the audition is a key component in the acceptance process, admission reps want you to keep in mind that the paperwork side of the application is also important.

by Caitlin Peterkin

“We have a small interview component to our audition process and we review recommendation letters and a student’s music history (typically via the résumé),” says Megan Grady, music recruitment coordinator and assistant director of Admission at the University of Puget Sound School of Music. “We also like to see what else students do and if we think they’ll fit in well with our liberal arts university, not just the School of Music.”

Applying to music school is a highly-competitive process. Brittany Jimenez, associate director of Undergraduate Admission at USC Thornton School of Music , encourages students to be genuine and to put their best foot forward in all parts of the admission process.

“There are many parts of the application and admission process you cannot control, like who else is applying,” she says, “so carefully managing the parts you can control (like the writing supplements and portfolio submissions) will be very important.”

Catch the attention you want

An essay, often referred to as your personal statement, is required by many music schools. Each school posts its own guidelines for these. If you’re uncertain about what they’re asking for, contact the admissions office.

The Common App streamlines the process of applying to several schools, although not all schools use it. You’ll find out whether colleges and universities that use the Common App require a personal essay once you create your Dashboard on the Common App website. The Common App provides a list of “prompts” or ideas to write about and you are given the option to edit your essay after you submit your first application. Even if schools don’t require a personal essay, you’ll have the option to submit one.

Music schools within universities as well as some colleges require you to apply to the university or college as well as to the music school. A separate school of music essay may also be required. Schools will indicate the word count as well as prompts or a specific theme they want you to write about. This may be referred to as a “supplemental essay.”

You can also choose to apply directly to schools instead of using the Common App. A request for supplemental materials including writing requirements is built in to these applications.

Note that these requirements may be different for transfer students.

So how do you make sure your essay and personal statement stand out from the crowd?

Here are suggestions from recruiters and admission representatives for creating essays they’ll they’ll be eager to read:

1. Do your research.

“It is beneficial to research the school and program and speak to the specific aspects and opportunities you find most relevant to you and your interests,” says Jimenez. “Getting to know the specific programs and faculty is important because every school is going to be unique in the type of experience they offer.”

Patrick Zylka, assistant dean for Admission, Financial Aid and Graduate Services at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, agrees. “We want to know an applicant has done the research on our institution, not just that it’s a top ten ranking, or that their best friend goes here, but that they’ve really dug a little bit deeper and understand what the institution offers….and whether we’re actually a good fit for them.”

But he adds the caveat to not just regurgitate what’s on a school’s website: “Don’t tell us we’re a beautiful campus next to Lake Michigan—we already know!”

2. Don’t copy and paste.

Faculty and staff recognize that you’re probably applying to multiple institutions. Make sure to write a unique statement for each one, tailoring each essay to the specific program you’re applying to. Schools do not want to see a generic, cookie-cutter answer as to why you’re choosing their particular program.

“Essays that are clearly ‘cut and paste’ versions of an essay you’ve sent to a dozen schools…are not very persuasive,” says Christina Crispin, assistant director of Admissions at Eastman School of Music .

3. Show your personality!

As faculty and admissions reps review hundreds of applications each year, they want to read thoughtful statements from prospective students to get a better sense of each individual’s personality.

According to Zylka, admission reps view the essay as an applicant’s only opportunity to really show who they are as an individual, more than what any transcript or test score can reveal. “Speak from the heart,” he says. “If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re serious, be serious.”

Grady agrees: “We are looking for students to tell us more about themselves. We like to see creative essays that tell us something we may not be able to learn from the rest of their application.”

4. Proofread—multiple times.

Not only are essays a good way to show your personality, but they’re also a chance to demonstrate that you can write in a clear and coherent way.

“The essays that we are least impressed by are those that have typos, grammatical or punctuation errors—anything that screams, ‘I didn’t proofread this,’” says Crispin.

Some other no-nos: run-on sentences and “writing one big paragraph instead of a thought-out essay,” according to Grady.

Your résumé – the right way

Nearly all applications for music schools require a résumé.

“The résumé is the place for applicants to highlight their musical accomplishments and experiences,” says Crispin. “If they want us to know about other extracurricular activities, leadership, volunteer work, etc., the résumé is a good place to capture that information.”

“It’s important to tell us about any honors, awards, summer festivals, private lessons,” adds Zylka. “Things that show us you didn’t just go to high school from a certain time in the morning to the afternoon.”

• Make it clean and organized.

There is no one right way to format a résumé unless specified by the schools you’re applying to. They should be easy to read. Include your contact information plus music-specific information and experience.

“Present your résumé in an organized way so it is easy to review what you have done and when,” says Jimenez. “The résumé is typically 1-2 pages in length and mostly focuses on accomplishments and activities during high school.”

“Clean résumés are best—for musicians, that involves what you’ve performed, competitions you’ve won, ensembles you’ve performed along with chair placement (if applicable),” says Grady.

“Keep your activities limited to your high school achievements,” she adds “unless there’s something particularly outstanding (like a performance at Carnegie Hall) that took place before high school. Show that you play multiple instruments and for how long, who you’ve studied with, ensemble directors, etc.”

• Proofread.

Edit your résumé multiple times, and have a trusted friend, family member, or teacher look it over. “We never want to see typos, misspelled words, or grammatical errors,” says Jimenez.

Final thoughts

Crispin advises all students to start their application early. “We often hear from applicants that they were surprised how much time it took to fill out their applications, and you don’t want to be rushing and risking errors right before the deadline,” she says. This also includes reaching out to teachers for recommendations well before applications are due.

Just like no two music programs are the same, no two application processes are the same. Do the research on what exactly is needed for each program you’re applying to, and make a checklist with deadlines for each one.

Finally, utilize all the resources available online and in admission offices. “Our website should be your best friend throughout the process,” says Jimenez. “Your other best friends will be the people in the office of admission. Applicants are always encouraged to ask questions anytime! We want our applicants to be successful throughout the admission process and are here to help however we can.”

Caitlin Peterkin is a writer/editor and arts enthusiast currently based in Portland, OR. She has worked as program manager for Earshot Jazz (Seattle) and has written for BestNewBands.com , Chronicle of Higher Education , and Paste Magazine . She graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Music.

Photo credit: Mimi Thian

Join our mailing list

Explore Schools
Discover Music Careers
Find a Summer Program
Request Consultation
All Articles

Privacy Overview

Find your school.

Explore schools and request information on their individual pages, OR... use this form to select multiple schools you want to learn more about. (* indicates required field.)

Name * First Name* Last Name*
Email Address *
City and State
Current School
Current Grade Level
Area of Musical Interest
My primary instrument
Secondary instrument
I particularly would like to know more about the following:
Select Schools (scroll to select multiple schools) Go first to the music school pages, then come back here to only select schools you have researched as fitting your criteria. Arizona State University School of Music Bard College Conservatory of Music Berklee College of Music Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University Boston Conservatory at Berklee Boston University School of Music Butler University School of Music Case Western Reserve University CalArts Herb Alpert School of Music Carnegie Mellon University School of Music Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University Coastal Carolina University Colorado State University Department of Music, Theatre and Dance Concordia University Irvine DePaul University School of Music Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music East Carolina University School of Music The Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester Elon University Florida State University College of Music Gettysburg College Sunderman Conservatory of Music The Hartt School Idyllwild Arts Academy Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Interlochen Center for the Arts Ithaca College School of Music Kutztown University Lawrence University Conservatory of Music Leeds Conservatoire (UK) Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) Loyola Marymount University Dept. of Music Manhattan School of Music Mannes School of Music McGill University Schulich School of Music Metropolitan State University of Denver Northeastern University Department of Music Northwestern University Bienen School of Music Oberlin Conservatory of Music Occidental College Dept. of Music Peabody Conservatory Penn State School of Music San Francisco Conservatory of Music School of Jazz at the New School SMU Meadows School of the Arts Susquehanna University Temple University Boyer College of Music & Dance The Conducting Institute Tiffin University University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) University of Colorado Boulder College of Music University of Colorado Denver Music & Entertainment Industry Studies University of Denver Lamont School of Music University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance University of North Carolina School of the Arts University of South Carolina School of Music University of the Arts University of Toronto Faculty of Music USC Thornton School of Music Valparaiso University VanderCook College of Music Walnut Hill School for the Arts Wayne State University West Chester University Wells School of Music Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

6 Tips On Writing Your Music School Application Essay

While the music school application process may seem tedious, the essay is by far the most challenging part. Not only does the essay portion share insight about who you are as a person, but it’s also what many college admissions counselors are most interested in (besides your audition).

The reality is that the bulk of students applying to music schools – particularly the more prestigious ones – are apples-to-apples on paper. The audition and the essay are the only arenas where your individuality and essence get to shine through.

It’s Time to Brush Up Those Essay Writing Skills

Here are six tips on how to write a music school essay to impress! We also recommend reading Music School Audition: How to Prepare .

1. Read the instructions carefully

While there are some boilerplate consistencies between essay themes or topics requested by schools, there can be subtle differences, too. Don’t assume that one essay will fit the bill for all schools. Read each set of instructions carefully to ensure you don’t miss anything, and follow them to the letter.

Even a simple mistake of submitting the essay in one font when the school requested another can get your application into the “no” pile because it gives inundated essay screeners a streamlined reason to weed applicants out. And it demonstrates that you follow directions!

2. don’t include another school’s name accidentally

Many admissions counselors note that they get essays that have another school’s name in the essay, because of the similarities mentioned above in essay themes/instructions. As a result, students who aren’t careful wind up forgetting to “find/replace” one school name for another.

For example – an admissions counselor at The Eastman School of Music may be happily reading your essay until they come to the line, “I have dreamed of graduating from the Boston Conservatory for my entire musical life…,” at which point s/he may stop reading.

Of course, counselors understand and expect that you’re applying to more than one school, but this grave oversight in proofreading, and check-marking which essay is for which school, casts a shadow on your application status.

3. Use Grammarly or a similar editing tool

Many of the best online editing tools, like Grammarly , allow free trial periods, after which you can cancel your account without any charge or penalty. It’s a good idea to use these editing tools upon completing your essays to fine tune them.

4. Print the essay on paper and read it out loud

The advent of online applications make the overall process easier for many, but the final proofreading and editing of your essay(s) should always be done on paper.

In a Phys.org article explaining how we read differently on paper than on screen, professor Maria Gilje Torheim explains, “ Reading long, linear, continuous texts over multiple pages that require a certain amount of concentration, referred to as "Deep Reading," the reader often experiences better concentration and a greater overview when reading from a printed medium compared to a screen.”

We tend to “scan” when we’re reading on screens, making it easier to miss mistakes in grammar and sentence structure. Reading out loud – and preferably to someone we trust – is a better way to catch and repair mistakes or awkward phrasing.

5. Review common graduate school essay “kisses of death”

There are two great articles worth reviewing before you write your music school application essay. The first is an actual study, Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process , that systematically reviewed answers from psychology graduate admissions committee members about mistakes or common occurrences that diminish an applicant’s probability of acceptance.

The second is, 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose , written by professionals consultants who work with grad school applicants to improve their chances of acceptance.

Both offer insightful, evidence-based tips about what to do – and what not to do – to help your essay(s) shine brighter than your fellow applicants’ essay(s).

6. Be honest and be yourself

Finally, don’t try to be something you’re not or write an essay consisting of platitudes you think admissions counselors want to hear. Rest assured they’re reading those trite and overused sentiments over and over again from fellow applicants.

The goal is not to blend into the crowd but to stand out as the unique individual you are, so admissions counselors feel like you’ve connected with them via your words – a connection that compels them to accept your application.

The team at StringOvation wishes you all the best as you pursue your music school dreams. Happy writing!