December 1 is around the corner… are you applying for another degree?

If you’ve been in academia, you know this date is charged with many emotions. A new school, teacher, city, friends. A fresh beginning. A new opportunity. The possibility of finally addressing challenges in your playing, and a promise to work on yourself with intention.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It can feel daunting, but it’s also full of hope, dreams, and potential.

I thought I’d write a little guide to music school applications, things that are rarely written on any university website. Simple, but often unspoken. Here we go:

1. Only apply where you can truly see yourself

It’s tempting to “keep your options open,” apply to a long list of schools, diversify experiences, and hope the funding works out. I completely understand this, and I’m very sensitive to it when I write recommendation letters.

But think about this:

  • 10 schools = 10 application fees

  • 10 rounds of travel (transportation, housing, food—which is always more expensive than cooking at home)

  • 10 emotional investments of time, focus, and nerves

Audition season is an endurance event. The more you protect your energy, the more you’ll have left to perform well at the schools you actually want to attend. A shorter, more intentional list often leads to better results and a better overall experience for you.

2. Start with the teacher, then the ecosystem

You probably already have an idea of who you’d like to study with. That is the single most important factor when choosing a school: a mentor whose artistic vision, values, and teaching style align with your needs.

It can be tempting to accept an offer from a “big name” school even if you didn’t get into the studio you were hoping for. Be careful with that. Your teacher will shape your daily life, your growth, and your relationship to your instrument.

After the teacher, I would look closely at the ensemble ecosystem. As a violist, the largest portion of our work is collaborative. Having good chamber music partners and orchestral colleagues who challenge and nourish you is crucial.

As chamber music coordinator at McGill, I spend a lot of time thinking about who to pair with whom- how to bring people together so they can support and elevate one another. The right peers can transform your studies

.

3. Don’t underestimate the city

The city you’ll live in for the next X number of years is not a minor detail.

As musicians, we thrive on inspiration:

  • Concerts by symphonies and chamber music societies

  • Alternative/indie venues (Montreal has A LOT of meaningful offers in that realm)

  • Other art forms—dance, visual arts, theatre

Your environment matters. Will you feel inspired there? Safe there? Is there a community you can imagine being part of? School is not just practice rooms and studios, it’s the life you build around them.

4. Decide your rankings before the funding emails arrive

Yes, funding can absolutely make or break a decision. I’m not pretending otherwise.

But before any scholarship offers come in, take the time to make a clear ranking of:

  1. Teachers you most want to study with

  2. Schools you would genuinely be happy to attend

Then, when the funding news arrives, you’re adjusting from a place of clarity about your artistic priorities, instead of letting money alone dictate everything.

Also: look carefully at hidden costs. A “full tuition scholarship” at certain U.S. schools can still be far more expensive than attending a place like McGill with no funding at all (even as an international student). Wild, I know.

That’s why your pre-funding dream list is so important: it helps ensure that when you compromise, you still do it in a way that serves you.

5. Recording prescreenings: from perfection to excellence

Some of you have already submitted beautifully curated prescreenings weeks ago. Bravo.

Others might still be scrambling to book a hall, find decent sound equipment, and carve out time this last weekend before the deadline to record all your repertoire on video—without edits.

If that’s you, let’s shift from a perfection mindset to an excellence mindset:

  • Give yourself three full takes of each piece.

  • Choose the one that represents you best right now.

  • Remember: you’re trying to get an invitation to audition, not a recording contract with a major label.

Be gentle with yourself. Have a lot of self-compassion in the process. Technical polish matters, but so does honesty, character, and musicality.

6. Recommendation letters: help your referees help you

Ah, recommendation letters… oh là là. I write somewhere between 20–30 each year, so here’s my plea on behalf of all your referees:

  • Choose someone who has heard you play in the last 6 months.
    If someone coached you three years ago and hasn’t heard you since, that’s too far back.

  • Ideal recommenders are:

    • Someone who has known you for a long time and seen your progression (for example, your first serious music teacher, or the teacher you still play for when you go back home), or

    • Someone you’ve just recently worked with, who knows who you are now, as a musician and as a person.

  • Ask at least one week in advance. More is even better.

  • When you email them:

    • Attach your CV or rĂ©sumĂ©

    • Include a complete list of schools you’re applying to

    • Clearly state the deadlines for each school

    • After they say yes, include their university email and the school’s generic phone number. Don’t ask for their cell numbers!

And if you have more than six schools on your list, I would strongly encourage you to sit down with your teacher and rethink that strategy.

A few closing thoughts

Application season can feel like your entire future is on the line. It isn’t. It’s one step, an important one, but many situations will be good for you. Stay open minded and curious.

As you move toward December 1st, I hope you can:

  • Choose quality over quantity in your school list

  • Centre your decisions around teachers, peers, and environment

  • Look at funding with clear eyes, but not let it erase your artistic priorities

  • Aim for excellence, not perfection in your recordings

  • Treat your recommenders (and yourself) with generosity and respect

Most of all, I hope you remember that you are not just “an application.” You’re a whole human being in the middle of a learning process that will keep evolving, degree or no degree.

If you’re applying this year, I’m cheering you on. And if you’re still unsure whether to apply at all, maybe that’s also worth listening to.

And on a personal note: I will have space in my studio next year, and I’m genuinely looking forward to hearing the wonderful students who will be auditioning for my viola studio at McGill. It’s one of my favourite parts of the year—meeting curious, dedicated musicians at the beginning of their next chapter. I can’t wait to hear you.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.