Conservatoire applications

[Violasrule]

Is anyone else looking to apply for a 2025 Conservatoire place? We have just started the process and it’s a steep learning curve!

We’re aware that for some of the more prestigious colleges it’s useful to have an idea of which tutor you would like before you attend the audition. Has anyone else come across this?

Hi great to hear audition dates happening soon.
Got RCS audition this morning, not much notice time!

@Maryward hope it went well? We’re heading that way next week!

DS excited to get RCM audition date through. Not til 3 December, so plenty of notice for that one

Hi,
meant hot rcs audition date! Not until November
Didnt hear from Rcm today, hopefully tmw!

@maryward the details were posted on the UCAS hub, rather than sent out by email

Thanks, I see it now Dec 3rd also!
I thought it would be in correspondence? Very easy to miss the info.

@maryward I know! DS was tipped off by a friend, luckily

@horseymum - dd has also got a date for RWCMD
The anticipation is exciting - anyone else feeling like this?

(edited to change dad to dd)

Cardiff is so late, the pieces will need a break before that and we'll be in full on Christmas concert mode by that time. Good to have all the dates though.

Has anyone got a date through from RAM yet?

@Pollyanna8234 We have all our dates except RAM.

Just saw this thread - we went through this process last year with DD and will be doing it again in a few years for DS, so it's always interesting to hear what it's like for everyone. Last year, RAM dates definitely came out last and the audition was in mid-December. We generally found RAM to be the most disorganised institution which put DD off a bit but of course it's a great college. Best of luck to all the applicants and solidarity to the mums - it's a gruelling few months! 😅

Morning all, just wanted to add my thoughts. We also went through the audition process last year. I won't lie, it's hard going for the parents as well as the kids. Ds applied to the 4 London conservatoires but in the knowledge that they're the hardest to get into. Agree with *Indigopotion that RAM's dates came out last, really late. Initially he wasn't fussed about RAM as they didn't seem to make much effort to do a proper open day, there's was online. However, when he went for the audition he loved the vibe, the building and the people. There is often a 2 stage audition. Ds went through to the next round and although he felt it went really well he didn't get a place. In the end he got his first choice, (TL) and is absolutely loving it. He's very busy and he loves the vibe and how it's not completely focussed on just classical music. It is absolutely the right place for him.

Wishing everyone the very best of luck 🤞🏻

@disorganisedmummy
how lovely of you to post this as an encouragement. Brilliant to hear your ds is loving it at TL

@Nomorecoconutboosts Thank you. Best of luck to your DD. Does she have a first choice?

@disorganisedmummy
she really wants Birmingham
audition is 11th November.
she went to the open day and a concert a few days after. I went to the concert too
it sounds mad but the building felt a bit like ‘home’

@Nomorecoconutboosts Absolutely not mad at all. I learned last year that it is all about the place and how it feels. Much like buying a house. Ds wasn't keen on Birmingham although the strings faculty were all wonderful. A lot was because it's a b long way from home for us (south east) and Ds is autistic. The daughter of a v good friend of mine is in her 2nd year there and is so happy. Many people dismiss TL as the weakest of the 4 London conservatories and maybe it is, I couldn't tell you but the main thing is how happy and settled Ds is and they have been so supportive and welcoming from the off. He has also had so many amazing opportunities already. That's what it's about. I'll be thinking of you both in the 11th. Do message and let me know how it goes. X

@disorganisedmummy thank you will do x
Birningham is our nearest - she could commute but I’m encouraging her to live in if she’s successful and really make the most of the opportunities.

@Nomorecoconutboosts I completely agree. So important for them to be getting the full uni experience. We're only 90 mins from London so Ds could commute but he wanted to live up there too. It is v expensive though

Thanks for all the info.
Good to hear about ‘gut’ feeling, where they feel the happiest! My dc is set on Rcm, I like Guildhall.
I am leaning more towards if a scholarship is given as it would be a big help. Not sure how many are given out though…think only for a year also.

Gut feeling of where she felt she belonged was certainly the biggest factor for DD. Also finding a professor they really want to study with can make the decision for them. Scholarship offers too. RCM was DD's first choice, and she's thrilled to be there, it is a good fit and she had a sense it would be. So the kids should trust their instincts!

@Maryward Ds is a scholar too, for his instrument and is also a choral scholar. The term & amount varies from institute to institute. Some I know get them for the whole 4 years. Some say for this year and then it's reassessed. Ds's instrument one is similar to this. He has a long list of terms and conditions to abide by and the expectation is huge. Choral scholarship is different in that's it's for the whole 4 years but again, huge expectations and time.
Agree also re teacher. Ds had someone in mind who he really gelled with and has that teacher now.

Scholarships really vary. Mine had offers worth between £2,000 and £37,000 in total. He went for one in between in the end, it was a first year only award but was a huge help in that year- it more than covered his accommodation.

We also went through this last year, with DS who is a string player.
He auditioned for RCM, Guildhall and RNCM (decided against RAM mostly because they didn’t hold an in-person open day and were asking for a set piece he hasn’t learnt).

He was fortunate enough to get scholarship offers from all 3 and chose Guildhall.
All 3 had different, excellent things to offer and I think he would have been very happy at any one of them.

I went to Guildhall as an undergrad and RAM for postgrad, but actually tried to steer him away from Guildhall (only because I didn’t want him to feel he was following in my footsteps).

Something that we didn’t know beforehand is that it is commonly accepted that, should you be offered a scholarship, you should haggle to get the very best offer you can.
DS was actually told this by someone in admissions, and it resulted in him having his scholarship offer almost doubled.

Oh I didn't realise this! What sort of haggling do you do? Do you just say you are about to accept an offer elsewhere because you were hoping for more money? Do the colleges have a way of knowing what other colleges offer?