What is the estimated GPA that a bassist might need to get into a conservatory such as Eastman. I have a couple of years before I really have to worry about it, but im just wondering. Im in 10th grade and im working on the Bottesini #2 2 and 3rd movement, im gonna go back to the first later. And i was thinking of playing the whole Bottesini and some of the bach cello suites for my audition. Do you think that is a good combo for the auditiion and what approx. GPA might you need?

The first movement would be better for the audition.

Your GPA needs to be good, but not superb. I had a 3.8ish I think. If you get decent effort-showing grades you're fine.

Um, I can't think of anything to put across the rest of what I want to say besides this

***INSERT SHAMELESS EASTMAN PLUG***



My .02

I think anything over 3.0 is acceptable, depending on the school. Music schools are looking for musicians, not science geeks. But don't take that to mean you can get straight C's and be OK. I know people who were rejected from conservatories due to their grades, so you have to be careful.

I think of grades this way, you need to average out at a "B". So If I screw up and get a "C" in a class that means I have to work harder and get an "A" in another class. Also keep in mind that colleges only see your final average so as long as you balance not so great grades out with great ones you'll do fine.

Also keep in mind that colleges only see your final average so as long as you balance not so great grades out with great ones you'll do fine.
That's not true. When they get your transcript, they see your final GPA in addition to every grade and every class you took. They do, in fact, scan the sheet to make sure that grades are fairly consistent. That means that even if you have a 3.5 GPA, if you had all A's in everything but D's in math, it could be a problem.

I meant final avegare as in final grade in every class you took, not a quarter by quarter break down.

It could also be diffrent from school to school.

Huh. My school's on a semester system, so the colleges see the grades from the ends of each semester.

My school breaks every year down into 4 quarters, a midterm and a final. The only grade that is given to colleges is the final year average for each class using the 12 point system.

But I (we) digress. Basically do the best you can, it really isn't that hard. Get good grades and practice your arse off, its pretty simple.

I seriously doubt that conservatories would care that much about your grades. Ive heard from many Professors that if the school wants you they can get you in. Conservatories care about your audition not whether youve memorized trigonometric functions. Conservatories are about creating world class musicians and therefore they look for musicians whom they can work with to produce such talent. James VanDemark, the professor at Eastman told me that he has accepted students who have failed out of highschool. Dont worry about grades, worry about Bass. State schools on the other hand care a great deal about grades, so if your applying to any stay in the upper 50% of your grade at least.

Most conservatories that I have talk to say they just require a highschool diploma and satisfactory score on the ACT. Everything else is audition.

While it wouldn't surprise me that VanDemark said something like that (he knows who can play the bass), even if he accepted them, I don't think that they would get admittance into the school. The audition is a big part of admittance, but not the final say.

For instance, someone who gets D's in every class would probably be assumed to be someone with poor work habits. That's not to say that they are, but the assumption would probably get made by the admissions department.

Another example, NEC requires a recommendation letter from someone who was a teacher of a humanities subject, and a sample of expository writing. They are concerned with if you have some ability to do well in school.

Do I think conservatories are looking for 4.0s and valedictorians? No. I think that they are looking for someone who is interested in learning music, and learning in general.

Frankly, I think the more that you know about things that have nothing to do with music (literature, politics, world religion, mathematics, history, etc.) the better of a musician you will be, or at least it will make your playing that much deeper.

Slide Hampton just gave a talk at my school, he said a great quote:

"The more open a mind you have, the more opportunity you have to learn. The only person that can limit your learning is you."