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College of Music
Giving & Alumni
College of Music
Admissions

How to Apply and Timeline

How to Apply (Grad)

Know the Admissions Requirements and Deadlines for your intended program.

  • If an admissions audition is required, know the requirements in your performance area.
  • Have names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of individuals providing letters of recommendation. This will be asked on the Graduate application only.
  • You will be asked to supply details about all post-secondary schools attended. Please submit your entire academic history, not just the most recent school.
  • If you wish to be considered for more than one music program, contact us for special application instructions before getting started.

Click the button below to apply to Michigan State University. This will create your account, where you can also check the status of your application.

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Admissions Process and Timeline (Grad)

All graduate applicants will file two applications, a Graduate application, and a College of Music Supplemental Application. Find both on this page. Deadline for Spring is October 1 and Summer/Fall is December 1.

If your program requires an admissions audition, and if you chose to audition on-campus, an invitation to select an audition date will be sent to you shortly after the College of Music Supplemental Application is submitted.

Transcripts: Unofficial copies of transcripts are acceptable for the review process. Upload these to your application by the application deadline. Should your application be reviewed favorably and you choose to attend, official documents must be received in order to finalize the admissions offer.

Music funding decisions occur between your admission date and April 15. The College of Music does not have a specific release date for funding offers. Only students being offered will be contacted. We generally do not offer funding for students entering in Spring semesters.

Once the College of Music Supplemental Application is submitted, the review process begins. Applicants should plan to submit all required supporting documents by the deadline (October 1 for Spring and December 1 for Fall/Summer) or if auditioning on-campus, at least two to three weeks in advance of the scheduled audition. Failure to submit required supporting documents ahead of the audition can significantly delay notification of the decision. For those auditioning by recording, the deadline to submit recordings and all required materials is Oct 1 for Spring or December 1 for Summer/Fall. Please be reminded that funding is not offered to students who audition by recording.

Note: If your desired program requires prescreening, the recordings are due no later than December 1. Recordings will not be accepted after this date. After review, a select number of applicants will be invited to audition on campus. Results will be sent mid-December.

The College of Music makes decisions between two weeks after the live audition and the end of the audition season (typically mid-March). Notifications will be sent after a majority of the applicants to each area have been evaluated. In some cases, applicants can be notified early at the discretion of committee, but applicants should not expect to be notified until the auditions conclude. Piano applicants: decisions are made only at the end of the audition season. Notifications will be mailed in mid-March.

The deadline to complete the application is December 1. After review of complete applications, invitations will be sent to select applicants in January/early February. Interviews are virtual (zoom) and will be scheduled in February and early March.

Complete applications will be reviewed in December. After review, select candidates will be contacted to schedule a virtual interview in February. You will be contacted directly by the faculty to arrange this.

Complete applications will be reviewed after the December 1 deadline. After review, select candidates will be contacted by the Music Theory faculty to schedule a virtual interview to be held in February. Admissions notifications will be sent in March.

Applicants should submit all required application materials including the conducting prescreening recordings no later December 1. Once the file has been reviewed, select individuals will be invited to campus for a live conducting audition. Admissions decisions are mailed to applicants after a majority of candidates to each area have been evaluated.

Applicants should complete the application process by December 1. The faculty review process begins immediately following this deadline. Notifications are mailed to applicants after the complete file is evaluated. The review process will continue after December 1 or until the program is full.