Application Process

Michigan State University accepts the Common and Coalition Applications.  If you use either of these options, you must wait for MSU to receive the application and contact you with your MSU login credentials before you will have access to the College of Music Supplemental Application.  You may also use MSU Application and then will not have to wait to access the College of Music Supplement.  First-year applicants should plan to complete the university application by November 1 for maximum academic scholarship consideration.  Although transfer applicants have a later deadline, we encourage early completion.  Transfer applicants must use the MSU Application.

Do not wait to receive a decision from your MSU application.  Both applicants are done simultaneously.

The College of Music Supplemental Application is part of the MSU Application process.  After a successful login, you will see all the applications you have, which is usually just one.  At the bottom of the list, you can start another application.  You will be asked to select the application you wish to start.  Select the College of Music Supplemental Application. 

Important steps:

• You will be asked to re-confirm this selection on the next page.  Please do not change your selection when you continue to the application.  You will notice a lot of similar questions as the MSU application.  This is intentional.
• This application will ask how you intend to audition; on-campus or by recording.  If you choose the on-campus option, we will ask you to select your audition date separately.

Note: You will use the same login credentials as your MSU Application. Deadline is October 1 for Spring applicants, and December 1 for Summer/Fall applicants.

If you chose the on-campus audition option, give us a few days to look over your application, and then we will send an invitation to select your date.  If your application contains any errors, we will contact you to fix those before we ask you to select your date.  Errors on your application will delay processing and the subsequent audition selection, so please be careful when applying.

Not everyone’s timeline will be the same.  Some applicants will receive the academic admissions decision prior to their audition, others after.  Admission to the College of Music does not guarantee admission to the University and vice versa.  Although these independent decisions can influence each other, students must gain admission to both.

Decision Dates

• First-year academic application
• Transfer academic application

For Fall applicants, Music decisions are made at the end of the audition season and notifications are sent by early March. However, it may be possible to release decisions sooner should conditions allow.  For Spring applicants, decisions are rolling.

For Fall applicants, Music Scholarship decisions occur between your admission date and May 1.  The College of Music does not have a specific release date for scholarship offers.  We generally do not offer scholarships for students entering in Spring semesters.

The university has compiled a checklist of important things that international applicants need to prepare.