Applying to the Composition Program at the CU College of Music

General information including undergraduate admission, graduate admission, financial aid, scholarships, course catalog, etc can be found here: http://www.colorado.edu/music/applying/index.html

Link for undergraduate information:  http://www.colorado.edu/music/applying/ugradapply/appoverview.html

Link to sheet with specific composition requirements:

Link for graduate information: http://www.colorado.edu/music/applying/gradapply/appoverview.html

Graduate degree requirements can be found on this page:
http://www.colorado.edu/music/applying/gradapply/degrees.html

Planning a visit:

Boulder is a very easy town to visit.  The Denver International Airport is centrally located in the country.  Shuttles and buses regularly travel to Boulder and public transportation can get you around town.

General information about visiting the University of Colorado can be found here: http://www.colorado.edu/visit/

We strongly encourage you to visit Boulder and experience this incredible town and rocky mountain landscape.  Ideal times for a visit are days of Pendulum New Music concerts.  You will get a chance to hear music by our current composers, meet all the faculty and current students, and visit some classes earlier in the day.  Our composition seminar meets regularly on Wednesdays from 2-3:50PM.  You are welcome to check out some courses and usually there are some composition related courses offered on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.  In general, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are bad days for a visit because the faculty is often not on campus, and composition courses are not offered on these days. 

If you do come to town, let us know ahead of time.  A member of the composition faculty will try to meet with you.  We could also possibly set up some informal time with current students.  With enough notice, we might be able to find a current student that could house you for a night.

Tips for a good application:

Material preparation:

• Submit computer notated scores with notation up to professional publishing standards
• Make sure your scores are bound, double sided, and well labeled
• Offer the best recordings possible!!!  We are certainly willing to listen to midi recordings, but we definitely prefer live performances even if recording quality is mediocre.  A bad recording will never prevent admission if the music is very good.
• Submit recordings with scores when possible, but we are willing to look at a score without a recording.
• Submit a strong but varied portfolio.  Show us the breadth of your music but be sure to put your best foot forward.  We don’t have any specific requirements for the kinds of pieces you should submit but are always pleased to see an applicant who has explored different aesthetics and mediums, or who has taken big leaps in different pieces.  An application with several very similar pieces is less attractive.
• Solicit letters of recommendation early and be sure to follow-up.  It is very common that a very strong and well organized application will be short a couple of letters.  It could have been because the request was made unreasonably late, or that a busy professor simply forgot.  Take the initiative to be in touch with the graduate office to find out which letters have arrived.
• Early in the process, make a checklist for your application.  Check it often.  Technically we are not supposed to consider incomplete applications as strongly as we consider complete applications.