Undergraduate Admission
Planning your audition: Meadows School of the Arts has prepared new audition procedures to safeguard the health and well-being of our prospective students, faculty and staff during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to virtual and recorded auditions, applicants can also engage with our faculty, staff and students via weekly virtual information sessions and tours of our performance spaces, all from the comfort of your home.
Music is a Dual Admit Program
In order to pursue a Music major or minor at SMU, applicants must be admitted to SMU and to Meadows School of the Arts. Candidates are required to submit an SMU application, a Meadows application, and audition on their primary instrument for Meadows for consideration of admission. Additionally, applicants pursuing the B.M. in Music Education, B.M. in Music Therapy, or B.M. in Music Composition will be required to interview with faculty for consideration for admission into those programs.
Music Admission Checklist:
1. Review Music Audition Dates
Applicants have the option of performing a live, virtual audition via Zoom, or, sending in a recorded audition.
Please note:
- All Voice applicants must submit a pre-screen video; see details further below.
- All applicants other than Voice must send in a pre-audition video recording at least 7 days prior to audition date; see details further below.
Audition dates below are live and virtual via Zoom:
- Nov. 14, 2020
- Jan. 30, 2021
- Feb. 6, 2021
- Feb. 20, 2021
- Feb. 27, 2021
Harp auditions are only offered on Saturday, February 6.
Cello auditions are only offered on Saturday, January 30 and Saturday, February 20.
Two Types of Auditions: Virtual or Recorded
Within the Meadows Application (found in item # 3 below), you will be asked to select which type of audition you prefer:
Virtual Audition:
Live, via Zoom, on audition dates listed above. Students will submit a pre-audition video at least 7 days prior to auditioning live for faculty over Zoom on music audition days:
All Voice applicants
Voice applicants interested in auditioning virtually are required to submit a pre-screen video by Nov. 1 if applying to SMU as Early Action or Early Decision, or by Dec. 1 if applying to SMU as Regular Decision or Early Decision II. Voice applicants who pass the pre-screen will be emailed information on how to register for a virtual audition.
All applicants other than Voice
All applicants aside from voice must first submit a pre-audition video recording by or before 7 days prior to the live, virtual audition date. That way, in the event technical issues were to arise, our faculty will have the highest quality representation of applicants’ playing. The pre-audition recording is not a pre-screen; applicants who register for a live virtual audition will meet with faculty by Zoom.
Music Education, Music Therapy, and Music Composition
Applicants will interview with faculty via Zoom during the week prior to the audition day.
Recorded Audition:
Applicants will submit an audition video without meeting faculty or participating in music audition days. Music Education, Music Therapy, or Music Composition applicants submitting a recorded audition will be emailed information about registering for an interview with faculty.
2. Application Deadlines: Meadows and SMU
Meadows Application Deadlines:
Within your Meadows Music Application (found in item # 3 below), you will be asked to select either a virtual audition or a recorded audition.
- If you are doing a virtual audition, your Meadows Music Application and audition registration must be submitted by or before 7 days prior to audition date. Note that in order to register for a virtual audition, you must first submit your Meadows application, after which you will receive an email with a link to your status page where you can log in and register for your virtual audition.
- If you are doing a recorded audition:
- and applying to SMU as Early Action or Early Decision I, your Meadows application and recorded audition are due by or before Nov. 1.
- and applying to SMU as Regular Decision or Early Decision II, your Meadows application and recorded audition are due by or before Jan.15.
SMU Application Deadlines:
- If you are applying Early Action or Early Decision I, your SMU application is due by or before Nov. 1.
- If you are applying Regular Decision or Early Decision II, your SMU application is due by or before Jan. 15.
- SMU Transfer Application for Fall: May 1, June 1, August 1; see SMU website
- SMU Transfer Application for Spring: Nov. 1
Determine which application deadline is right for you: Click Here For Guidelines
Which is right for me: Early Action, Regular Decision, or Early Decision?
In general, we encourage students to apply when their application will be most competitive and to audition when they will be most prepared. Early Action, Regular Decision, and Early Decision applicants are considered equally for artistic scholarships, since we do not begin awarding artistic scholarships until mid-March.
Early Action: Apply to SMU by November 1, audition by/on November 14. The benefit of applying Early Action is that a student will receive their audition results and their SMU admission decision by mid-December. If you apply Early Action, but do not complete your audition by/on November 14, your application to SMU will be deferred until Regular Decision. Early Action is not binding.
Regular Decision: Apply to SMU by January 15, audition in January or February. Regular Decision is appropriate for students who plan to audition in January or February and/or those students whose applications will be more competitive with the inclusion of their first semester senior year grades. Regular Decision applicants typically receive their audition results by early March and their SMU admission decision by mid-March.
Early Decision is a binding application whereby students commit to attend SMU if admitted: Be sure to review the Early Decision FAQ. Early Decision I: Apply to SMU by November 1, audition by/on November 14, receive audition results and SMU admission decision by mid-December. Early Decision II: Apply to SMU by January 15, audition by the end of January, receive audition results and SMU admission decision by early March.
Information for Transfer students:
Fall Transfer: Apply to SMU by April 1 - audition during the posted on-campus audition dates or by recorded audition.
Spring Transfer: Apply to SMU by November 1, audition by/on November 14.
Note that all transfer students are required to complete college algebra or a college-level math course before transferring to SMU. We strongly encourage you to plan ahead and check with your transfer admission counselor to ensure that you have satisfied admission requirements. Plan ahead to optimize your possibility of earning a Transfer Scholarship, and check out the Transfer Equivalency Guides.
Before starting your Meadows application, be sure to read through the navigation instructions
- When you click on the “Start Your Meadows Application” button below, it will take you to a page titled “Your Application to SMU.”
- If you have submitted an SMU application and have previously logged in to your personal status page, click on “Log in” under “Returning Users,” using the same username and password.
- If you have not yet applied to SMU and therefore have not received your SMU personal status page login credentials, see “First-time users” and click on “Create an account” to log in.
- After logging in, scroll to the bottom of that page:
- Select “Start New Application”
- In “Select application type,” choose 2021, then in the drop-down menu select “Meadows Music Application”
- Click on “Create application”
- Register for your audition: After you submit your Meadows application, you will receive a confirmation email with directions to go to your status page. There you will find a link to click on to register for your audition.
4.Test Optional Policy for students applying for Spring 2021 or Fall 2021. Click Here For Details
Students applying for admission for Spring 2021 or the following Fall 2021 are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores to SMU. Additionally, applicants are considered for academic scholarship whether or not standardized test scores are submitted.Admission and scholarship decisions are based on many factors including information from applicants’ high school transcript, personal essay, letters of recommendation, and record of personal achievements in addition to SAT or ACT scores. Under this policy, applicants who choose not to submit ACT or SAT scores will be evaluated on the other factors.
7. Complete the Undergraduate Theory Assessment prior to your audition day.
- After submitting your completed Meadows Music Application, you will receive instructions in a separate email on how to access the Theory Assessment; you can also find this information on your status page of your submitted Meadows Music Application.
9. Complete the Meadows Applied Teacher Request Form.
Complete the Meadows Applied Teacher Request Form by February 27, 2021 after submitting the Meadows Music Application. This form can be found within your Meadows Music Application. NOTE: This form is not required for students whose instruments are bassoon; double bass; euphonium; guitar; oboe; saxophone; trumpet; or tuba.
10. Review the Financial Aid Process and submit the CSS Profile and the FAFSA, or, the Meadows Waiver Form as soon as possible.
Want to learn more about SMU Meadows School of the Arts?
The Meadows Office of Admission and Financial Aid is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time.