Music AppHelpers

About AppHelpers

Our Process

Recognizing that each student’s familiarity with the application process and their needs are unique, we offer a personalized approach. Some students may just seek feedback on their essays, while others require assistance in navigating a school’s website for application requirements. Our program is designed to accommodate these differences. It follows these general steps:

Step 1. Register for Music AppHelpers

We welcome students applying to undergraduate, graduate (MM, DMA), and post-baccalaureate certificate programs in music (performance, therapy, education, composition, etc.). Interested students should complete the brief registration form on our homepage. Once the program begins in August, we contact each student to schedule an introductory 30-minute meeting with an AppHelpers mentor.

Step 2. Attend your one-on-one meeting

At your meeting, a Music AppHelpers mentor will learn about you and your goals. We’ll ask questions such as:

Where do you plan to apply?

Have you had experiences with private teachers at those schools?

Do you have an updated resume or repertoire list?

Have you completed any required testing (e.g., SAT)?

How is your prescreening and audition preparation going?

What equipment will you use to record your prescreening tapes?

Do you need significant financial aid to attend school?

Did you qualify for an SAT fee waiver?

How can we support you?

These questions help us get to know you. We can then recommend which workshops to attend and tutorials to use. At the meeting, we’ll set a few deadlines: Workshops to attend, date to turn in a final list of schools, etc.

Step 3. Attend assigned AppHelpers Workshops

We offer several virtual workshops to help students through the main application deliverables. Workshops are held over Zoom with groups of 5–20 students. These are sessions for students—parents and guardians may not interrupt with questions or comments.

Workshop 1 (3–4 hours): The Application Plan, Resume, and Repertoire List

The workshop facilitator will guide you through several lessons and templates for building an application plan, resume, and repertoire list. If you already have a resume and rep list, you’ll work to update and format them. By the end of the session, students should have working drafts of all three deliverables. After the session, they will submit their materials to AppHelpers for feedback and edits.

Workshop 2 (3–4 hours): Essay Writing

Students attend with a complete list of schools to apply to. During the workshop, students will complete several brainstorming and outlining exercises to help them arrive at interesting and personally meaningful topics and anecdotes to use in their essays. Students will outline and draft their essays. By the end of the session, students should have a working draft of all five main essay types. Once they complete their drafts, they will submit their materials to AppHelpers for feedback and edits.

Step 4. Continue to work with your AppHelpers mentor over Slack and during office hours

AppHelpers students are invited to Slack—a mobile and web-based communication app—to communicate with their AppHelpers mentors. This is the best place to ask questions, set deadlines, and receive feedback on your work. We also hold group office hours where you can ask additional questions about your schools, applications, resumes, rep lists, prescreening tapes, and essays. We are able to offer AppHelpers at no cost in part because we rely on chat, email, and group sessions instead of individual meetings. Your AppHelpers mentor may encourage you to schedule a one-on-one meeting to review application details if we need to address something outside of a group session.

Important Note: It’s your responsibility to make it to the finish line

Everything you do with us is ultimately your responsibility! We’ll provide advice and support as you work with us to complete application deliverables. Still, it’s your responsibility to meet deadlines, turn in applications on time, and make final decisions about your application, pre-screenings, and auditions.

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