The bulk of college application season is over for the majority of Westborough High School seniors. The application process among most seniors is very similar as it includes writing a college essay, creating an activity resume, asking for recommendation letters, and writing supplemental essays. 

For one WHS senior in particular, Jenny Brown, her college application process was extensive. Brown applied to college for a double major in journalism and music, creating an additional application aspect for the music requirement. Her application process began back in the summer. 

Brown explains, “The summer before this school year I had to choose a repertoire which is the music for my auditions. I went to a studio outside of Boston with my voice teacher to film and record my pre-screenings. It took about 3 hours of multiple takes with professional cameras and audio.”

Brown submitted four different pieces in her pre-screenings. Two of the pieces were in English, “Hark the Echoing Air” and “Love’s Philosophy”. The third was in German, “Standchen” and the fourth in Italian “Redente lacoma.”  In order to submit her music application for each school she had to upload her pre-screenings to a separate website. There were also sometimes additional music supplements that she had to complete.

A complication that Brown faced was that her initial recordings for her pre screenings had been deleted. She had to go back the following week to redo the whole recording.  

Brown shares, “That’s not something that should happen, but it happened to me.”

Although this was a big setback, after finishing the second recordings she felt more confident in her vocal performance. 

At this point in the school year most seniors are in the waiting period while they wait to hear decisions back from schools, but for Jenny Brown her application process continues. Once her pre screenings and applications were submitted and reviewed she had to be invited to an in-person formal audition in order to move on to the next round of the process. 

She shares, “The schools I applied to except Northwestern have accepted my initial music application, so now I will go in and audition at the college itself. I have been invited to for a number of schools. I have already been accepted to Temple University, but  I won’t find out from the rest until March so that is different from other schools.”

Brown has also been offered to apply for a selective scholarship at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Only four students are granted the Kenn in Music Scholar Program which provides free tuition all four years for music. Brown will hear back on January 15 if she is selected. 

Her audition journey is just beginning. During February break she is flying to Los Angeles for her University of Southern California audition in addition to auditioning at New York University, Ithaca College, and Boston University. Some colleges allow her to submit her auditions online, specifically CU Boulder. 

Although it is a difficult and long process, Brown’s love for and hope for pursuing music is what keeps her going. Brown shares, “I’ve always enjoyed music. By doing the double major I expect to focus on something else besides music which I hope to be journalism. I have always loved writing and I do not want to give up my passion for music yet.