YST woos prospective students with immersive admissions experience

Like a job interview, the university admissions process is a two-way street. While the university is processing documents from prospective students and assessing them through interviews and auditions, applicants are also gathering information, often from their school seniors and the Internet, to make their final decisions.

Applicants to the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST) who are shortlisted for admission will now add first-hand experience to their considerations, after the school revamped its admissions process in 2024. Moving away from traditional auditions as the primary means of assessment, YST has created a full-day immersion experience to give prospective students a taste of life in NUS and YST while enabling faculty members to assess them holistically as they participate in lessons and collaborative sessions.

Candidates must first undergo a pre-screening process, with specific requirements varying based on the programme they are applying for. Screened candidates are then invited to take part in the immersion experience, where they will be further assessed before they are considered for an admissions offer.

“As our reputation climbs, so does our competition with top conservatories in the world to recruit the best music students internationally,” said Mr Tan Wei Boon, Deputy Director of Student Life at YST. The new immersion experience is designed to evaluate candidates more effectively and encourage higher acceptance of admissions offers so as to ensure a high-quality student cohort each year, he added.

Early results since the revamped process was implemented are promising. Students who were admitted through the first edition in 2024 thrived in their first semester of studies, achieving an unprecedented 100% pass rate in all their courses.

Said Professor Peter Tornquist, Dean of YST: “YST Immersion has truly been a game-changing initiative, energising and modernising our admissions process. It gives applicants a fuller reflection of our pedagogical approach, allows us to achieve a better student fit, and resonates with the multi-faceted capacities that young music professionals need in today’s industry.”

The second edition of the immersion experience was conducted from January to March this year and hosted 89 prospective students hailing from 12 countries including Singapore, China, Uzbekistan, Russia, Indonesia, and Australia. Since applicants may now need to travel farther than before to complete the in-person admissions process, financial aid is offered in special cases to ensure that deserving students are not excluded due to financial difficulties.

Enhanced interactions for better assessments

The old admissions process followed the approach used by most music schools, which assesses applicants primarily through auditions before a faculty panel. These auditions would take place at YST for applicants based in Singapore or at one of YST’s regional audition centres, usually in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or South Korea, for applicants based elsewhere.

This approach was not ideal as it did not leave much time for the students and the panel to interact on a deeper level beyond a 20 to 30-minute audition performance, said Mr Tan.

The new immersive experience enhances the assessment process by giving candidates a glimpse into a day in the life of a YST undergraduate. While the candidates learn about YST’s pedagogical approach and interact with their potential future classmates through various activities, the faculty members teaching and observing the sessions get to conduct a more holistic assessment of each prospective student across various areas and competencies.

Typical activities include individual and chamber music lessons with a faculty member from the relevant major, as well as a collaborative music-making session with peers. Activities are also tailored for the various majors. Applicants for performance majors such as strings, winds, and brass are given the opportunity to rehearse in groups with a chamber coach, while applicants for the Audio Arts & Sciences major complete a hands-on practicum where they learn the basics of setting up a recording session. Meanwhile, Composition applicants attend a seminar where they take part in discussions and debates on contemporary composers in the field.

Additional information sessions are incorporated throughout, such as a tour of YST’s state-of-the-art facilities and the NUS campus led by student ambassadors, and a dialogue with the YST Student Life Office where students can ask questions about topics ranging from scholarships and bursaries to campus housing and educational opportunities, such as pursuing minors or second majors in other NUS schools and faculties.

Sneak peek into YST life

Current YST students who were admitted through the revamped admissions process said it gave them an accurate preview of what YST classes would be like and enabled them to evaluate whether the school culture and teaching style would suit them.

First-year student Lucius Quek, who is majoring in Audio Arts & Sciences, said that going through the immersion experience and getting to engage in conversation with YST faculty and staff helped him to feel confident in his decision to accept YST’s offer when it was extended. The teaching methodology and materials used in the immersion matched his actual student experience, enabling him to quickly find his footing in YST.

Christian Daniel Ragay Borres, a first-year Percussion student from the Philippines, was pleased to learn that YST would not be putting him through the traditional audition process used by most conservatories, including the Australian music schools he applied to.

He appreciated the two-way exchange of information facilitated by the lesson format, noting: “It wasn’t just my skills being presented to them, but also their teaching styles and plans being experienced by me.”

The collaborative music-making session in the immersion experience for Music & Society / Music, Collaboration & Production (MS/MCP) candidates was especially memorable for first-year student Cervone Seah, who recalls working with musicians from diverse backgrounds to create a new piece based on improvisation. The exercise highlighted the importance of teamwork and creativity, both of which she has found to be integral to her MS/MCP studies.

“The immersion was an excellent preview of the dynamic and interdisciplinary approach that defines the MS/MCP programme,” Cervone said. “Experiencing YST’s culture first-hand reassured me that this was the right place for my musical and academic growth.”