Admissions FAQ

The online application deadline is December 1. This includes prescreening (if applicable), information about your academic history, family history, etc., and the names and emails of your recommenders. Supplemental materials (essay, letters, resume, repertoire list, unofficial transcripts) are submitted electronically through your Status Portal and are due February 1st.

Late applications must be approved by the Office of Admissions. If approved, late applications will be assessed an additional $25 late fee.

The application fee is $125.00 USD. Current MSM and Precollege students, MSM alumni, and applicants to the Barnard/MSM Lesson Exchange Program pay a reduced fee of $50. All application fees are non-refundable.

There is no application fee for exchange applicants applying from one of MSM’s partner institutions abroad.

Eligibility for a deferral varies by major and degree program. Feel free to contact the Office of Admissions for specific information regarding eligibility. If a deferment is granted, the terms of deferment are as follows:

• You may defer for one year.
• You will forfeit any scholarship that you have been awarded for the initial acceptance.
• You will be considered for scholarship funding NEXT year once the following year’s auditions are complete.
• You will maintain your teacher assignment based on their continued availability.
• You may not re-audition while deferred. If you wish to have a new audition, you must decline the current acceptance for Fall 2018 and submit a new application for Fall 2019 before December 1, 2018.
• You must notify the Admissions Office if you will earn a new degree, diploma, or certificate while deferred. Any change in your academic record could alter your eligibility for enrollment at MSM.

You may apply to more than one major/division; the fee for each application is $125.00 U.S. Should you be accepted into both, you would need to select one in which to enroll.

Audition week at MSM for Fall 2019 will take place from Friday, March 1 through Friday, March 8th (excluding Saturday). More specific audition dates for each instrument will be listed as soon as information is available, usually in mid-December. Auditions are held on campus in one of our many halls. Musical Theatre applicants will have the option to audition on campus or at one of the regional auditions (Unifieds) earlier in the year. May Auditions for Fall 2019 will be held in mid-May, though not all programs are open for this late round of auditions. Please contact the Admissions Office by email at admissions@msmnyc.edu, or by phone at 917-493-4436, for more information.

Please visit the Audition Information page to find out if you are eligible for a recorded audition.

All Doctoral Program, Classical Composition, and Jazz Composition applicants are required to take entrance exams during auditions. All graduate voice applicants will be required to complete a short diction assessment either before or after the audition. Jazz applicants for BM or MM must take a short theory test prior to their scheduled audition. Other placement and qualifying exams are given in the fall, prior to registration.

Applicants can locate repertoire requirements by visiting the Audition Information page.

Manhattan School of Music offers two meal plans, one for Andersen Hall residents and one for commuters.

Learn more about rates here.

This charge will be included on each tuition bill. Unspent dollars can be carried over from the Fall to the Spring, but any money left over in the Spring must be used up or else it is forfeited. Unused Meal Plan dollars are not credited back to the student. It is possible to add more funds to the Meal Plan account in increments of $50.

Yes. Andersen Residence Hall opened in the fall of 2001. The 19-story hall is adjacent to the academic building and contains student residential rooms, practice rooms, Wi-Fi, mailboxes, a lounge and outdoor patio, laundry, vending and an exercise room. It can house up to 450 students. The hall is staffed with a full-time professional residence life director and student resident assistants are located on every floor. Security coverage at the residence hall operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

First- and second-year undergraduate students are required to live on campus, with freshmen sharing double rooms and sophomores having the option of living in a single room, as space allows. Upper-class students and graduate students may also apply for housing in the residence hall.

Floor designations may be as follows:

Graduate students only
Undergraduate students only
Students over age 21 only
Female only

The Office of Student Engagement provides information regarding alternative housing options.

Learn more about housing rates here.

Applicants are given the option to choose up to five preferences for a major teacher through the online application. Many applicants make this decision through a combination of advice from current teachers, knowledge of faculty reputation, and/or having an opportunity to take a sample lesson. Applicants may choose to leave this decision to the judgment of the dean of academics/dean of faculty who make every attempt to pair each student with an appropriate faculty.

After the application is submitted, applicants will have options to edit their list of teacher preferences through their Status Portal. Teacher preference lists are viewed by Admissions staff only.

Many of our faculty members have their contact information available on the Faculty Page. If you cannot find the faculty’s contact information listed, you may email the Office of Admissions to obtain the faculty member’s email address. You will be able to contact the faculty directly to schedule your sample lesson. The Office of Admissions does not facilitate or have any information regarding faculty members’ availability or schedule and does not set up sample lessons for prospective applicants.

Consultations or sample lessons are not required for application and audition at MSM. They do not bias faculty committees in deciding whether any individual student is admitted. Scheduling and fees, if any, are arranged privately between the faculty member and the applicant. MSM recommends a fee of no more than $100 for an initial consultation.

We do not have any part-time or evening programs; we only offer full-time degree programs for our fully enrolled students.

We do not have degree programs in audio recording or electronic music, but we have a brand new Musical Theatre Program that began in the 2016–2017 academic year! To learn more, please visit our page here.

Manhattan School of Music and Teachers College Columbia University offer a dual degree at the master’s level. This accelerated program – designed to be completed in three years – gives the student a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Arts in Education with New York State K-12 Music Teacher Certification from Teachers College, Columbia University.

No. Enrollment at Manhattan School of Music, in any given academic year, is for entrance in the fall semester only.

No. Due to the intensive academic load required of each individual major, MSM does not offer the option of a double major. However, students may elect to take part-time lessons in a secondary discipline (note that the cost of these lessons is not included in the regular tuition fee).

SAT, ACT, or GRE scores are not required. Applicants to the undergraduate degree program who are home-schooled are required to provide MSM with comprehensive transcripts and a high school diploma (or its equivalent; e.g. GED, TASC, HiSET).

MSM no longer requires (but still highly recommends submission of TOEFL & IELTS) the TOEFL/IELTS. All applicants whose first language is not English will take an in-house English Assessment which will be given during our audition week. The English Assessment will cover listening, reading, and writing, as well a brief one-on-one interview with a member of our ESL faculty. The result of your English Assessment will help us determine your English level and potentially inform admissibility.

Tuition at Manhattan School of Music for the 2018 – 2019 academic year is $46,700 while fees are $600. Medical insurance is required for students who do not have proof of existing coverage. To learn more about tuition and fees, please visit our page here.