The Catholic University of America

Admission and Entrance Requirements

General information

All applicants to the Composition division of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music must apply and be accepted by The Catholic University of America as well as the School of Music. You may submit an online application to CUA. BM applicants (both freshmen and transfer students) should click here to access the CUA online undergraduate application; MM and DMA applicants should click here to access the CUA online graduate application.

For a list of frequently-asked questions, click here.

Bachelor of Music admission and entrance requirements

Audition (required)

"Solitude," a dance work by CUA faculty composer Andrew Earle Simpson (Douglas Yeuell, choreographer, pictured).

All applicants to the Bachelor of Music program in Composition are required to pass an audition in their principal performance area (instrument or voice) in order to be admitted to the School of Music. Click here to learn more about School of Music auditions.

Portfolio (required)

IN ADDITION to auditioning, applicants to the Bachelor of Music program in Composition are required to submit a portfolio of original compositions. Please see the guidelines at the bottom of this page for tips on presenting the best possible portfolio.

Master of Music admission and entrance requirements

Students seeking admission to the MM program in Composition must submit a representative portfolio of compositions. Prospective students should hold a Bachelor's degree in Music (preferably in Composition, but not required) from an accredited institution.

The division of Theory-Composition welcomes applications from composers who do not hold a Bachelor's degree in Composition. Please note that if the undergraduate degree is not in Composition, the applicant's portfolio of submitted pieces should give evidence of ongoing, consistent compositional work at a level appropriate for beginning graduate study.

All applicants to the Master of Music program in Composition, Concert Music Emphasis, are strongly recommended to take an audition in their principal performance area (instrument or voice). Click here to learn more about School of Music auditions.
Portfolios for the MM degree should consist of scores and recordings, if available (MIDI or other electronic realizations of pieces should not be sent unless they are of exceptionally high quality) which show original creative work of high quality and technical merit. Please see the guidelines below for tips on presenting the best possible portfolio.
Audition on an instrument (or voice) is also strongly recommended for the MM in Composition, Stage Music Emphasis. All applicants with performing experience are encouraged to schedule an audition, nevertheless, in order to be eligible for a music scholarship.
All entering graduate students in the MM Composition program (either Concert Music or Stage Music emphasis) must take the Theory Placement Examination and History Placement examinations given at the beginning of each academic semester. The exams are administered by the School of Music, and are given at the beginning of the first semester of matriculation in the MM Composition program (Concert Music or Stage Music emphasis). The dates for the fall 2009 adminstration are :

History Placement Examination: Saturday, August 29, 10:00 AM - 12:00 noon (tentative)

Theory Placement Examination: Saturday, August 29, 1:00 PM- 3:00 PM, TBA

Students who require remediation as a result of these examinations, or whose baccalaureate programs exhibit significant curricular deficiencies in any of these areas, may be required to take Graduate Theory and/or Graduate Aural Skills Review to satisfy these deficiencies as prerequisites for the MM program.

Doctor of Musical Arts admission and entrance requirements

Students seeking admission to the DMA program in Composition must submit a representative portfolio of compositions. Prospective students must hold a Master's degree in Music (preferably in Composition) from an accredited institution.
Portfolios for the DMA should consist of scores and recordings (MIDI or other electronic realizations of pieces should not be sent unless they are of exceptionally high quality) which show original creative work of high quality and technical merit and demonstrate that a student is capable of independent work. Please see the guidelines listed below for tips on presenting the best possible portfolio.
Audition on an instrument (or voice) is not required for the DMA in Composition, although a student wishing to pursue applied study must pass an audition in the requisite applied area. All applicants with performing experience are encouraged to schedule an audition, nevertheless, in order to be eligible for a music scholarship.
During the first semester of full-time study, all graduate students in Composition are given a Theory Placement Exam as well as a History Placement Exam. Students who require remediation as a result of these examinations, or whose baccalaureate programs exhibit significant curricular deficiencies in any of these areas, may be required to take Graduate Theory and/or Graduate Aural Skills Review to satisfy these deficiencies as prerequisites for the DMA program. The dates for the fall 2009 adminstration are:

History Placement Examination: Saturday, August 29, 10:00 AM - 12:00 noon

Theory Placement Examination: Saturday, August 29, 1:00 PM- 3:00 PM

During the first semester of full-time study in the DMA program, DMA students in Composition also take a DMA Entrance Exam in Composition. This is an examination administered over 2 days, devoted to evaluation of the student's strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of the examination is to assist the advisor in planning a curriculum tailored to the student's specific needs. Please click here to learn more about the DMA Entrance Exam in Composition.

Assembling an effective composition portfolio (applicable to all degree programs)

The portfolio should typically include:

Scores of two to three compositions for varied forces (if possible). Scores should be neat, clean, legible, and bound. Either manuscript or computerized printouts (made with notation software) are acceptable; in either case, however, scores should demonstrate a student's level of knowledge of musical notation.
Recordings of works in the portfolio (if available). Please note that MIDI or other electronic realizations of pieces should not be submitted in lieu of recordings of live performances unless the realization is of particularly high quality. A poor MIDI realization may create an innacurately poor impression of your work: a good general rule in this regard is, if in doubt, don't send. The faculty are generally able to assess the quality of your music quite well by reviewing your scores. Electronic works submitted as part of a portfolio are not required to be accompanied by scores.
Optional: Performance history. This would consist of a list of the pieces you have composed, if and when they were performed, and by whom.
Optional: CV or resume. This can be a helpful supplement to your compositions and recordings, especially if it highlights additional areas of interest or accomplishment (your experiences as a ballet accompanist, perhaps, or your time spent in a rock band). Focus, if you do choose to provide a CV, on providing information not available elsewhere. CV's should be 2 pages maximum and should give a brief summary of your education and any additional musical activities to date (i.e., compositions premiered, any summer camps or institutes such as Interlochen, Aspen, Tanglewood, Brevard, etc., which you might have attended), and any competitions or prizes which you may have won.
Optional: composer biography. A good bio gives details of your previous education and your experiences in composition (performances, etc.). If you are a newcomer to composition, more or less, chances are that your bio may not be particularly helpful just yet. If you have won a competition or have participated in summer institutes such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Interlochen, Brevard, etc., this would be important information to include, either in a bio or the CV (see above for CV or resume). The best bios are limited to around 200 words.

Specific tips to strengthen your portfolio

Here are some tips for making your portfolio as accessible and informative as possible when it is actually before the admissions committee. It is helpful to keep in mind that the committee has a great number of applications to consider and cannot devote a great deal of time to any single application. So, the more helpful and easy your materials are to review, the greater the chances are that the committee will receive the best possible impression of your work.

Recordings in CD format should include a track listing in the jewel case of the CD. This is very helpful for the committee to have when reviewing your CD: do not place the track numbers and timings on the CD label only, as the committee is not able to navigate your CD when the disc is in the player!
You have a right to be judged by your best work, so be sure to show your best to the committee. If you are submitting a recording and have editing software which allows you to provide short samples of the most interesting parts (i.e., the "highlights") of your music, your CD should be presented in this way. For example, if you have a 7-minute piece which begins very softly and slowly, but builds to an impressive climax at 4:56, you would want the committee to hear the part of the piece around 4:56, of course!
In connection with the previous tip, if you want the committee to see the score passage corresponding to your highlights, mark the score in such a way so that the committee can turn immediately to that passage. One good method would be to enclose a tab divider on the score page in question, labelled with the track of the CD to which it corresponds.
If you have an extensive highlights list with corresponding score samples, you may wish to include a separate sheet of paper which serves as a "listening guide." This is, however, not necessary so long as the CD is clearly marked (don't forget to include a track listing, with timings, in a jewel case insert!).
Try to include music which fits the profile of the department or school to which you are applying. For example, if you are primarily a composer of electronic and computer music, there are other schools which will serve your needs much better than CUA. CUA focuses on acoustic and theatrical classical composition.
If you wish to have your materials returned, please provide a self-addressed, stamped padded mailing envelope.

IMPORTANT: Admission to the School of Music as a beginning Composition major does not automatically include formal admission to the BM degree program in Composition. In order to secure admission to the BM Composition program, the student must be formally approved for admission by the Composition faculty, generally after the second year of study. For more detailed information, please click here.

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