Covid got you daydreaming about grad school? Add the ISM to your list!

September 22, 2020

By Mark Roosien, ISM Interim Admissions Coordinator

 

COVID life is a drag, especially if you’re a college senior. In a normal year, the trials and tribulations of classwork would be offset by the celebratory feeling that comes with finishing your final year of college. But it’s hard to feel giddy when you’re struggling to stay awake for another Zoom class and spending weekends in your dorm or apartment.

If there’s one thing that #COVIDlife is good for, it’s daydreaming about post-COVID life. What will things be like next year, when (hopefully!) the worst of the pandemic is behind us? Where could I go? What could I do?

According to the Washington Post, a lot of us have been daydreaming about travel. Some of the most Googled destinations in Coronatide have been the Maldives, India, Antarctica, and Poland.

I confess that I’ve been daydreaming about travel too. Normally, at this time of year I would be taking trips to visit college campuses in places like Atlanta, Chicago, and Seattle to tell students about our programs at the ISM. Instead, I’ve been travelling virtually, via Zoom, to the dorms and apartments of prospective students from all over the world, from here in New England to places as far away as Finland, China, and Turkey.

Maybe you’ve been daydreaming about grad school. What about the Yale Institute of Sacred Music? The ISM is a great place to study not only sacred music (choral conducting, organ, and vocal performance), but also theology, literature, art history, liturgy, and ethnomusicology.

Unlike a lavish vacation in the Maldives, getting a master’s degree at the ISM won’t break the bank. All ISM students study at the Yale School of Music or Yale Divinity School tuition-free.

Now that it’s September, the student application for the 2021-22 academic year has officially launched. Now is a good time to start writing your personal statements, making recordings, and soliciting recommendations. We are looking forward to reading your essays, hearing your music, and learning about your passions.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at ism.admissions@yale.edu. We are also holding virtual information sessions about our graduate programs on September 28 and October 20. These sessions are open to all. Just fill out the form and we’ll send you links for the Zoom sessions.

Until then, don’t let a good daydream go to waste!