In general, the best preparation for gaining entrance to music school or conservatory for violin is to hire a top-notch violin teacher, who can guide you through the entire process. Ideally, this teacher should have a history of helping other students gain access to conservatories, and should be prepared to assist with the details, as discussed below.

First, take advantage of the opportunities available to you locally. Participate in youth symphony and school orchestra; take part in local competitions; play for events or in your church or synagogue; volunteer your music to a nursing home or retirement community; look for opportunities to play in groups with your peers.

Use your summers wisely. Attending summer music camps such as Madeline Island Music Camp, Tanglewood, or Interlochen is a great way to focus with great intensity on improving your skills on the violin in the company of some of your most gifted peers from around the world.

Learn the literature. Although you may have started with the Suzuki books, your pre-college musical education should take you through the full tour of materials for auditions, technique, and musical development, from such great works as the Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky violin concertos to invaluable technical exercises for development of dexterity and tone written by Kreutzer and Rode.

Devote time, practice, and activity towards pursuing violin at the highest level. Take private lessons, practice at home, go to concerts, listen to recordings, watch videos of your favorite performers.

Above all, perform, perform, perform! Learning to perform is vital; while you may initially experience "stage fright," the best way to overcome this is to put yourself out there as often as possible. Look for opportunities to play with orchestras. Many local youth symphonies also have solo competitions, but your school orchestra or a local adult community group can also put you center stage. In addition, if your teacher offers recitals, make sure you play in them. Volunteering your time performing in nursing homes can be very rewarding -- they really love to hear you play!

Conservatories usually require auditions. Sometimes these are in person, and other times you may need to send a tape. There are schools that make the rounds to major cities for auditions, but for other schools you may have to travel. In planning for your audition, make sure you follow the guidelines for each school. Usually, you will need to have at least two pieces in contrasting styles, such as two selections from the romantic and Baroque eras, or selections with contrasting tempos, such as adagio and allegro. Make sure you know your major and minor scales in three octaves and can play them in every key. Many schools list audition "requirements" but you are also sometimes given a blank slate. In this case, I suggest going with the music that you think shows you at your best, rather than choosing difficult material aimed at impressing your listeners.

Also, be prepared to offer a recording of yourself. This recording should, if possible, be made in a recording studio. It is very difficult to make a good home-recording, particularly on violin. They have thousands of dollars of equipment dedicated to capturing your sound.

In addition, find yourself a professional level piano accompanist. He or she is an absolute necessity for auditions and competitions. You may want to work with a few before settling on one that you use repeatedly. I keep a list of trusted, experienced accompanists for my students.

You might also want to consider schools such as Oberlin or Yale, which offer academic programs that confer double degrees such as the BA/BM or BA/MM. This pursuit ensures that, should you choose a path other than a career in music, you also have the college experience to back up your candidacy for opportunities in other fields.