Testimonials
Hear directly from recent students and parents about their experience in working with Dr. Powell:
“Alex Powell is wonderful and perhaps the best college investment we could have made. Although I’m a retired college professor and we have two other children who have recently gone through the college admissions process, we really needed help unravelling the mysteries of the music world. Alex’s insight and knowledge of the college/conservatory music community is encyclopedic, and he is able to match the student’s interest to the appropriate institution really well, indeed in both the musical sector as well as overall. Since he is a kind fellow, Alex clearly took the student’s interest and skills to heart, and formed a very tight bond with our daughter. “I can’t wait to tell Alex…” was a common refrain in our house for months! He also kept us parents informed at the appropriate level, and was a true partner for our daughter. Our family recommends him wholeheartedly and without reservation.”
– Parent of a Boston University student
“Although our admissions successes were a happy byproduct, my writing has absolutely transformed under Alex’s mentorship. Every time I finished a new draft, Alex would have a flurry of suggestions ready for me to work with to refine my piece. But Alex focused on helping me discover and improve my own process of writing rather than editing my essays himself, leaving me with skills necessary to tackle academic writing, future application essays, and even creative work. As I enter my first year of college, I feel like I’ve developed a “mini-Alex” inside my head that will guide my writing for the rest of my life.”
– Harvard student
“Having Dr. Powell on our team during our college application journey was wonderful. He helped us approach the college search in a very organized and efficient way, and he worked with my daughter frequently until they could come up with the final list. For each school, he had a vast amount of information and guidance on the approach to that school’s application. While working directly with our student, he was always available to us parents for any questions and meeting requests. When our student got into her first choice, we knew we couldn’t accomplish it without his guidance and support. We are forever thankful!”
– Parent of an NYU student
“We first connected with Alex at the beginning of my son’s junior year of high school. Although the ways he assisted us were myriad, early on Alex helped us understand the types of programs we should be targeting given my son’s specific interests. He helped us understand the difference between a pure conservatory, the dual degree programs and finally more traditional colleges and universities with strong music programs. He supported our initial questions with a lengthy analysis of pros and cons and provided long lists of examples of each type of school we could do further research on our own. He even reached out to experts and colleagues in the field who answered a couple of specific questions our son had posed about music theory pathways. Alex is a terrific consultant and was willing to meet us where we were at each stage in the process.”
– Parent of a Cleveland Institute of Music student
“The only thing I would have done differently would have been starting to work together sooner rather than later. It was extremely helpful to have a strong musical perspective on what my talents were and how to bring those out in front of the admissions teams. I was glad to have someone who could see my strengths and use that information to help create the best profile for colleges. Again, thank you for all your work, and I would say that all future students that work with you have a great counselor who can bring out the best in them.”
– New England Conservatory student
“Dr. Powell expertly guided our daughter through the process for college applications, connecting with professors for trial lessons, auditions, and appeals for larger scholarship offerings. He also gave such great advice about the importance of networking for college and your career and how to get started early. Alex worked directly with our daughter, which made her feel so much more supported than having just her mom and dad, who have no musical experience, try to navigate the process with her. I very highly recommend Alex to any student who is committed to a career in music. The return on investment was absolutely worth it!”
– Parent of a University of Michigan SMTD student
“Navigating the application and audition process for an aspiring music major is complex and time consuming. Dr. Powell’s guidance and expertise proved invaluable to our family and gave us the peace of mind to take a step back as parents and allow the decision making to progress according to his clearly defined process. We arrived at an informed decision with our high school senior that we were all happy with – academically and financially.”
– Parent of an Indiana University Jacobs School student
“Having someone help me organize a list of schools was incredibly helpful because I had no idea what to look for and expect with 90% of the music programs. It made the process so much easier having another set of eyes look out for things. The second huge help was the essay editing. While some of it was hard to swallow, it was 1000% necessary for my writing development. It was awesome to have someone that doesn’t know me as well as everyone else in my life fill me in on where the gaps in my writing don’t make sense. I felt supported throughout the whole process and never felt hung out to dry or like my ideas weren’t heard. You were incredibly helpful and understanding throughout the entire process, and I genuinely don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
– Boston University student
“Dr. Powell was an invaluable resource for our son who was interested in studying piano performance and potentially voice. He was able to meet him where he was and share all sorts of insights about the world of music in college as well as how to find programs that were a good fit for his varied interests and talents. He was especially effective in helping our son understand the differences between conservatory programs versus music at a liberal arts college. His expertise and insight were invaluable and we are so grateful.”
– Parent of a St. Olaf College student
“Alex Powell is an incredible professional, and a wonderful partner and guide. He did an amazing job helping our daughter make her way to Oberlin Conservatory to study voice. We initially contacted Alex a little bit late in the game, with a very long list of the schools that we had come up, mainly based on rankings. He asked if we had any video/audio of her singing, and after watching them, Alex met with our daughter a couple of times to get to know her, and to curate the list so that the schools she would apply to made the most sense for her. This was an acknowledgement that the choice of college she attends is really personal, not entirely about rankings, and certainly not about what your parents want you to do. We were really happy about this step because we felt it showed that Alex saw our daughter as an individual (and it was so great that he immediately started working directly with her!).
Alex also helped our daughter select backup schools. This was really important to us because it takes insider information to know what less famous schools have really great programs. We really had no idea how competitive our daughter would be, and so having quality backups really decreased our stress. Alex helped our daughter reach out to faculty in each of the programs to which she was applying. Alex also helped with the preparation for some of the songs for the prescreens (with German in particular), he answered questions about what she should wear for the videos, he viewed her prescreens, and gave feedback and suggestions. I really appreciated the true interest he showed in this crucial part of the process.
Once she was invited to audition, Alex helped her think through which of the auditions to accept, how to write the letters to decline the others in a professional manner so as not to hurt future relationships, and then they met to talk about things having to do with preparing for the auditions. Eventually he helped our daughter with lengthy discussions about where to go, and how to decline the places she didn’t go, and finally, how to negotiate for more financial aid from the final programs under consideration. Alex also met with us as well to explain what to expect, and to basically try to make us feel like it was going to be OK. We generally met online, and during our visit to Boston for a trial lesson, we got together in person.
As anyone will attest who has a child who has applied for a place in the world of performing arts, the experience is grueling. At every stage Alex was engaged in the process, and made this big scary thing into a positive growth experience for our daughter, and manageable for us. She is now in school and she is so happy. We couldn’t be more grateful to Alex, and we really can’t imagine how we could have done this without his thorough help and his knowledgeable support. We recommend the services of Alex Powell completely and wholeheartedly.”
– Parent of an Oberlin College student
“Alex has been so helpful in the college search, application, and the rest of the process. He listened to our concerns as parents and was able to fill many gaps. For example, he gave advice to our student in a very supportive way that if the suggestions came from a parent, it probably would have backfired. Even though Alex is not from our local area, he had connections and was able to give specific studio, professor contact, as well as music group recommendations that helped our student to polish the portfolio to the next level. He also guided our student to reach out to the college professors in a professional way. Overall, I appreciated how encouraging he was and we always felt that he’s there with us if there’s anything we need. Thanks so much, Alex!”
– Parent of a Carleton College student
“Your guidance on communication regarding studio assignments and scholarship appeals was very valuable. We wouldn’t have known that we could appeal these aspects, which ultimately resulted in our son getting a sizable scholarship and the studio of his choice. In terms of the value proposition for your services, the increase in the scholarship award essentially offset the cost of your services.”
– Parent of a Temple University student