Types of Graduate Student Status

  1. REGULAR GRADUATE STUDENTS: Students seeking degree candidacy; these students are enrolled for graduate credit. 
  2. SPECIAL GRADUATE STUDENTS: Students wishing to enroll for graduate credit but not seeking degree candidacy may file application for Special Graduate Student status by submitting college transcripts and the appropriate application. Applicants accepted to Special Graduate status may register for graduate credit in any course work offered by the Petrie School of Music subject to the following conditions: 
    1. Permission of the area faculty is required. This may take the form of a transcript examination or administering of the placement test normally given entering regular graduate students. 
    2. Special Graduate students may not register for those offerings leading directly to terminal projects in graduate degrees, such as Thesis, Recital, Graduate Ensemble, and major credit performance studies offerings. 
    3. While there is no limit on the number of graduate credit hours a student may earn as a Special Graduate Student, a maximum of fifteen semester hours of graduate credit earned as a Special Graduate Student may be carried over to Regular Graduate status for use in the degree program. A list of the courses to be carried over must accompany the Application for Admission for Regular Graduate status. 
  3. PROVISIONAL GRADUATE STATUS: If, in the opinion of a majority of the Graduate Music Committee, the audition/recording, undergraduate transcripts, or recommendation cast reasonable doubt on an applicant's potential for success in graduate study, the student may be admitted to provisional graduate status. Depending on the reason for provisional admission, the following conditions may be set for full admission: 
    1. Provisional status based on audition:
      1. Students who have Provisional status because of the level of performing shown at the audition, they will be required to perform a qualifying examination in the performance area at the end of the first year of study. The examination will be performed for the area faculty and will normally occur during regularly scheduled juries. 
      2. The examination repertoire should meet the graduate audition requirements of the area in length, variety of styles, and memory. The material should be prepared under the direction of a Converse teacher and should not include works studied by the applicant before admission to Converse. 
      3. If the examination is passed, the student may proceed in the chosen performance degree. Elective hours in performance taken as a provisional student will not count towards the required graduate credits for a performance degree.
    2. Provisional status based on transcript: 
      1. Students who are admitted provisionally as a result of poor academic performance at the undergraduate level must attain a GPA of at least 3.0 over the course of nine hours of Converse graduate study, with other stipulations to be set on a case-by-case basis by the Graduate Committee.