Student Application

The UT String Project operates on a lottery system. Please only fill out one lottery form per child.

The lottery will open on October 1st, 2024 and will close by 5:00pm on March 1st, 2025. We will not take any lottery submissions after March 1st.

Please keep the following in mind:

1. We start instrumental study at the age of 4, with the exception of the guitar program. The guitar program starts at the age of 7.  
2. Our Early Child Education classes are for children ages 0-3. If your child will be within that age range at the start of Fall 2025, please do not select a preferred instrument.  

3. If you have a private teacher outside of the String Project faculty, please list your child’s teacher. This means you are eligible for a Saturday-Only spot, and will be contacted for an audition.       
    

   Lottery Form

Results for the 2025-2026 academic year will be announced in Summer 2025. You must fill out a new lottery form every year if you are not selected.

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

The University of Texas String Project enrolls students either in our instrumental Preschool Program (for students who enter at age 4 and 5) or the regular program (ages 6 and above); eligibility is based solely on age, even if your child has gotten an early start to school. All students in the Preschool Program will be beginners. Applicants for our regular (school-aged) program may be either potential beginners or players with previous experience.

FULL TIME VS. SATURDAY-ONLY STATUS

Most UT String Project students are full-time students, taking both Saturday classes and private lessons with our faculty. We also enroll students with Saturday-only status when they already have a private lesson teacher who is not on our faculty. You will have the opportunity on your application to specify which status you expect to enroll for, but this can be changed later. All String Project students, including Saturday-only students, must take private lessons either from our faculty or from an outside teacher.

REFERRAL LISTS

We maintain a Referral List of teachers in the Austin area (available upon request from the office) to facilitate your starting your child’s musical education as quickly as possible. This list is hardly an exhaustive list of teachers in the Austin area, and inclusion on the list does not constitute the String Project’s endorsement; rather, the list is a tool to help parents start looking. Teachers, if you would like to be included on the referral list, please contact us.

Acceptance of students into the program is based primarily on the program’s vacancies. For more information, view our policies. Prospective beginners on violin and cello consistently represent our longest lines; consider applying for viola or bass, or being open to a variety of instruments. Also consider beginning your child’s string education with a private teacher as soon as possible rather than waiting for a position in our program. An early start is nearly always beneficial, and also may help your child fill an advanced opening in our program before his or her turn as a beginner would otherwise occur.

It is vital that you keep your information up to date. Please keep us informed of any changes, or you may miss crucial information. Also, please if you start a string instrument after applying.

Teacher Application

Prospective UT String Project Teachers can apply using the form below. The application contains detailed instructions:

Teacher Application Form

Additional Requirements

• One Paragraph Letter of Intent
• Video Example of you teaching a private lesson
• Please note that the application asks for a DVD of yourself teaching. A DVD format is no longer required; any video format that you can submit electronically is accepted.
• Two letters of recommendation

Send all of these materials to string_project@mail.music.utexas.edu in addition to filling out the form above. Applications with missing items will not be accepted.