A student can be denied or accepted based on the pre-screening results. Once the student is accepted beyond the prescreening round, they are called to San Francisco for a final audition to get to know the faculty, and perform for their chosen major's instructor. Once that is clear, the student is either accepted or denied admission into the conservatory. Some areas of the conservatory are more competitive than others, such as composition [which only admits 8–10 students a year out of hundreds of applicants], and the strings department. The faculty values the applicant's personality and musicianship in the auditions.
=== Directors ===
Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1917–1925
Ernest Bloch, 1925–1930
Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1930–1951
Albert Elkus, 1951–1957
Robin Laufer, 1957–1966
Milton Salkind, 1966–1990
Stephen Brown, 1990–1991
Milton Salkind (Acting President), 1991–1992
Colin Murdoch, 1992–2013
David Stull, 2013–present
== Notable faculty (past & present) ==
Jeffrey Anderson (tuba)
Elinor …
