While the bulk of students are expecting fat envelopes from colleges deciding their fates, Camille Scheiss is waiting to find out if she is one of the 390 students that the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the oldest major conservatory on the West Coast, will accept.

Associate Professor James Mooy, director of the Symphony Orchestra at City College, has known Schiess since she was a freshman attending Dos Pueblos High School.

“It’s rare for us to see students come in at her level,” Mooy said. “I can completely see her getting a contract position with a major symphony orchestra.”

Mooy met Scheiss through her mother, Claude-Lise Lafranque, a professional violinist and teacher at Santa Barbara Music and Arts Conservatory.

He said he had a sense that Scheiss would apply for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music sooner or later; when she told him about it, he wasn’t surprised.

 “Just being able to audition for that school, you have to be at a level that is pretty amazing,” he said. “You have to have your act together.”

Mooy further described her ability to lead the other members of the band as being “the quarterback for the string section.”

Schiess began playing the violin 14 years ago, but it hasn’t always been easy to maintain a strong level of dedication; when she was younger, she said, she would become frustrated consistently, hating to play. She’s now second violin in the City College Symphony Orchestra.

“There were days I would be saying ‘I hate this stupid instrument’,” she said.

Instructor Nina Bodnar gives private lessons to Schiess once a week. She was happy to hear about her interest in the SFC.

“I already have two former students who attend that school and they are very happy,” Bodnar added.

In the future, Schiess said that she could see herself teaching a new generation of violin players, but the first step is to be accepted into the San Francisco Conservatory.

Schiess will be joining the City College Symphony Orchestra for a concert May 8 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre.