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Entry requires studying with an MTNA member teacher, or payment of a $200 nonmember teacher fee; students must be US citizens or hold US permanent residence, and must compete in the state where they reside or where instruction takes place. State competitions, held in fall, are live or video depending on the state; state winners advance to a video-only Division Competition in December; Division winners compete in person at the National Finals in March. The Senior division — the primary level for high school students ages 15–18 — spans the same instrument categories as the junior level and culminates in live performances before a panel of nationally recognized music faculty judges. National first-place winners perform on the Winners Concert at the MTNA National Conference and receive a monetary award; repertoire must remain identical across all three competition levels, which means students commit to their full program in September and perform it through March. The Composition Competition follows the same three-tier structure but concludes with national winning compositions performed live at the conference.

MTNA national finalist and winner status is the most widely recognized classical music competition credential at the pre-college level outside of individual instrument-specific competitions — and unlike those competitions, MTNA covers essentially every classical instrument and composition in a single national framework administered by the country's largest music teachers' association. For a student applying to conservatories, university music programs, or submitting a performing arts supplement, MTNA national finalist status is a credential that faculty on admissions panels recognize immediately as evidence of genuine competitive excellence evaluated by qualified judges at the national level. State-level recognition is meaningful but modest given the variable competitiveness of state pools; Division and National levels are the thresholds that carry significant weight.

MTNA is the right competition for any serious classical musician ages 15–18 with an MTNA-affiliated teacher — the three-tier structure makes the pipeline accessible from any state, and national-level recognition is the most broadly credible classical performance credential available at the pre-college level across all instruments simultaneously.