A few questions

Applying to College
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<li><p>This may sound stupid, but does playing a somewhat unusual instrument give you any type of boost (especially at smaller schools)? I’m mainly a bass clarinet player (I put that on my resume that I attached), I’ve attended 3 honors bands (every year for 6 years, 4 years, and 3 years - every possible year I could have been in the band), I’ve gone to junior district and district and regional bands, I participate in all the music ensembles at my school…if I don’t plan on majoring in music, will this help me at all? Do schools ever look more highly at people playing instruments that they are lacking? (I also play saxophone, clarinet, and piano, if playing more than one instrument helps at all?)</p></li>
<li><p>I’m applying to fairly competitive colleges (Swarthmore, Columbia, Amherst, Middlebury, University of Chicago, along with some less competitive ones), and for most of them I fall above or at the top of their verbal/critical reading SAT 50% range (I have a 740CR/750W), but I fall at the bottom, or under their math 50% rang (I got a 690M). Will this greatly affect my chances, or will they just assume that math isn’t my strong point?</p></li>
<li><p>Class rank - how important is it? A lot of schools I’m applying to rank it as “very important.” Our school doesn’t rank people, but it does calculate deciles, and I’m only in the second decile (I have a 4.21 weighted, and the first decile cut off is 4.23 - there are 380 people in my class.) Will this hurt me (being in the second decimal with a fairly good GPA)?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Anyone????</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Probably to an extent All schools gets tons of applications from pianists and violinists; I'm sure that having a more unusual activity, whatever it is, helps. It can also be a boost if the orchestra put in a request for your instrument. I don't think bass clarinet is rare enough to give you a tremendous boost, but it certainly can't hurt. </p></li>
<li><p>It would obviously have been better if your math score was fifty points higher to match your other scores, but this will certainly not keep you out of college. A 690 isn't bad enough to hurt you.</p></li>
<li><p>It will hurt you, but there are tons of people in the same position. The importance of class rank depends on the particular school you're applying to as well as the specifics about your school (i.e. do they suspect grade inflation?).</p></li>
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4

<p>Ok thanks.</p>

<p>About the class ranks, I go to a public school, but it's still fairly competitive (our district is fairly wealthy, has a lot of upper-middle-class smart kids, etc.) Also, I was just on the cut off for the second decile, so I'm probably around 39 or 40 out of 380 ranking wise.</p>