Academics, Test Scores and Music School

College Majors Music Major
1

Hi.

I am currently a senior in high school looking into some colleges with good music programs. I play piano and have been playing piano for over 12 years, and I have won numerous regional and state awards for my performances.

My problem is this: I am worried that my grades and test scores may not be satisfactory for the college admissions. Right now I am looking at schools with very good music programs like Northwestern, Rice, USC, University of Texas, and University of Rochester. It also goes without saying that they are very high up there in terms of prestige.

Right now, I have a 4.2 weighted GPA, a 3.6 unweighted GPA, and a 29 on the ACT. My coursework is also filled up with plenty of AP courses, and I am actively involved in things like National Honors Society, Student Council, etc. I also play piano at a local restaurant as a part-time job.

I don’t know. I find it hard to believe that many high-level musicians auditioning at these high-level schools would have to meet the same demands as a student that applies there for something like medicine or law. I am confident in my ability to audition well, but this whole academics dilemma is a very vague one, and I have never found an exact answer. Does my ACT score/GPA have to be within their range if I have a good audition? Does the audition matter more than academics in terms of audition?

2

There was a recent thread on this topic.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1920556-gpa-sat-for-conservatories-attached-to-universities-same-requirement-as-other-majors.html

3

In a nutshell, from memory which might be faulty, the standards are sometimes lower, yes, for music BM applicants; the audition is most important; and you can call individual schools to see what their benchmarks are in terms of grades and scores (some will be test optional). If you meet the minimum benchmark and have a great audition, you will probably do well.

Here is a site with test optional schools by the way. For academic merit awards, some of these will still want scores.
http://fairtest.org/university/optional

4

Most programs where you are applying for a music school admission (BM degree) give the kids a break with the academics, your stats are not horrible at all and I think it will not hold you out of the schools you are talking about (with Rochester, are you talking a dual degree with Eastman and U of Rochester?). If you have a strong audition that will be the determining factor of getting in, and as a piano student I think you should be a lot more worried about the competition getting into those schools, piano is one of the most competitive admits out there:).