Arts supplement?

I’m a musician applying SCEA to Princeton. While I formerly played classical piano, I now focus on jazz, but have been intending to submit a 20th century classical song that I love along with a jazz improvisation piece and perhaps an original composition as well.

However, their arts supplement wants me to pick between jazz piano and “regular” piano, and if I pick regular, they would “prefer” me to also play Bach and Mozart pieces, which I would not be able to do. Should I submit just a jazz piece but showcase no classical skills? Or should I only submit my 20th century song but ignore their other two requests? How much would the arts supplement benefit my application in total, anyway?

I would only recommend.sending an arts supplement if you play at an extremely high level (conservator level or close to it). If you do send a supplement I would pay attention to the school’s preferences.which seem to be clearly stated and send a jazz piece.

Suggest you do what they ask but also contact the music department to find out if they want to hear the other piece(s) too.

If you don’t have the skills to play the classical pieces they “suggest”, then no, don’t submit alternative classical pieces. You’d be doing yourself a disservice submitting a subpar supplement. As indicated above, other applicants are submitting pieces that would be appropriate for a conservatory. Also note in their instructions:

https://admission.princeton.edu/faqs#optional-arts-supplement

If won’t make up for shortfalls elsewhere in your application, but may provide a small boost is the rest of the package is exemplary. Also, just because you send a supplement does not mean that it will be reviewed.

You’re getting good advises. I’d just repeat that your musical level should be pretty high for your arts supplement to have any positive effect. Knowing what I now know about the backgrounds of my son’s fellow musicians at Princeton, your level should definitely be at a conservatory quality. Many of the musicians at Princeton have pre-Juilliard or pre-NEC backgrounds with multiple international competition wins, and Princeton will continue to receive arts supplements from such applicants.

On the brighter side, Princeton truly values applicants with excellent musical abilities, so as long as the arts supplement is at a high level, it will definitely help, keeping in mind that the arts supplement, however, can’t compensate for sub-par application in other areas.