If your ECs are things you like and enjoy doing they are fine. That is what ECs are all about. They are not about impressing colleges with some random list of ECs you think would better impress the colleges.
Plus…it’s not like you can change your ECs now, right?
Read my post from above. My kid had very impressive and well regarded ECs in music. She majored in engineering. It never dawned on her to apply for music just to gain admission. Her HS ECs had absolutely nothing to do with her college major or her probable future career. They were things she liked to do. Period.
At this point your ECs are what they are; the ECs (spikes aside) aren’t as important as the passion you have for them. The best thing you can do at this point is write essays that showcase your passion, passion for your ECs, passion for the school, passion for your future career and the “good” you will be able to contribute to the college and society. I’ll never forget the meeting DD had with MIT admissions sophomore year of high school: “if you decide to apply, please do not give us the application you think we want to see, give us the application that shows us your passion. We want to see what makes you tick.”
@prestige123 You’ve gotten consistent feedback from everyone here: Your odds of getting into a T30 university are low, due to the fact that your grades are lower than average for nearly all of the schools on your list, even some of the Florida schools, and grades are the most important factor to admissions officers. Low odds doesn’t mean there’s a zero chance - as you point out, you have a lot of other things going for you. But, there’s a reasonable chance that you’ll come out of this college cycle with only one acceptance - to FSU. And, there’s a non-zero chance that you could not get accepted anywhere. A lot of your comments seem to be discounting this possibility, and this could get you into trouble.
All of the pp’s are just urging you to do some risk management. Fast forward to next spring, and consider two potential negative outcomes: 1) you haven’t gotten in anywhere, or, 2) you’ve only gotten into FSU. In the former scenario, you will have obviously wished that you would have applied to a few more safeties. So avoid that outcome, and add in another safety or two, one of the ones that pp’s have suggested where you would be a shoe-in. And, in scenario 2, where you are only accepted to FSU - would you have wished that you’d applied to more target schools? If so, then you should add in some of the one’s pp’s have suggested - Lehigh, UVM, St. Olaf, etc.
This is all really just the basic advice that is given to all rising seniors - apply to a balanced list that includes at least 2 true safeties, 3-4 targets, and after that, as many reaches as you have the time (and money) for. Right now, your list doesn’t have any true safeties, and very few targets. Fix that.
If the arbitrary “T30” label is that important to you, at least look at the USNews Liberal Arts Colleges list for more realistic reach schools. Looking at the larger schools on that list, Colgate University, Wesleyan University, and University of Richmond - all in the neighborhood of 3000 undergraduates and in the top 30 - are all universities where your GPA is below median, but your SAT is at or close to the 75th percentile. Based on stats alone, you’re still looking at a toss-up for admission at these schools, but strong EC’s, strong essays, and high rigor could tip the balance in your favor (as well as URM status if they do consider you URM - you’ll need to investigate that school by school).
Colgate has the Upstate NY setting and climate that you like in Cornell, and it’s well-regarded for econ.
Richmond isn’t quite as “northeast” as you want, but it’s not deep south either and it could be a great fit in terms of strong music (and they recruit high-level musicians) and a business school with multiple undergrad majors. You can do an econ major within business or in arts & sciences. (This is also the case at Lehigh fwiw.) It definitely has the elite-private vibe and plenty of great connections to career opportunities. (The others as well.)
You’re doing a really good job of sounding like you’re not listening at all, but I hope you will take some time to process what people here have told you, and develop a more balanced list. You are extremely fortunate that finances will not limit where you can go. Don’t let your not-terribly-informed perspective on “prestige” keep you from finding a college experience that will give you all the opportunities you want, from career preparation to personal growth. There’s no need to peak at 18; tons of students in tippy-top MBA programs went to schools that you seem to think are beneath you. I don’t know who has encouraged this belief in you, but you would see it differently once you arrived and met the many highly-accomplished and ambitious students around you. Broaden your perspective. Take your shot at Cornell et. al. if you want to, but take a much closer look at appropriate low-reach, match, and safety schools. You might like what you see.
Upthread the OP was wondering about his EC’s not being strong enough, so I am guessing that he is thinking that winning a CocaCola fellowship will impress colleges. OP, take a look at the profiles of the current recipients:
Another potential draw for a great HS classical musician is that the UR President, Dr Ronald Crutcher, is an extremely accomplished and respected classical musician. Crutcher was a member of the Cincinnati Orchestra, is a former president of Chamber Music America, has taught at or run conservatories, and sits on the boards of several Orchestras/Symphonies as well as the Berklee School of Music. Crutcher also continues to perform around the world as a classical cellist. He has been vocal about keeping/making UR a place for musicians.
A student with a deep love and appreciation for classical music who wants to attend a prestigious university and major in a business-related field might not find a better place to call home for four years. URichmond is known and respected among employers up and down the Mid-Atlantic, and beyond.
BTW @prestige123 , it might interest you to discover that President Crutcher acquired his undergraduate at Miami Ohio (one of the schools recommended to you in this thread) before earning his Masters and PhD at Yale. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Ford Foundation Doctoral Scholarship, and other such awards. I mention that to show you that more schools than you suspect are great schools, provide great educations, and are “prestigious” enough to allow students to accomplish fantastic goals while enrolled and afterwards.
While it is far from certain that URichmond would offer you admission, given your stated desires and goals, URichmond should definitely be on your list. UR also has a self-mandate to increase diversity of all forms, so it’s possible they would view your background as URM.
Lastly, if you tour the campus, you’ll definitely come away with the impression that it looks very prestigious. It’s a beautiful campus, sometimes described as looking like a mix between an Ivy, Duke and Hogwarts.
Miami of Ohio also offers scholarships to musicians, and you can double major but not sure if business is one of them. We know a student who received a very substantial music merit award which she was able to keep ONLY if she continued as a music major. Which she did. She was able to pick up a second major.
She had to audition and commit to majoring in music.
As it appears there is reason to believe the OP has all the answers needed and has now asked questions which seem to contradict earlier information, I am closing this thread.
