Chance Me/Match Me - Prospective Viola Major

Chance Me / Match Me!
, , , , , , ,
1

Demographics

  • US Citizen, born in Australia
  • Residency: SF Bay Area, California
  • Current school: Public high school
  • Race/ethnicity: Taiwanese
  • Other special factors: First gen in US

Intended Major(s)
Primarily BM Music Performance (Viola), strongly intend on Business/Econ/Finance double major or dual degree later

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.71
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.03, UC Weighting
  • Class Rank: school does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 SAT (790 Reading 770 Math)

Coursework
AP US History (5), AP Comp Sci A (5), AP Physics 1 (5), AP Music Theory (5, self-studied)
Will be taking AP Gov, AP Microecon, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C Mech, AP Physics C E&M, AP Stats (self-study), AP Eng Lit, AP Chinese this year
Previously completed Accounting + Japanese 1&2 Dual Enrollment

Awards
By far my weakest section:
AP Scholar with Honor
Eagle Scout with Silver Palm
PVSA Bronze 2x, Silver 1x

  • Can’t really think of anything else that could be considered an award

Extracurriculars
President of Tri-M Music Honor Society at my school
Active member of California Scholarship Federation and National Chinese Honor Society
2 Years Varsity Swimming
1 Year Varsity Water Polo
Over 500 volunteer hours in music/math/English tutoring, food bank service
2 Years Summer Chamber Music Academy
2 Years High School Chamber Orchestra Manager + Director’s Assistant
2 Years Youth Orchestra (2nd Highest Level Co-Principal, Highest Level 5th Chair)
Online Program Coordinator for local Chinese school
Senior Manager of Aquatics Department (70+ employees, 50k+ annual budget, 40 hrs/wk in summer and 5 hrs/wk offseason) at local public recreation center
Currently forming a 501c3 for music tutoring and volunteering, will likely not have anything tangible at the time of application submission

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Physics teacher: 8/10, was very engaged in class but turned down an opportunity to TA in favor of…
Orchestra director: 10/10, helped out in basically every way possible, fundraised nearly $1000 for orchestra program, coached viola and double bass sections for string orchestra
Counselor: 6/10, apparently they don’t write letters that stand out all that much, sent a brag sheet which may booost it a little bit

Cost Constraints / Budget
EFC ~$130,000 because my parents are affluent, but they refuse to pay anything over a one-time flat $30,000. I don’t mind student loan debt but need to make sure I’m getting good value out of it. Leaning on merit scholarships since I’ll get basically nothing from need-based.

Schools

  • Safety
    SJSU, SDSU, BYU
  • Likely
    UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz
  • Match
    Indiana University Bloomington, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Texas, Wisconsin-Madison, Boston University
  • Reach
    UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Rice, UCLA

MUSIC SPECIFIC INFO

Since I’m applying as a music major and the audition is more important/more informative for chancing, I’ll include extra info here for those who can speak to it:

  • Viola Major
  • Technique 7/10, Musicality 9.5/10 (self-assessed)
  • Only had 4 months of private lessons, was self-studied for last 4 years
  • Excel at sight-reading, chamber music, interpretation
  • Lingering form issues from years of no teacher to correct them
  • Audition repertoire is Bach Cello Suite 5 (Prelude and Courante), Forsyth Viola Concerto Mvts. I and II, Clarke Viola Sonata Mvt. I

Any help with evaluating my chances at my current choices + finding other schools would be greatly appreciated! My main priorities in a school are a strong music program, strong business/econ program, and affordability (but less pressing).

2

Also, if you have any tips or experience for music majors and auditions at those schools specifically, that would also be super helpful! Thank you in advance.

3

i think in general awards are overrated. It’s what you do - not that someone says you’re this or that. The person moving shopping carts at Wal Mart or flipping burgers at McDonalds or walking dogs at the shelter doesn’t get an award - but they’re great ECs.

Others will chime in on the music part.

Best of luck.

PS - unless there’s music scholarships i’m unaware of, you can’t get to $30K at IU, UT, UWM and BU or Rice. As an example, depending on major, UT is between $60 and $70K a year.
Northwestern doesn’t offer merit. It’s over $90K a year.

You can’t take loans - not for the amount you need. Only $5500 the first year.

So you’ll need to redo your list - basically, all of the non-UCs/CSUs.

And for you that’s a good thing - you don’t want loans of a crazy amount, especially for a major like music.

Look at WUE schools. There’s 32 under music performance. These are West Region schools where you get a big discount from OOS tuition. They may make or get you close to budget.

When you have a budget, you have to select schools based on price and not simply desire, etc.

There are schools with huge merit in the SE or MW of the country - but they likely wouldn’t meet your needs. A U of Alabama would be low 20s all in for example with automerit. A Miami of Ohio likely in the 30s…but if a large asian population mattered to you, they’d lack that.

Best of luck.

WUE Savings Finder - WICHE

4

I suggest that you post in the music major forum for input regarding programs and options as it is a rather unique path. There are some very knowledgeable posters who may be able to provide input.

No guarantees and everything depends on the strength of your audition relative to other musicians auditioning for openings in a specific program/studio. But my kid came in at well under $30K after music merit at 3 of his schools. One was IU/Jacobs.

Do you currently have a private viola teacher? If so, I recommend that you get their advice on how competitive you would be for the programs you list above.

1 Like
6

See poster’s other thread: Chance Me + School Search Advice - Prospective Viola Performance Major