Chances for a Musician: Johns Hopkins, MIT, & Others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey there... I'm posting this for my sister, a current senior in HS. She's come up with her final list and is looking for feedback on it. I've given her my take, but she'd appreciate some more responses as to what her chances are at the schools she's applying to.</p>

<p>Her profile...
White female from a small private school in Connecticut. Planning on a double major in Chemistry/Biochemistry & Music.
[ul]
[<em>]SAT I: Math-750, Verbal-690, Writing-770 (2210)
[</em>]SAT II: Math I-750, Math II-770, Biology E-680
[<em>]ACT: Math-36, Science-36, Critical Reading-34, Writing-34 (35)
[</em>]GPA: ~3.95/4.00. She's first in her class, but the school doesn't formally rank its students.
[<em>]Classes: All honors classes along with the following APs: US History (4), BC Calculus (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (5), Statistics, English Literature, Spanish Literature, Physics C, and European History. This year she's also taking Multi-variable calculus at her school.
[</em>]Extracurriculars: four years of Varsity field hockey (captain 12), four years on her school newspaper (op-ed editor 11, managing editor 12), four years of math team, two years of a community orchestra for high school students (first chair flute 12), four years of performing flute at a senior home, two years of Model UN, two years of JV softball, four years of playing piano & flute in various music groups at her school, four years of art classes at her school, 9 years of piano lessons & 7 years of flute lessons.
[<em>]Awards: Rensselaer Medal, Bosch & Lomb Award, National Merit Semi-Finalist, National Spanish Competition Silver Medal, School Scholar all four years, AP Scholar with Honor, Four Varsity Letters (field hockey), MVP (field hockey 12), Coach's Award (JV softball 9)
[</em>]Recs & Essays: the essay is solid and the recs will be fantastic. She's also submitting a music supplement (flute) and possibly an art supplement.
[/ul]</p>

<p>Her List...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (legacy)
Johns Hopkins University & Peabody Institute (she's applying to the dual degree program)
Princeton University
Yale University
University of Pennsylvania
Swarthmore College
Tufts University
Wesleyan University
Brandeis University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.</p>

<p>What do you think? Thanks in advance for the input!</p>

2

<p>I guess I’m going to bump this up. Because the EC and Award section might be a little hard to read (and because I forgot a few), I’ll re-write it. Thanks in advance for the replies, they’re truly appreciated!</p>

<p>Academic Involvements:
[ul][<em>]4 years on the school paper (9-12): op-ed editor (11) & managing editor (12)
[</em>]4 years on Math Team (9-12)
[<em>]2 years of Model UN (9-10)
[</em>]National Merit Semi-Finalist (12)
[<em>]Rensselaer Medal, Bosch & Lomb Award, Cum Laude Society, AP Scholar with Honor (all 11)
[</em>]National Spanish Competition Silver Medal (10)
[li]School Scholar (wGPA above 4.0) all 4 years[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Music Involvements:
[ul][<em>]7 years of private flute lessons & 9 years of private piano lessons.
[</em>]2 year member of a community high school orchestra (11-12): first chair flute (12)
[<em>]4 years of performing flute at a senior citizen home (9-12)
[</em>]4 years of performing piano & flute in school music groups: chamber ensemble (9, 12), jazz band (10-12), pit band (9-12)[/ul]</p>

<p>Sports Involvements:
[ul][<em>]Varsity Field Hockey (9-12): Captain (12), MVP (12), 4 Varsity Letters
[</em>]JV Softball (9-10): Coach’s Award (9)[/ul]</p>

<p>Jobs:
[ul][<em>]Summer School Teacher’s Assistant in Algebra I (12)
[</em>]Tutor in Algebra II (11)
[*]Chemistry Teacher’s Research Assistant (11)[/ul]</p>

3

<p>Please note there is no legacy preference at MIT. On the other hand, it may help signal a strong fit and her file is also reviewed by the Dean. Since she does not seem to apply ED anywhere else, why doesn’t she apply EA to MIT? If she is seriously interested she will have two bites at the apple, even if she deferred to RD.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply and for pointing the legacy thing out cellardweller… I believe she is aware of that, but I’ll pass on the information. As for applying EA to MIT: her music supplement won’t be finished until after the EA deadline, so I don’t think this is an option for her. That is, unless you (or someone else) thinks that the admissions office would be willing to accept that one part of her supplement a week or so after the EA deadline?</p>

5

<p>I don’t think the music supplement should hold up her application. It is an optional element anyway and I am quite sure it will be accepted if received a week late. If she has had her interview and completed the rest of the application, she should go ahead and apply EA. There is no downside and she may be very happy having a decision in hand before the holidays.</p>

6

<p>WOW, those are great academic stats. A 35 on the ACT and the GPA are definitely her strong points. However, the one thing that’ll probably classify her from a guaranteed acceptance to a “maybe” acceptance is the range of extracurriculars she has. </p>

<p>College admissions officers are trying to paint a picture of you when they look at your application, and 9 times out of 10 they want high-achieving, dedicated people. Emphasis on high-achieving. Did your sister ever make the region band? Many people who have a high focus on music and submit music supplements when they apply have made the all-state band/choir/orchestra and won national awards/performances. </p>

<p>Perhaps I’m being too picky, and she definitely has a great shot at all of the colleges mentioned. However, for Princeton, Yale and those of similar calibur, everyone has the academic and extracurricular background. It’s just a matter of how strong and convincing your “picture” is that determines whether you are accepted or not. </p>

<p>My advice is to just write stellar essays. If she just spent 1 day writing the essay, then I advise you to tell her to rethink what she is writing about. She should answer the question, “How will I get the admissions officers to be convinced that I am the MOST dedicated to music, math or whatever I love?” She should also have stellar teacher recommendations. This means talking and spending time with teachers outside of school (like she did with her chemistry teacher).</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the feedback cellardweller and Caltech87! </p>

<p>@cellardweller… She hasn’t had her interview yet, so I guess the EA option is out. Come to think of it, she should probably get around to scheduling her MIT interview for RD (in our family, I’m the planner and she’s the last minute kid… come to think of it, that’s probably why she’s not interested in doing EA).</p>

<p>@Caltech87… Thanks for the feedback; that was exactly what she was looking for. The high school community orchestra she’s in is fairly prestigious: there are several students who’ve gone to Julliard out of it, for example. She does orchestral music more than big band stuff, which is one reason why she doesn’t have quite as many “notable” involvements on the music part of her resume: her high school is very centered on jazz and rock and the music director just isn’t very interested in classically trained musicians (for most of the regional stuff she’s considered, she needs her school music director to get involved and sign her up, and he hasn’t been too good at getting on that). </p>

<p>I read her common app essay (which is on music) and thought it was pretty strong; however, I am a bit biased towards her :-). She’s not too worried about the teacher recommendations… she has a very strong relationship with one of the teachers writing for her (her adviser of four years and teacher of three years) and the other teacher is a Yale grad whose known for his very strong letters of recommendation. Thanks for the suggestions… I’ll be sure to pass them along!</p>

<p>That being said, any other input? She’s looking for as many opinions as possible seeing as submission time is coming up pretty soon…</p>