<p>Hey I was wondering if this looks like what Yale tends to like for music/creative writing majors: (I am adding on to my original post b/c i forgot to put in a lot ^^)</p>
<p>*GPA: 4.19 weighted (going to rise)
3.82 unweighted (same)
*Rank: 31/317
*SAT: (they're not fair)..writing 610, crit reading 520, math 550.
*ACT: Taking it June 10th.
*9th grade i took almost all honors (I have 2 B's on my transcript and 1 b+), 10th grade i took 2 honors but got A's across the board, this year (11) i took 1 ap and 4 honors and have all A's. Next year, I am taking 4 AP's (2 AP and 2 ap weighted honors) and 1 actual honors class.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/interesting facts:
*People to people student ambassador program (summer of 2002)
*GLSEN board member (helps teach others about diversity)
*junior mendelssohn choir (2 years i a row, and soon to be next year!)
*voice lessons (past 2 years and when i was 8 and 9)
*piano lessons (11 1/2 years)
*cantoring for my rabbi for high holidays
*jazz choir (including a performance at PNC park, Pittsburgh's baseball stadium--soon to be 2 years)
*chamber choir (most elite choir in high school-soon to be 4 years)
*County chorus
*Showchoir in middle school (7th/8th grade)
*District chorus
*Played piano for high school orchestra in 9th grade
*3 piano competitions in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade
*Classical Singer competition
*Music Theory class over the summer (coming)
*National Honors Society
*Played piano/sung in numerous nursing homes for the past several years.
* (I might be writing for the local "free" newspaper to get experienced w/writing).
*6 months of Saxophone (5th grade!)
*1.5 years of guitar in 8th/9th grade
*Anime Club in 9th grade.
There are about 3 or 4 I forgot about by the way ^_^</p>
<p>I don't go to Yale...so maybe I don't really know. But I would suggest trying to get the SAT scores up before applying there. If you think they're not fair tests, maybe try buying one of the Princeton Review or Kaplan books? It tells you their tricks and then lets you take 2 practice tests; I think it helped my score, so maybe it will help yours too.</p>
<p>Hey Jeremybeach,
first of all, i agree. You SATs are VERY low. If your music EC's were more impressive, I'd say you have a shot, but in all honesty, they're not.</p>
<p>I know a few musicians- composers/performers at the top schools- HYPS and their music hooks look like this:</p>
<p>Example:
Juilliard Pre-college 10-12 grades (piano and composition)
Davidson Fellowship- Music Composition
ARTS Award Level One- Composition
Several awards from ASCAP and BMI- Composition
Boston University Tanglewood Insitute</p>
<p>That's just an example. I'm not going to name names, but many some people on this board knows who I'm talking about anyway. That's a hook. Piano lessons, High school show choir and middle school sax lessons ain't getting you anywhere....</p>
<p>Now I saying this because you SATs are low and your rank is at the bottom of the first decile; you just won't stand out. </p>
<p>I want to end this "Music Hook" thing once and for all. Yes, some people who are really good on an instrument (esp. rare) may get in. But the music Hook competition at HYPS- esp Yale- is very, very bad. Your up against impossible odds.</p>
<p>I would agree with windcloudultra. I'm a musician involved in one of the best youth orchestras in the country along with a nice laundry list of music ecs. My SATs were competitive, and I had hoped music and writing would push me over the edge. I applied EA, got deferred, then rejected RD. It's very true that a pretty sizeable majority at yale plays or used to play some sort of musical instrument. I think another of your problems will be that the ecs look a bit sporadic. Saxophone for 6 months? A year and a half of guitar? Voice lessons at 8 and 9 and then not again until sophomore year? Yale also probably won't look at the things you did before 9th grade unless it shows long-term dedication (ex: piano competitions 3rd grade-present) or something truly amazing (ex: national piano competition winner in 3rd grade). With all that said, if you still want to apply, go for it! you never know what might happen. Just don't get your heart set on a school the statistics show you don't have a great chance of getting accepted at. (trust me, I know this from experience. This is the first time I've been able to come back to the yale board after April 1st)</p>
<p>Jeremybeach, to be very honest with you (and you need honesty at this point so you don't waste your wishes, dreams, money and time and set yourself up for disappointment), even IF you were 1st chair saxophone with the Lincoln Center Jazz band or even IF you an NFAA ARTS award winning baritone, your test scores put you out of consideration for high selective schools (HYPS and probably SWAMP, too). I suspect this would be true even if your were a URM. It sounds as if you are from an ethnic/cultural group which is over-represented in Ivy League and highly selective college applicants, so your SATs would need to be >2250 or even 2300 to be competitive. I strongly recommend that you find colleges that more fit your rank, test score range, and interests and concentrate your efforts there.</p>