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<p>We got the opposite impression when we toured Oberlin. That other than maybe some acapella groups on the college side (?), it was difficult for a student on the college side to play or sing in any of the larger ensembles at Oberlin. Since the OP’s kid is a bassoon player, that could be an issue.</p>
<p>^I heard this too from a friend whose child was interested in Oberlin…and ended up at Lawrence in a dual-degree program.</p>
<p>I think there are some schools that are reaches for EVERYONE, no matter what their stats are.</p>
<p>Consolation, I agree that it is hard to judge that gpa without knowing where that ranks in the school and where those kids end up. At the magnet schools in my area, a student with a 3.75 unweighted would have done pretty well-- but I’ve seen plenty of kids post here from schools and school districts where a 3.75 is not stellar. </p>
<p>OP, the music is a HUGE question mark. One of my kids is a music major. If I told you my kid’s gpa and scores and then where he was accepted and how much money he was awarded, you probably would be shocked (I know I was) because, based on Naviance, his college was a high reach (forget about scholarship money). My kid has a friend at Juilliard who was accepted everywhere (including places listed on this thread) with full scholarships and had a gpa in the 2-range. If a student’s music is good enough, it can open a lot of doors (including scholarship money) BUT it is notoriously hard to predict and I don’t know if the money is there for a non-music major. Plus, schools handle performing opportunities and scholarships for non-majors very differently. </p>
<p>So I think the first thing you need to assess is whether your daughter wants to consider double majoring or not. At most schools, it is very difficult to double major in music performance unless it’s a related major (another field of music or music education). Even then, it can be discouraged. It is usually possible to get a BA in music and double major. There is even one school-- Bard-- that requires all its conservatory students to double major but the degree program takes 5 years. </p>
<p>Thumper has a kid who was very involved in music and ended up not majoring in it. In my son’s circles, the overwhelming number of kids ended up majoring in music but the few who didn’t did very well in college admissions. If your daughter chooses not to major in music, you need to pick up the phone and ask specific schools what ensembles are open to non-majors. (If your daughter is seriously thinking about majoring in music, you need to get a good feel from her music teacher where she should apply.) Even if a non-major can audition for the top ensembles, you may want to make sure there are other choices because if your daughter chooses not to major in music, she may not have the practice time to compete with majors and even grad students for a space in the orchestra.</p>
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<p>In our house, D got merit at MHC without submitting scores ($100k). I was a little jaded about the whole SAT optional thing, and she tossed an application in SAT optional (even though her scores were over the top 75th). She had to submit a graded paper, and interview (she interviewed at every other school, so it was a non-issue).</p>
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Again, can you please cite something that indicates that scholarship offices are doing this? I’ve read multiple explanations from less selective but still good to great colleges about how their best merit and financial aid goes to the best students but I’ve yet to read anything about colleges not superscoring the SAT for merit purposes. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but if that’s the case, can you provide me with something that indicates that colleges actually do this?</p>