<p>Hi guys...well, and girls =) I submitted several of my music compositions (some for full orchestra and some for small ensembles) as well as a letter from my main community service sponsors. Was this a foolish mistake?</p>
<p>My scores are no where near Mozart... nor professional, but all of my interviewers were impressed (though they didn't seem to have much music knowledge, except a guy from the Blair School of Music at Vandy... but he was impressed, too). Since they are not professional, would this hurt me?</p>
<p>And also, my community service hours came out to be around 2125 hours since freshman year... do they care much about community service? or is that something that's just nice to see, but really has no impact?</p>
<p>Oh wow. 2125 hours. From my calculations, you spend at least 10% of your non-sleeping hours from freshman to senior year volunteering. How will we consider homework and school? Sounds a bit sketchy to me but if it's true, congrats!</p>
<p>Yeah, that's what I was afraid of... that's why I thought it would hurt me... but it is no joke. I added EVERYTHING up.... most of the clubs I'm involved with are community service based. Interact, StuCo, NHS, community groups....</p>
<p>I thought about it.... and it's the same as having a 40 hour per week job for about 13 months.... but spread out over almost 4 years. I do A LOT of community service, almost daily. I did include contact info for all the sponsors who signed the letter so hopefully if the adcoms have any concerns, they can call my sponsors. Idk. Thanks for the reply</p>
<p>It's definitely that I believe in community service.... in fact, my main essay describes my ambitions to serve every community I am a part of and how I believe people should give back to their communities via the natural talents they have. For me, that is music and leadership, for others, that may be art, literature, technology, etc. I wrote about how I would like to use music to transcend borders and create a more inclussive global community.... which, I think music can have a high impact within attaining this goal. Basically, I want to make a difference in the world; whether I make a difference to the whole world, or a difference in the world of an individual. </p>
<p>I guess I just believe in community strength, responsibility, and I love it when people smile and the feeling I get when I help people out. I hope this came accross clear in my essays.... idk. I guess I'm finally falling into the worries represented throughout these CC boards.... idk. lol. Sorry to rant.</p>
<p>Umm... SAT/ACT.... no where near par. And by no where near... I mean no where near. But I do have a 4.0 uw, 1 of 240, most challenging classes offered (I generally take more classes than there are blocks in the day because I attend a local community college as well).... and I come from a school where the mean ACT score is 15 (and I think about 16 of us took the SATs).... 20% of students "plan" to attend college.... about 10% actually do.... and my class started with over 500 students. </p>
<p>So if that tells you anything about where I am from.... then I think you can also imagine the vast amounts of service I can offer my community. And free time.... yes, I do have free time, but I consider community service as free time because I enjoy it. =)</p>
<p>Oh... and I realize attending a local community college isn't like attending Duke in addition to high school, like some applicants, but hey, I love my school and have taken advantage of every opportunity available! =)</p>
<p>What does StuCo mean then? Student Council (hope not)? Same thing with NHS, is that National Honor Society? Are you counting the community service going you did to get qualified for it or the actual time on NHS events themselves?</p>
<p>Having a 40 hour/week job means EIGHT hours of volunteering a day on weedays!
Or 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, for four years. I'm kind of skeptical, to say the least.
I thought that community service only counts if you do them independently! (Like, NHS's hours count towards making NHS membership, but don't count towards community service!) shoot!</p>
<p>This is the way it works at my school.... we have to do 30 hours per year for Student Council and 20 hours per year for NHS.... obviously my hours are well beyond that.... I'm just very active within my community as a representative of all of those. Does that make sense? Hmm... maybe I can't explain it right. But in my District, there is only one high school, and I am basically the representative of my District because I am Student Body President.... so everything thing I do, I do it as SBP and an Interact member, and an NHS member.... BUT two of those clubs only have a total of 150 hours to be in the club, my hours are beyond that. </p>
<p>and icypineapple.... I know what you mean about the 40 hours per week thing.... but obviously I do not do 8 hours per day, plus school and hw... that's insane. But over the summer.... when school is out, it's very easy to have an 8 hour service day.... on multiple days! lol. </p>
<p>But in the end, I just wanted to see what people's reactions are to my service hours because I wanted to see if the adcoms would react the same. But then I realized, no one knows. So if they do have any questions, they can just call one of my sponsors or take it for what it's worth, but at the same time, the fact is I have done a lot of service for my community and it's a part of my life which will never go away, so I'm happy. =)</p>
<p>
[quote]
But in the end, I just wanted to see what people's reactions are to my service hours because I wanted to see if the adcoms would react the same. But then I realized, no one knows. So if they do have any questions, they can just call one of my sponsors or take it for what it's worth, but at the same time, the fact is I have done a lot of service for my community and it's a part of my life which will never go away, so I'm happy. =)
[/quote]
the amount is impressive... but the fact that you recorded your hours makes your community service look disingenuous, as does, "But in the end, I just wanted to see what people's reactions are to my service hours because I wanted to see if the adcoms would react the same."</p>
<p>i think that a better way to show your commit and passion would have been to write an essay about it and only highlight the these that were significant.</p>
<p>the music thing is cool though. (i listened to it on some other thread you make. it sounded professional :).)</p>
<p>Thanks Newjack. =) Yeah, I wrote about my favorite service project, and how I want to use community service in my future... but I didn't include all of it. But it is what it is and we are all in the same boat now! =) And who knows... maybe our boat will sail to Cambridge! lol.</p>
<p>I'm glad you listened to the song I posted =)</p>
<p>Hey WindCloud, I didn't notice your post until just now, but I will post some links to the compositions I sent. I didn't send a recording of any of them, just the written scores. </p>
<p>It might take a while for me to upload them. lol</p>
<p>The titles are not their actual names, they are just how I saved them. lol. Oh, and these are MIDI recordings from Sebelius, not live performances, so they do not include the grand pauses nor dynamics... and the percussion (I'm assuming) will sound better when performed live. Anyways, I sent a few of these to Harvard, plus one which is being performed by my city's youth orchestra this spring. </p>
<p>1) FM223:</a> listen online
I originally wrote this for my city's youth orchestra.... but I changed my mind and wrote them a different song. </p>
<p>3) TRIO:</a> listen online
"TRIO" This is the first movement to a flute, oboe, and bassoon trio character piece. I'm still working on the other characters</p>
<p>4) W</a> Drums: listen online
This is the song I didn't send.... I ended up sending the second song I wrote for my youth orchestra. But one of the intstruments I play is the F horn.... so of course, I gave the horns a solo in this one =)</p>