<p>I am wondering how stacked your ECs were. Have a D looking to apply for 2012, strong contemporary bassist with classical chops. Ok academics and very few ECs. She is being steered hard toward Belmont by her magnet school as the best fit for her current plans. I am concerned about the lack of extra stuff.</p>
<p>My S did not have a ton of ECs, but all of them were either church or music-related. We thought that would make him a good fit for Belmont, and it did. He sort of got his rear in gear his senior year and had a few good things to add, like directing a school coffeehouse and playing in a local theater orchestra. But before that he had never joined a school club or done a lot of community service other than through our church youth group. Belmont uses the Common Application and there is not a ton of space in that to even list your ECs. The essays and teacher recommendations are more important. Belmont has a supplemental essay that asks you why you want to go there. They also have great admissions counselors who can be very helpful.</p>
<p>One of the best things about Belmont’s process is that they admit to the university before the School of Music makes decisions. If you apply before December 1 you will get an admissions decision in late January, and also are eligible for merit scholarships. SOM decisions don’t go out until March, usually a month after your audition. It was nice for my son to get his first “yes” from Belmont and know he had a place to go before he even did his auditions at all the other schools. And it ended up being the best fit for him and us in the end.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more info. I know there are a few other Belmont admits on this forum too.</p>
<p>Honestmom, thanks. My D is very active with music, in a Jazz studies program, recording arts, orchestra and vocal classes at a fine arts magnet school. She is in the school jazz combo that goes out in the community and performs at functions, plays upright and electric bass, sings, records, and has acted in plays, etc. She has volunteered her time with a few school functions and clubs. Her highest grades are in the arts, however math and science have been a bit tough at the honors level for her. Your post gives me confidence that she will be able to present herself well and hopefully be an attractive student to Belmont for their commercial music program.</p>
<p>Her twin guitar playing brother is off on another track, seeking straight up modern jazz and is super high ranking in the class. He is looking at a completely different group of schools. This next year is going to be a big deal in our household. I am already stressing out about how we are going to manage the two of them auditioning. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your reply.</p>
<p>Wow, good luck with that. Auditions are tough, my S had four of them within 3 weeks. Most colleges have multiple dates, though, so you can plan accordingly, and a lot of the bigger schools do regional auditions or allow videos or CDs to be submitted in lieu of in-person auditions. There are many helpful threads here at CC about audition prep and scheduling that you should read.</p>
<p>My S had only a 3.4 GPA and still got merit scholarships at both Belmont and Temple. (He did get a 31 ACT which helped, I’m sure.) You might want to look at Temple for both of your kids, as well as the University of the Arts in Philadelphia which is a straight-up jazz school and very well regarded in that area. Philly is a great jazz town. But you are right, there are a ton of great options for jazz guitarists, especially for strong students.</p>
<p>Oh boy, my D will not be that high with test scores or GPA. Our state grades on a 7 pt scale so that a 92 is a B, 84 a C, 76 a D etc. Honors and AP/IB are weighted but few colleges look at the weighted grades. As I said she has had a bit of trouble in math and science. Anywhere else her grades would not be as low but here, they have killed her GPA. She is doing very well second semester Jr year and I hope does equally well Sr year but she will be applying with very average scores. That worries me along with the lack of lots of ECs. She is a musician, and would like to continue to study at the college level. I am a bit concerned about her. Brother, my biggest concern is financing the education, he should be able to get into his choices pending auditions of course.</p>
<p>Might be a bumpy ride for us.</p>
<p>My S got academic scholarships at 3 of the 4 schools he auditioned for (3.2 GPA with 32 ACT). The 4th school, Belmont, wanted him to send his fall semester grades (this was in January) to evaluate whether he would be admitted academically. He took AP and honor classes but apparently they did not take that into consideration. After his audition there, we went to another audition 2 weeks later at a bigger school and he saw that Belmont wasn’t even in the picture anyway and withdrew his application. So even if he would have been admitted it was obvious he wasn’t going to get any academic scholarships (don’t know about music) and there was no way I was paying full price for a private school.</p>
<p>Interesting. My D is wanting a commercial music type of program, not strictly jazz, not strictly classical. I am struggling with where to have her look that she will have a chance. I will not pay full price either, especially with two going at the same time. </p>
<p>Belmont is where here teachers are steering her, friends are attending, classmates are looking at applying, and the push toward that school is strong. I am not so sure but it is not my choice, I can only keep suggesting other options. visiting lots of different schools is not all that possible for us. Suggestions will be helpful from those that have been there. D has not taken the ACTs yet but hit the 50% mark for females on the SAT total. Nothing outstanding. I can only hope that talent and potential trump less than spectacular academics. I know it will all work out or something will work out in the end.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to apply to Belmont or any other top music school, but my advice is to find a couple of academic safety schools as well. You might want to have your D take the SATs again and get a tutor for her. Because she play bass, if she is really good that is a less frequently seen instrument and she might get more of a break on the grades and test scores than a guitarist or singer would. I don’t think we saw a single bass player on our audition day at Belmont, and there were over 100 kids there.</p>
<p>I would suggest you look at Temple University too. It has a very good jazz program and its academics are not as tough as some other colleges, and it is priced comparably to Belmont for out of state students. The University of the Arts in Philadelphia is another one where talent is much more important than grades, but it is a little more expensive. It is primarily a jazz school. </p>
<p>I hate those 7 point grade scales, the schools where we used to live use them and they have hung up some friends of ours this year too.</p>
<p>My S had a variety of ECs but not tons. He did the common app and even though we had 10 listed, some were not major or ones with little involvement. None of them were church oriented so that didn’t seem to hurt him. Not all the others were music either, just things he liked and was interested in. Definitely not just to have on a list. </p>
<p>I would suggest to apply early since Belmont does rolling admissions. Based on what I heard this year they were overwhelmed with apps (all kinds). Get that one in soon and you will hear back in 4-6 weeks for admittance instead of waiting until March or April like some schools.</p>