<p>Music is basically...my life. I want to show colleges that I apply to that I love music. Today I began to write down everything musical that I've done. My parents, being Indian, want me to become a doctor, etc. etc., and I'm fine with that. I enjoy learning and all that, but I want to go to a good, well-known school with a good music program so that I will be able to play. I'm your typical Indian student...good grades, high SATs, pretty smart, but I need you guys to tell me whether or not my ECs make me stand out.</p>
<p>Guitarist for 6 years
Classical Guitarist for 4 years
- Play classical guitar in honors-level school orchestra
- Play classical guitar in youth orchestra
- Attended summer camps at UC Berkeley and SUNY for studies in classical music
- Played at the regional jazz ensemble at the CT Music Educators Association (I dont really like jazz, but my teacher made me do this...the auditions were HARD)
- Played at the CT Jazz music festival (once again...teacher made me do this)
^^^ for those two I plan on doing it again next year</p>
<p>Besides all that formal stuff, I'm the lead guitarist/primary songwriter in a progressive metal band. My band draws many influences from classical music.:
- My band started off playing many local shows (local teen center, talent shows, etc.)
- We then began to open for local acts at bigger venues
- Within a year, my band began to headline shows at these venues
- My band has opened up for many BIG metal acts too (Dream Theater, Symphony X, Buckethead, Into Eternity, Kamelot)
- My band has a full-length CD with a record deal (2Blossoms)
- My band is currently working on another album, this time with a few guest stars who are well known in the prog world (Arjen Anthony Lucassen of Ayreon, Jon Crosby of VAST, and we're trying to get Jim Matheos of Fates Warning [my dad knows him])
- Won battle of the bands, got 500 bucks (w00t)
In the New Haven area, we're pretty well known. At one of my band's shows, my guitar teacher brought along his former music professor who currently works at Yale, and I think that I made a good impression on him.</p>
<p>Anyway...other music related things I do:
- My guitar teacher got me a job at his guitar store- I work 6 hours every saturday and make 10 bucks an hour.
- I took a sound engineering class at Berkeley one summer and I've turned my basement into a mini-recording studio. I've made quite a bit of money off of it, but nothing significant. I record all of my bands stuff here, and we got signed, so it must be pretty good quality.
- I'm a member of this organization called "Asha for Education." We basically try to break the poverty cycle in India by building schools and endorsing education by gathering money through fundraisers. One of our members is a great filmmaker and decided to make a documentary on poverty in India and I scored all of the music for it. The movie is still being edited, but it will be shown in theaters around the state. It'll also be entered in some national film festivals and (I think) even a film festival in India.
- For the past 3 years, my friends and I organized this music festival in one of our backyards. We got a lot of local bands to play, and we made about 1000 dollars to donate to charity, probably Asha for education.</p>
<p>Ive won plenty of awards and stuff for music. But really..besides my music there isnt much to me. I mean, I do that Asha for Education thing, I volunteer at Yale Hospital (over 200 hours + I'm a "Leader" there), and I run track. For track, I'm nowhere NEAR amazing, I just do it to stay in shape.
As far as academic ECs go, I entered several state-wide science fairs and won a couple awards in my freshman year (my project had to do with music affecting the brain, haha). In my soph year, I began to get a bit more interested in neurology and I did a research project on that. I won a state-wide science fair and I was one of the finalists for others. I got to work in a few labs with some real neurologists.</p>
<p>So..as you can see, I'm pretty bland besides music. I dunno, I've heard from people that colleges want to see commitment, but I've heard from other people that colleges want to see versatility. My grades are excellent, I have high SATs, I plan on studying my but off for SAT IIs, and I have a very rigorous courseload.</p>