<p>I played the piano competitively for 8 years but in the past 2.5 I've retired from state competitions and just played as a hobby. I made this transition for personal reasons--I had some bad experiences with my piano teacher, namely, and a death of a music teacher in my family that made me really disillusioned with the activity--not because I'm a quitter, but I don't think I want to elaborate on those reasons on Common App. I would like to include piano playing as an activity on CA, though, so is there any way I can describe my history with the piano in the details section (which I think has a 100char limit) in a complimentary manner?</p>
<p>Or to anyone else who's had experience with filling out Common App already, if you don't play piano competitively and have recent awards for it, how did you frame it?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>You can just say “Played competitively, won x, y, and z awards.” Also, I think you have up to 150 characters, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>I’ve played classical piano for 15 years (but never competitively), so I’m writing something like “Played three concerts, currently working on [current piece].”</p>
<p>I am sort of the same way…
So I just mentioned my competitive instrumental music as an activity and I elaborated in the last optional writing that is up to 650 words</p>
<p>I’m the same too. I’ve been playing violin for ~13 years, and have held positions in an orchestra, but nothing major. My advice is to submit a recording. It will speak volumes (no pun intended) more about your activity than 100 characters of the most impressive-sounding crap ever could. Plus, who knows? Your recording might be better than some people who’ve actually won awards.</p>
<p>^ you will want to check the college’s policy on this. Most schools don’t let you submit recordings unless you actually submit a full music portfolio via Slideroom… and then it gets complicated. I contacted colleges directly and asked for their input.</p>
<p>Also, you should see if you recording would be evaluated by actual music faculty at the college or just adcoms - some of the admissions officer I talked to told me NOT to send one in because it takes up more of their time and they have no idea how to distinguish between someone playing a difficult piece and someone playing a difficult piece well and musically.</p>
<p>@cjwu382 no! The music supplement is for individual who have won significant awards (eg all state) or who plan to major or minor in music. Colleges do not want supplements from every single high school musician, especially if they won’t contribute on campus.</p>
<p>@guineagirl96 I know what you mean, I saw that on the Common App too. But no, you DON’T have to plan on minor or majoring, nor do you necessarily have to have major awards. How am I so sure? My violin teacher wants me to submit a recording, even though he is aware that I haven’t gone to all-state, nor have I won music competitions (I only went to 1), and he’s a music professor at Duke who actually reviews all the Common App art supplements each year. </p>
<p>@LAMuniv I know for a fact that at competitive schools (specifically Duke and Stanford), the recordings are viewed by actual music faculty. Stanford’s submission uses Slideroom - haven’t looked at Duke’s yet. The recordings are roughly 10 minutes, though according to my teacher, they can be even longer. </p>
<p>@cjwu382 at most competitive schools, yes, but seeing as we don’t know what type of schools OP is looking at, I figured I’d mention that sometimes faculty don’t. 
Colleges will often have different specific requirements relating to what styles of pieces, how many, and the length they want the recording to be as well. </p>
<p>True, that’s a good point.</p>