How to get some awards/ How important are awards

Applying to College
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I’m a junior in HS and I have NO awards, literally nothing. I have great stats and ecs that strongly reflect my major of interest but no awards. I’ve been studying for the PSAT for the past year and will most likely get national merit and ap scholar later this year but I don’t feel that those are really that strong and I’d like to win an award based on skills relevant to my major and interests. I would like some advice about any and every award for a high schooler looking to pursue a degree in music industry that you believe fits this.

Thank you very much! :slight_smile:

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A Grammy would likely look impressive.

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Not important at all.

What’s important is that you accomplish something.

My daughter volunteered at the shelter. She helped get 10 dogs adopted. That can be quantified. She worked 3 hours a week, etc.

If they awarded her volunteer of the year, it means nothing.

So if an award is for something - like an olympic gold medal - of course it has meaning but it still has something quantifiable behind it.

Most don’t have meaningful awards.

Are you active extracurricularly? Job, band, clubs, etc. Build tenure - accomplish things.

and btw - many schools don’t care what you do and if you are NMF you can go for free!!!

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I am quite involved extracurriculary, I currently do voice lessons, have a music industry internship at a record label, have had a job regarding music before, volunteer at an animal shelter, and dance in my free time; I also plan to take up piano soon. I believe my ecs are strong in my field and they make up almost all of my freetime, but I didn’t know if simple awards can be just as strong. Thanks for the response. :slight_smile:

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I spat out my juice reading this. I’ll be sure to get on that.

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So you’re doing plenty. You can quantify hours and/or impact. You have no issues.

Your choice will be - do I want to use my NMF to go to college for free or low cost or do I want to go to a perceived top school.

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A strong performance on the SAT or ACT in particular, or PSAT (if NMF) can open some doors for you in terms of college acceptances also. Please discuss annual finances with your parents. This will help you craft your application list when the time comes. It’s not a “top school” vs “free or low cost school” at all. But you may find different options available to you.

Re: awards….thousands and thousands of kids apply to colleges every year without some big deal award. You sound like you are doing things you really enjoy, and this will resonate in your applications at the time you submit them.

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Thanks for the response, that helps alot. :slight_smile:

Also if you’re curious of if it helps, I currently have a list of colleges I can afford and I like:

NYU
USC
Northeastern
Berklee
Syracuse
Drexel
SUNY Oneonta
UMiami
UArts

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My recommendation: First, do not worry about it. You are doing very well.

Secondly: Read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site. What it recommends is that the best way to get into MIT is to go what is right for you, and do it very well. If MIT is a good fit for you, then whatever is the right thing for you will also help your chances to get accepted to MIT. The same would be true for other highly ranked universities in a wide range of fields. If Julliard is a good fit for you, then doing what is right for you will also help your chances to get accepted to Julliard. You can replace “MIT” and “Julliard” in these sentences with any top university in the US.

It sounds like you are already doing what is right for you, and you are already doing it very, very well. Keep doing it and have faith.

Awards are more reflections of what you have already done. The people around you know what you have done. The people who will write your recommendations already know what you have done.

There are a lot of different careers in the music industry. A tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of them pay very well. The overwhelming vast majority of them do not. Avoiding education debt is therefore an important step for someone who wants to study music.

I know someone quite well who is a professor of music. He always tries to have “the chat” with his students regarding what they intend to do for a living. One of his students currently fixes instruments for a living. Another became a singer and dancer on Broadway, and discovered that it did not pay well, New York is an expensive place to live, and you get tired of the songs. She went back to university, got a PhD, and is now teaching voice at a good university located in a very attractive part of eastern Canada. One daughter was very interested in music and was one of the best performers I have ever heard. We were introduced to this professor, and chatted for a while. My daughter went on a tour of Europe with a music group, came home and started neglecting her music to focus on academics. She is currently studying for a DVM (definitely a very different career, but also something that she loves).

I have worked in high tech for my entire career. I have been surprised how often I have showed up at a music event and discovered that someone I know from high tech got up on stage and played. There is a surprisingly large overlap between people who work in high tech and people who play an instrument and/or love music.

One person I know started a software company, sold it, purchased a jazz bar, and now plays in his own jazz bar. I happened to stop by one time while he was playing and his group is very good (the wine was good also). Another person I know was co-founder of a different high tech company. After it was bought he retired. He is now getting his second bachelor’s degree at a well known college of music (his first bachelor’s was in computer science).

If you want to attend a very good university, to me it sounds like you are already doing very well.

If you want to work in music, then there are a lot of possible careers but finding the right fit can take some time and some thought.

Do you currently play an instrument? What sort of degree are you thinking of getting?

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@Manychimkens

Those colleges…many are very pricey. Are you sure you can afford a place like NYU where the cost is roughly $80,000 per year?

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NYU COA is over $90k for the upcoming year!

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If you can afford every university on this list, then you can probably afford any university in the world.

For someone wanting to major in music, avoiding debt is critical. If you tell us your home state and your “no debt” budget limit, then people here could most likely suggest other universities that would be worth looking at. If you have any citizenship other than US, or if you lack US citizenship, if you play an instrument and if so which one, and what sort of music degree you would like would also all be useful information.

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Thanks for the very detailed response. I do not play an instrument and my intended major is “Music Industry”, in a nutshell, it’s a dual degree for business and music with major specific classes as well. I don’t plan to be on stage or an artist myself. I actually want to go into marketing or maybe the financial side of music, so my goal is much more of a stable office job, though your points probably still apply.

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Thanks for the response. I do not play an instrument and my intended major is “Music Industry”; in a nutshell, it’s a dual degree for business and music with major specific classes as well. I don’t plan to be on stage or an artist myself. I actually want to go into marketing or maybe the financial side of music, so my goal is much more of a stable office job, though your points probably still apply. My “no debt” limit is probably about 20,000/year but I based this list off of how much financial aid I qualify for and my thought that there’s no harm in applying and see how much I do end up getting.

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I based my list on both how much financial aid I qualify for and my thought of “there’s no harm in applying just to see how much I get”. At least from all of the college’s net price calculator, the price range for my list is 14- 50,000/year which is much cheaper and more manageable than the sticker price, though I do assume you know more about these things than I do.

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There’s a lot wrong with applying to see how much you get.

You need a budget. Then your parents need to do the net price calculators for your list. If you are full pay and have $50k to spend, why spend the time and money to apply. You wouldn’t. You have limited time and common app slots and you want to maximize them.

For music business, find the schools that specialize. Middle Tennessee State, Belmont, Florida State - they’ll be cheaper and leaders as would NYU Clove Davis or Miami or USC or Syracuse. But these are pricey - if you are budget constrained.

It’s a niche field and does not pay well so you also want to find a good ROI.

Nashvegas is the Mecca for this field in many ways with tons of smart kids headed to MTSU and the religious ones (and non religious) to Belmont which practically sits on music row and has a lower price tag.

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I have done net price calculators for every college on my list,

NYU is 24000
NE is 26000
USC is 36000
Syracuse is 21000
Berklee is 27000
Drexel is 41000
SUNY is 16000
UMiami is 16000-25000
Uarts is 40000
(this is including housing)

I can afford these prices and so I’m betting on the real number being at least similar.

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Ok. Make sure your parents do it with you. We see lots of changes from NPC to reality - often based on home equity.

Don’t worry about rewards but do quantify your EC accomplishments by hours or results.

Good luck to you.

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Thanks :slight_smile: I’ll be sure to do that in the near future.

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@Manychimkens the net price calculators are currently set for students enrolling this fall…2023. That is NOT you.

You will need to do these again when the NPCs are reset for the 2024-2025 academic year. And yes. Financial aid policies DO change, and so do the subsequent awards students receive.

Once you complete your FAFSA (which you won’t be able to do this year until December…you will have a FAFSA EFC. Many of the schools on your list also require the CSS Profile which takes a much deeper dive into your family finances.

We don’t know about your family finances and you certainly don’t need to share here…if your parents are divorced, own real estate other than your primary residence, are self employed, or own a business…the NPCs can sometimes be inaccurate.

NPCs should be viewed as an estimate…really, the only real awards are the ones given with your acceptance.

Please make sure you discuss finances with your parents.

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