<p>~I'm just a sweet transvestite, from transSEXUAL Transylaniaaaaaa-UH-ah!~ </p>
<p>Female, white, small town, low income (~$29,000 for a family of two). I'll chance in return, if you drop a link. </p>
<p>ACT: 32 (33 E/W, 31 Sci, 32 Reading, 27 Math)
GPA: 3.8ish
Subject Tests: Bio M, World History</p>
<p>APs/College courses (taken 4 out of the 5 available at my school, so max course difficulty)
World History (5)
Biology (5)
Calculus (next year)
Language (next year)
Intro to Poli Sci
Speech
Intro to Anthropology
Music Theory</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/Leadership/Awards
8 years of concert band
4 years of marching band
1 year as section leader and freshman instructor in marching band
8 years as first chair in band
Several honors bands
Straight I rankings at Solo and Ensemble
4 years of varsity Quiz Bowl
1 year as QB captain
Honor roll since middle school
Member of NHS, 72 hours of volunteer service
Founder and president of Interact Club</p>
<p>Summer Activities
3 years at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp; one year in Symphonic Band (1st chair), two years in Symphonic Orchestra (1st chair)
Northwestern High School Music Institute (this summer)</p>
<p>Where I'm Looking At
Northwestern
NYU
U of M
U of Rochester
Oberlin
Rice
Vanderbilt
Carnegie Mellon
USC</p>
<p>Two sidenotes: I'm looking to get into these schools music departments, which I know will be based on auditions, but I just want to see how I stack up academically. Also, I wasn't able to fit in my two years of foreign language due to scheduling mess-ups at my school. How much will that screw me over?</p>
<p>Your gpa and act are strong (especially if the gpa is unweighted). Your EC’s show dedication to music and some other interests. I would say you’re on solid ground for admission for at least one of those schools if it were not for your having only one year of foreign language.</p>
<p>The fact that you managed to take speech, anthropology, and music theory, but didn’t cover foreign language won’t look good, particularly at UMich where they require two years but recommend four. I would recommend getting into a language class at your local CC this summer. I’m surprised your guidance counselor hasn’t pushed this issue with you given the schools you are targeting for admission.</p>
<p>You do need to add at least one safety to that list. Have you considered WMU? Their music program has a great reputation amongst music educators in western Michigan.</p>
<p>Yeah, for applying to a music program you show dedication to music. GPA’s okay, and ACT of 33-34 would’ve helped better, but it’s still good. </p>
<p>Though honestly, I’ve never heard of a lot of competition relating to music programs, so I can’t honestly say how much it ruins/helps your chances. If your school’s low on AP’s, I’d suggest asking your guidance counselour for a rec explaining the lack of APs</p>
<p>@Schmoomcgoo: I was planning on fitting in my language through dual enrollment and having my school pay for it, but my schedule didn’t work out at all, and I don’t have the money to pay for a course on my own. :\ Hopefully I can explain the circumstances somehow, because it’s looking like I might only get one year of language in if I’m lucky. I’m going to a summer program at Northwestern this year for music, so a summer program is out of the question. My guidance counselor said that with everything else I have, the language thing shouldn’t be a complete roadblock, but she doesn’t really work with upper level colleges that much. And I was considering my safety to be U of M, as I’m in-state, and I’m at or above most of its score requirements. Schools like WMU have ACT scores around 22, and are written off as complete party schools from people I know that go there, so it’s kind of out of the picture for me.</p>
<p>You’re an extremely strong applicant considering your socioeconomic background - so that’ll definitely give you an edge. At this point, it’s not whether you’ll get in that you should be considering, but whose going to end up giving you the most aid (you most certainly can’t afford college completely in that income bracket)</p>
<p>I posted this on another thread so here it is…</p>
<p>“I remember reading an article a while back that said that Pittsburgh was attempting to transform itself from a manufacturing city to that of one whose income came from health care and EDUCATION. CMU is trying to generate an economy within the town, so don’t expect too much aid”</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Do you know if any of the college’s on my list is particularly student-aid happy? Or just looking for the lower income kind of students?</p>
<p>First of all, if you haven’t already, post this in the Music Forum of CC, there are a lot of very experienced parents, (ViolaDad), and students over there who can give you great insights. </p>
<p>Second - Northwestern, Michigan, Rice, Oberlin, CMU & USC - I’m guessing you play flute. With these schools your audition will be critical, but they will also closely scrutinize your high school record. Your schools will be wary of “sub-standard” students trying to get in through their music talent only to transfer to some other part of the school after being admitted. That said, a 3.8/32 with the endorsement of the Music Department should be good enough to get you admitted everywhere on your list - EXCEPT for this foreign language issue. I think a number of the schools on your list are going to be especially tough about that issue, (Northwestern?). You need to get a better idea if this is a deal breaker. See if you can get your guidance counselor to talk directly to some of these schools and get some feedback about your situation. Alternatively, either find an online class or go to your local library and see if they can get you some language software (Rosetta Stone). You need to aggressively attack this hole in your resume. Self-taught foreign language may not impress admissions types, but at least it will show that your willing to do what you can to address the issue.</p>
<p>P.S. As mentioned before, Western Michigan also has a solid in-state music program. I’d also look at Indiana University - Bloomington; it has an excellent Music Program and I think your academic record may qualify you for merit scholarships on top of any need aid.</p>
<p>Actually, I play tuba, haha. 
I really appreciate the input. I looked into the wording of the schools’ requirements, and it says pretty strictly “2 years required”. I guess I’m going to have to find a way to take two years worth of HS credit, but it looks like it will be around $1200, which I definitely do NOT have. :</p>
<p>Hi there. I saw a post of yours over in the music forum and was going to pm you. Then I saw the language issue here. So here’s a tip, as my son is at UMich School of Music right now. Call them directly and explain that you’ll be applying next year, and explain about the language situation. If you’re pursuing a SOM degree (BMUS or BFA) you do not have to fulfill the language proficiency requirement that the LSA kids do. So find out now because that could be one of your FINANCIAL safeties (note, it is NOT an academic safety compared with others on the list, and it is every bit as competitive as USC, NYU or NU to get into. BUT the academic baseline for music is technically lower than the general school, but the accepted average much higher. You are roughly between the 50th and 75th percentile academically). The reason it’s a “fiscal” safety is because UMich attempts to meet 100% need of INSTATE students, while USC meets either a lot or very little, depending on the case, and NYU is just not financially viable at all for someone in your income bracket (they give very little aid and have very high costs). NU is a full-need school if your EFC is zero. Make sure you read the scholarship threads over in the music sections. It’s very rare to get more than $10k to $20k at the conservatories (eg. Eastman) but the cost of attendance gap just can’t be closed with pell grants and the $5500 of student loans for which you’d be eligible.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re looking out of state, don’t miss Jacobs school of music (Indiana U Bloomignton) as the poster above mentioned. You would be eligible for some of their guaranteed scholarship money, plus their out of state tuition is considerably less that other schools on your list.</p>
<p>All of that said, congrats on your accomplishments and best wishes for a great audition circuit. I was going to respond to you from the music post because of your comment about your mom not getting the distinction of the programs. Maybe if you had your private teacher or someone from the NU summer program talk to her it would help. But do make sure to exhaust your in-state options (like Western) to assuage her concern. And offer to take the bus/train etc. to the other auditions with your own money – it’s doable, just save now. That way, you’ll never say 'what-if; down the road. Eg. at your need level, a full ride to NU would be cheaper than in-state at Central, and I happen to know a friend of my son’s who just got same!!! Great things are possible!</p>
<p>@kmccrindle That was extremely enlightening! I’ve had to figure out all of this “college stuff” on my own, and I’m basically clueless about most of the financial aspect of it. I’ve been at this since the winter of sophomore year and it still feels like I know absolutely nothing. It sounds like NU would be the best option for me, financially and music-wise. Besides Indiana, are there any other great music schools with good financial aid that you know of?</p>
<p>Why don’t you post that question over at music - since my son was applying for music tech bfa, not performance, we did not do the same college circuit that you might. Also, for music merit awards, there’s just no hard and fast rule to predict a school’s generosity! The variables really depend on the audition and the competitiveness of the talent pool. The best way is to have a LONG list of schools to which you’ll apply, with maximum prescreening and maximum auditions possible -=- that gives you the most options and leverage for getting the right financial package. (Tell your mom she won’t need to come with you to auditions if you think you can manage and will be 18 at the time of auditions. If you’re 18, you can stay in Youth Hostels very inexpensively – maybe sign up with Hostels International.) But don’t assume that even regional schools are “safeties” because sometimes a program might only need ONE tuba player in a given year. Always ask how many students they expect to admit/matriculate. Ask for sample lessons where you can as well.</p>
<p>Here’s a few other things: are you specifically looking for a university school of music as opposed to a stand-alone conservatory (eg. CIM in Cincinnati)? Are you specifically seeking a BMus in performance? Do you have solid advice/audition help from a private teacher? Are you at all interested in teaching, conducting, composing? </p>
<p>Also, re financial aid – have you visited [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and run a Fafsa calculator? If not, do it now to see what your “expected family contribution” will be. A “meets full need” school will attempt to meet most of your costs, less the “expected family contribution” – but some of that can be loans. Make sure your mom files her taxes early next year, and make sure you CALENDAR all the different school deadlines to receive the FAFSA and CSS, plus all your submission and audition dates. It can be a big job to keep track, but in Michigan, you can get more aid if you submit your financial info EARLY.</p>
<p>Please don’t hesitate to contact me by pm if you need info, but also ask the questions with a thread over in music because many of them have broader experience than my son and I when it comes to performance.
Good luck!</p>
<p>PS - Re recommendations – since you were chair at Blue Lake, it sounds as if it might not hurt to have your favorite conductor from BL write you a letter of recommendation as well. It does not hurt to get these in the hopper early. Call BL or visit their web site if you need to track down that person. You might also ask that person for suggestions, as perhaps he or she has connections at various schools to assist you in your search. BTW, my s. was at BL for a few years and had a very nice recc from someone he connected well with.</p>
<p>My D, also a junior, visited, took a tour and had a lesson at Rice early in the spring. They told her that if the music department wants you, based off your audition, then you’re in. Both the people at the Shepherd school of Music and the main admin offices said that admissions doesn’t really care much about grades/classes as long as you meet the minimum (3.0)gpa. They repeatedly told her that the most important thing is the audition. Good Luck!</p>