<p>Hi, I’m new here, and I’ve been browsing around the topics looking at prospective applications/resumes and I was simply wondering how important playing a musical instrument is to your application. I’m not saying like “Oh I played for two years in the school band” but rather something more along the lines of something you’ve been playing since you were little. </p>
<p>For instance, I’ve been playing the cello since the third grade. I’ve also been playing piano since second grade, but at a less serious study. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to get in the musical schools. I just want to know how college admissions officers look upon these types of EC and how much it will help you.</p>
<p>It will help you as much as any other EC activity will help you. If you've dedicated time to it, and you love it, then it's good. If you don't play a musical instrument but do other things, that's good too. Of course, if, let's say, the orchestra needs an oboe, and an applicant is an excellent oboe player, then that may be a tip factor.</p>
<p>often an artistic interest can be of a greater advantage in the application process, as long as you relate your talent to how it impacts your perspectives and everyday life. what the adcoms want to see is not that you happen to have played an instrument, but instead where and for whom you play it, what it means to you on a personal level, and how it guides or complements your other interests.</p>
<p>for example, when applying to SEAS i didn't tell penn i can draw--i told them that my interest in visual arts balances my interests in the sciences and the completely different way of thinking involved in each endeavor helps me see the opposing interest in a new light.</p>