music as an EC

<p>i'm considering applying jhu rd. i just finished my apps, and am working on my favorite subject/class essay, but i'm having a question about piano as my primary extracurricular activity. i have won several competitions and played many concerts, but have not auditioned, and will not be able to audition at peabody. will they consider my extracurricular involvement/supplemental cd, and not just toss me out as someone who might quit this activity in college?(i won't quit, i've played for about 12 years). </p>

<p>thanks for any probabilities/conjectures.</p>

<p>violin as the primary ec for me, and i'm applying as a chem eng major... i didn't send in a cd, because i didn't want to give a shoddy one just to show interest... to answer ur q... they will consider ur musical involvement, and auditions at peabody are only for those who are... lets face it... amazing ;)</p>

<p>bah. that's the thing though. i compete on a national level for piano and just finished an invite audition at dartmouth in october.</p>

<p>considering that level..does your post change?</p>

<p>no... dartmouth's music school is not peabody... honestly it's probably one of the trinity music schools in the US with juilliard, curtis, then p-body... i suppose u could audition, but kinda late isn't it? most schools say 2 weeks before the app deadline</p>

<p>Peabody auditions are only for applicants who are applying to Peabody only or are applying to both Peabody and Hopkins as a dual degree seeking student. </p>

<p>If you are applying to Hopkins and not Peabody, yes your music involvement will be take into consideration and since you have been so committeed it will be looked at strongly. Many applicants send in CDs and they are welcome additions -- but remember the adcoms do not guarantee CDs will be listened to, plus they are not music professionals.</p>

<p>hope that explains it better.</p>

<p>Of course the adcoms are not music professionals. I was told by an admissions officer they are evaluated by music faculty, and as long as you are not considering seeking a degree from Peabody, they are not judged by Peabody standards.</p>

<p>actually that is not true - music faculty at Hopkins do not review musical submissions -- only the adcoms do</p>

<p>thatindiandude...fancy seeing u in the jhu forum. lol
again, i just submitted my cd, no audition or anything. and i got in ed. if u got plenty of awards (and from what u said in the uchicago forum, it seems like ur a pretty amazing pianist), they wont think its just something u'll toss aside. good luck!</p>

<p>
[quote]
if u got plenty of awards (and from what u said in the uchicago forum, it seems like ur a pretty amazing pianist), they wont think its just something u'll toss aside.

[/quote]
There are of course plenty of musicians who do not win awards. I am a very advanced musician, but I do not play any competitions. I spend my time practicing and gigging. I am the best student in the region by far, and I study with a teacher who studied under the most influencial musician on my instrument who has perhaps ever lived. All colleges will know is hours per week and what is shown on my CD. Unfortunately for me, if only adcoms evaluate CDs, they basically have no idea what they're listening to, so I'm planning on sending one to Music, as well. </p>

<p>...that was my little rant lol</p>

<p>i didnt mean that u have to do competitions to be a good pianist...all i meant was that if hes a nationally ranked pianist, he aint too shabby. </p>

<p>btw, what do u play and who do u study with?</p>

<p>I have to keep some of my privacy! :)</p>

<p>man..yea..practice fricking long hours like freshman year:20, sophomore:22, junior around 24 and senior about 21. ahhh</p>

<p>I have been playing piano for almost 9 years and have won lots of awards. I am also talented in art, especially ceramic sculpture, but I want to major in medicine not music or art. Do the piano and art help me get into JH? When people send in their music CD, how do the school know if the music is actually play by that person.</p>

<p>honor code...</p>

<p>They can usually tell. Almost every non-professional CD will have some type of small error on it. Believe it or not, my teacher told me to make sure that I could hear a small mistake or pause when listening to my CD; otherwise, the school will probably not give me credit for it. </p>

<p>A good recording, though, records very closely. Even if you thought you played something almost perfectly, you will probably be able to hear some type of imperfection on it.</p>

<p>exactly: honor code. plus, when you submit your music resume, they can compare audio talent vs. paper talent.</p>

<p>Corranged, What do you mean to make a small mistake in the CD? That means in order to prove that I am the one to play the music in the CD not the teacher, so I should not play too perfectly</p>

<p>that + recording quality, i'm pretty sure even a recording studio can't match digital splicing techniques... that said, would it hurt if we didn't send one? i didn't have an accompanist, so i wasn't able to make one 'cept bach, and that was just thrown together, so i didn't want to send it, that said i still have around roughly 25 hours a week thrown to music</p>

<p>Cujoe, I'm sure that with your hours per week they will be able to see that you are good at it. If you want to send in a rec from your teacher, I can't see how that would hurt. This is especially good if you study with someone reasonably well-known. I think in your case, your application will show your talent.</p>

<p>To be honest, Cherry, I doubt that you are at the level where you can play ten minutes of advanced music flawlessly. If I listen carefully to my recording, I can hear slight imperfections in my performance. An adcom may not hear these, but someone trained would be able to. The majority of teachers would have imperfections in a recording, as well, by the way. My teacher told me this in a lesson after I had played a piece perfectly; such performances are rare for any musician. As Cujoe said, the recording quality will be different than a professional's, as well. In the best recording studios, they can change a wrong note, block out stray sounds, eliminate a pause, etc. All of these (except a wrong note, really) are normal things to have in a recording, in limited quantities.</p>

<p>By the way, I wouldn't put Peabody as one of the top three. There are a lot of great music programs you didn't mention: Oberlin, Michigan, New England Conservatory, Northwestern, San Fransisco Conservatory, Boston University, University of Indiana, etc. Peabody is a good one, though. :)</p>

<p>lol, oberlin ur right i forgot about that, just remembered my teacher went to oberlin ;) but i would put peabody above a lot of those, it's still in "my trinity" of music schools...</p>

<p>if anyone wants to try their hand at home editing, give audacity a try</p>