My very driven daughter is a rising freshman and is heavily involved in music extracurriculars inside and outside of school. She plans to continue many of these in high school.
She has and will continue to:
-take weekly guitar and voice lessons outside of school
-play flute in the marching and concert bands at school (may try for all-county or all-state, not sure yet)
-hopefully play in the pit orchestra for school performances
-sing in the school choir
-work on refining the songs she’s written for an EP and record that EP at a local music studio
-busk on the boardwalk in the summer by singing and playing guitar
-play at open mics and local talent competitions
My daughter has no plans to pursue Music as a major at this moment in time, of course, that can change as she is only 14 years old!. She loves music; it is her outlet and her creative force, but she fancies herself as a dual sociology/anthropology major. She wants to save the world and is very idealistic. (Actually, she was voted "Most Likely to Save the World’ by her 8th grade classmates). She may like to play in a pep band or something of the sort, and maybe a minor if anything. So, here’s the question:
Is it within reason to have a music spike when you plan to major in sociology and anthropology? (And yes I know sociology majors might not be thought highly of- so, no need to go there). Obviously music spikes make sense for music majors. Not sure this would jive. I’m not about to suggest she drop music as extracurriculars by any means, but perhaps she may need to look beyond and add others that would show more interest in sociology (although I’m not sure how!) She plans to join a club like the Key Club or other volunteer based group. Right now, for volunteering, she organizes Blessing Bag collections for a local Homeless organization twice a year and makes sandwiches for the homeless once a month- she’s been doing this since she was 8 years old. She may also form a group with her musician friends who would visit hospitals, nursing homes, and others in need to provide some musical entertainment and uplift their spirits.
Hi-My daughter applied to mostly LACs. She did not intend to be a music major. Almost all of her ECs were related to music. She was accepted to all of her schools except the two Ivies she applied too. She got several music scholarships as well and many letters from orchestra directors. Most of her schools were not known for music. She sent in several recordings as art supplements. So I definitely think those ECs unrelated to her direction helped. She ended up attending a womens college with a full tuition scholarship. In the letter from the dean her commitment to music was one of the factors in getting the scholarship. There is a lot of discipline and commitment in pursuing a music passion. That’s an attractive quality in a student.
Like your daughter, music is my DS’s passion. He plays several instruments including an uncommon one at a high level (first chair all-state). Almost all of his EC’s are music related (youth orchestra, community band etc …) and his common app essay was centered around music as well. Although he will continue playing in college, he is not majoring in music. I don’t know if his musical talent raised to a level of a spike, but I think his passion for music showed through on his applications and helped him get into some very good schools he might not otherwise have gotten into (he sent in a music supplement with his applications). I would encourage your daughter to continue with music in HS. When it comes to EC’s, colleges want to see depth and passion, and it’s great when you can show this doing something that you love.
Your daughter is young so her interests may change over time. I would encourage her to do what she loves. If doing that creates a spike in music that is great – if at some point she pivots and goes down another path that is great as well.
If your question is “will a spike in music help her get into college?” the answer is maybe/maybe not. It is hard to know how accomplished she will become over the next few years. At the very least her activities/achievements in music (assuming they continue) will be considered as very valuable, dedicated EC activities and that is always a plus. Every college likes active/involved students and would hope that she would continue playing in orchestra/pit bands etc. at their school. Some students do send music supplements to colleges but for the top schools those supplements would need to be of a very high (think almost conservatory level) for them to have a meaningful positive impact on an application. And some colleges do give music/arts scholarships as well.
I heard an admission officer from an Ivy school tell a story – one year his office was informed by the orchestra director that they were in need of a harp player as the one in the orchestra was graduating. So that year being an accomplished/dedicated harpist did become a boost to a person’s application. But then he smiled and said that the orchestra probably wouldn’t need another harpist for the next four years! So his point was do what you enjoy and let the cards fall where they may.
FWIW my D played violin throughout HS at a pretty high level and continued throughout her four years of college at a LAC (in a more relaxed level). It was always a great source of enjoyment for her.
Music is definitely something she loves and I’m not looking for it to “help” her get into college per say as it’s something that she’s doing for the love of it- college or not, but more to make a cohesive picture for her. I keep reading about spikes and quite often these spikes are related to the student’s intending major- such as STEM activities for a Physics major. I was wondering if it’s helpful/harmful to have a spike in an activity like music that doesn’t align to the student’s anticipated major.
@TheBig Chef
Thank you for your reply. She will definitely continue music in high school. She is registered for classes and is taking a music elective Freshman year. Thank you for sharing your son’s story. It’s very helpful!
@Veryapparent
Thank you for sharing your daughter’s story. It was most helpful and you are absolutely right- the dedication and discipline should be appealing to colleges and universities.
A spike can be anything she loves. She can and (assuming the interest is there) should look to pick up an activity or two related to science while she is in HS – once she gets to the school she can see what things are available and pick ones that fit into her schedule (including her music related activities). There are also lots of connections between physics and how music is made (I’ve seen scholarly articles, college classes on that topic etc.) so perhaps that is something she could look into.
My engineering daughter had a ton of music/music theater ECs. I think it showed commitment and passion. She was invited to apply for a music scholarship at one of her schools. I also think it made her look a bit more well rounded because she was pretty spiky with her courses and other ECs. She continues to enjoy piano and theater in college so it’s a love and talent that she’s brought to her new campus.
Encourage your daughter to continue her music ECs, especially if she loves it and seems to be having some measure of success with it. you’ll see it reiterated on these boards that no activities or extracuricculars are better than others for college purposes. It is what the student makes of those opportunities that count. Colleges will see the level of dedication, breadth of musical talents, and achievements, and will assume that, even if she changes her focus, that she will be equally dedicated, equally curious, and equally successful with whatever her new focus will be.