Two questions here: First, is the music portfolio solely intended for individuals hoping to concentrate in an area of Fine Arts? Or can it be used to put yourself at an advantage among the general applicant pool? Second, how good should you be before submitting? I’m by no means a piano prodigy, but can play a fair share of classics (i.e. Fur Elise, Rondo alla Turca) and contemporary pieces that are not at the extremely advanced phase.
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I just want to mention that Brown indeed sent your music portfolio to music department for evaluation. Before a day on the college hill, we received an email from music department commenting my child’s piano portfolio (three classical pieces). To answer your questions, the music portfolio has absolutely nothing to do with your intended concentration. There must be thousands of applicants claiming they can play piano. This is the best opportunity to show your true self just like your essay. At family weekend, we joined a lunch concert and were very impressed by the quality of the performance. We believe the music portfolio definitely help to distinguish the application. The recording we submitted were recorded in a professional studio using a grand piano.
You do not have to be a music major. Brown has many extracurricular music opportunities. An applicant who has talent in piano can contribute to those, and contributes to the mix of talents on campus. Beyond that, excellence in piano is evidence of work habits, discipline and persistence, character traits that are valued.
That said, generally speaking, you do want to make sure that the recording reflects ability sufficient to justify submission. A music supplement can also have a music resume, and letters of recommendation from teachers and directors in music, which can also distinguish you.
Your application will no doubt already have your piano studies listed. All in all it is probably well worth it to submit a portfolio.
Being able to play Fur Elise and Rondo alla Turca is not an advanced level of piano (fairly intermediate in my opinion), and you should absolutely not be submitting a music portfolio with those pieces.
I agree with @bruno14. I’d actually say those pieces are more “advanced beginner” and you should NOT submit a portfolio with those.
One of the pieces we submitted was Chopin Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 20. Please remember that music portfolios are reviewed by faculty members in Brown music department according to official website. (Not regular social media stuff)
Brown Orchestra seems short of string players. They currently have 29 violins and 9 cellos, whereas a full-scale symphony orchestra usually needs 32+ violins and 12 cellos, so I guess string players should try it.
Do you think they listen to all the supplements?
I highly doubt it, based upon what other universities say (emphasis mine):
Yale: "Please bear in mind that Yale music professors review selected audio recordings and scores
https://admissions.yale.edu/supplementary
Harvard: “At the discretion of the Admissions Committee, supplementary materials—such as music recordings, artwork, or selected samples of academic work—may be evaluated by faculty.”
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/application-requirements/supplemental-application-materials
Penn:"We cannot guarantee that non-required documents will be reviewed during the application process. "
http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/whatpennlooksfor/supplements
In the past, Brown has divided music supplements up and given them to music concentrators/members of the orchestra who play that instrument. So, they do get reviewed, but not directly by faculty in my experience (though faculty may listen to some of them).
@hooverhoo: The orchestra may be short on certain instruments, but I wouldn’t say that that means that Brown will actively be recruiting those. There are plenty of people who choose not to be part of the Brown orchestra for time commitment issues, etc.
I have a hard time believing that they send music supplements to undergraduates. That does not seem right at all.
Once the children of alumni, recruited athletes, underrepresented minorities or regions and students interested in underenrolled majors were considered, there wasn’t much room for your generic genius. – Ed Boland
It is a touch job to select less than 7% in RD. I can only guess in the last round, everything counts. We were surprised that music department contacted us before ADOCH. In our case, it was reviewed by faculty members.
Thinking from the plus side, if Brown admitted more than 50% at ED like UPENN (55.4%), UChicago, Duke, etc., its RD admission rate would be less than 6%. It is inaccurate to compare overall acceptance rate not based on the same ED acceptance rate. Brown RD is very competitive but more students got chance for RD thanks to its relatively low ED acceptance rate.
@TheOldTimer PLME is DD’s first choice and we think PLME is the only BS/MD program worth attending over HYPSM, but due to its tie to Brown ED and fierce competition and uncertainty, we opt for DD to SCEA a HYPSM (which she gets in) and apply PLME in RD round. DD’s music skill is above Oberlin level (per her teacher and conductor), we believe everything counts so we added a recording to her Brown portfolio at the last minute. Now as @bruno14 who concentrated bio/music at Brown said Brown used to have undergrad reviewing the music supplement, I feel maybe it is not the case, and could backfire if the reviewer has not exposed to various music styles.
@hooverhoo : I can only speak from our own experience. Just like your DD, if someone can get into Brown, they sure have other comparable choices. At ADOCH parents reception, I have personally met admission committee members. With 30000 RD files, a simple math will show you that some kind of algorithm/shortcut is required, even if they work 24 hours a day nonstop.
I don’t believe music department has time to review all submissions either. If some applications have been rejected long before the final round, there is no need to review the additional supplements. However, somehow selected submissions were reviewed and when they were reviewed, they count. I know they are not using students to review at this situation.Our case proved it. We absolutely love the school after one semester. People not coming here don’t know what they are missing.
Sorry, what does PLME and ADOCH stand for? @hooverhoo and @TheOldTimer
What about school auditions? I had a friend’s DD who went to several schools’ music auditions (non-conservatory), including Vandy, Northwestern, Rice, and Stanford, …, we r considering doing the same, wouldn’t it be better than sending supplements?
Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) – which guarantees you a spot at Brown medical school if you don’t apply elsewhere.
A Day on College Hill (ADOCH) – used to be RD-only event but starting this year ED can attend too.
Brown does not do auditions. Application website has detail information.
@makemesmart , please see
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2017/04/adoch
https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/prospective-students/prospective-students
There is a thread here at CC about why Brown is best place to do premed –
ADOCH has a session for Health Career Advising. It is amazing.
@harper3125: I think it’s the best possible solution. Clearly they can’t expect music department faculty to spend time listening to every single music portfolio, and I believe the ones that stood out to the undergrad listeners certainly were sent on to music dept faculty. I know that after I was admitted I met faculty who had listened to my tape. The undergrads are just a way to weed out the less impressive ones (likely like OP in this thread) that would not cause Brown to actively recruit that student or affect their admissions prospects at all.
@makemesmart: school auditions are totally separate, and are more commonly found at schools that have an actual performance major (a BM, etc). Brown doesn’t have a performance concentration, so they’re not looking for musicians on a professional track. Brown music grads generally either go on to academic music (theory, ethnomusicology, etc) or pursuits outside the world of music (since many double-concentrate).
@TheOldTimer @bruno14 thank you for the clarifications. New to the college app scenes and DS has strong music EC but wants it to be “bonus” and possible minor.
I think the following statements from an Ivy regarding Music Supplementary Materials summarize my thoughts on the question of if you should submit a music portfolio – “You should consider submitting work only if your playing or composing is a strong and important part of your application and demonstrates a high level of artistry for a high school musician.” Artistry is part of the school culture and well appreciated on campus. I guess Brown admission office also plays a role on this culture.
BTW, for people interviewing with Brown, do you know what Brown University Seal mean anyway? You don’t need to know, but if you do it will be a nice talking point to start a conversation. I particularly like “the sun” … the rays of the sun symbolizes learning piercing the clouds of ignorance. (from the Bruin Club)