My daughter, a rising senior has signed up for 5 AP classes in the coming year. I have tried discourage such a heavy load, but she will not heed me. I’m told she will have at least an hour homework per subject each night. Plus of course her college apps, essays etc.
I am now trying her to help plan a strategy to manage her time, so that she will not be overwhelmed when school starts.
She plans to send an arts supplement to Stanford (early action) and any other school on her list which accepts an arts supplement. She is an accomplished pianist, but there are many such pianists so she will not be sending a piano supplement. She also plays the double bass ( principal bassist in school orchestra). She plays the bass very well, but not conservatory level. However, there is a chronic shortage of bassists (frequently a ringer plays the bass in many orchestras). So she thinks this may give her an added boost. ( She has excellent grades, scores, awards,EC, leadership etc)
Sending an arts supplement of her bass recital would have been a no brainer except for the time factor. Does anyone know whether an arts supplement has any effect on admissions? My daughter’s first choices are Stanford/UCBerkeley (yes, they are tied for her 
She is also applying to Harvey Mudd, Carnegie Mellon, UW Seattle, UIUC AND UChicago, Tufts. Purdue and the lower UC’s will be her safety choices. She is planning to major in Computer Science.
If an arts supplement does not make much of an impact, I’d much rather she uses that time to exercise or sleep But then, I’m a parent not an anxious 17 year old.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Stanford’s own words: “Students with extraordinary talent in music composition, conducting or performance may supplement their Stanford application with an Arts Portfolio.” And this is typical at other elite colleges regarding the arts supplement with a key emphasis on “extraordinary talent.” So you need to ask yourself whether your daughter has an “extraordinary talent” in either piano or double bass performance. Has she won any significant level auditions or is she at high school orchestra performance level?
@Ranjini
When you say sending the bass recital would have been a no brainer except for the time factor, do you mean because of the length? Or the timing of when the recital is in relation to the deadline for the supplement. We had recorded ds’s program for the MTNA competition which was too long in totality, but sent two pieces from that program (in contrasting style) that met the time requirements for the supplement. Editing the performance is NOT allowed, but chopping up a longer program for time constraints is fine. People clapped between each piece anyway.
If she is more skilled at piano, why aren’t you sending piano?
Also, if she plays all the time anyway and is in recitals consistently, I wouldn’t think it would take too long to polish up a couple of pieces to performance level.
My ds had five APs his senior year and didn’t have anywhere near that much homework. I suppose it depends on which APs, though. He had already taken a couple of the more time-consuming ones his junior year.
Does an arts supplement affect admissions? Yes, if the instrument is needed and/or the skill level is good enough.
Auditions/supplements will be listened to by music department faculty. Faculty can indicate whether or not they want the student and how badly. There’s essentially a check box if they want to indicate that, given decent academic credentials, a student is one that should be admitted.
If you think she is talented and she has some sort of EC path backing that up (all-state, solo competitions, competitive youth symphonies) then I would recommend doing the supplement. In theory it doesn’t hurt you if they think the music is just average (they simply wont recommend you, but they wont suggest not admitting you either). I threw together my tape the morning it was due. While I wouldn’t recommend that, it’s something that hopefully shouldn’t take too much time to record and practice for if she has some pieces to choose from.
What did your D end up deciding about an Arts Supplement? In early August my S submitted the online form for the 1 day of live auditions (on campus or Chicago location). His private violin teacher had to submit a letter, and he uploaded a music resume. S got an email this week that he’s on the list for 10/29 in Palo Alto. So that moved him up to REA cause that day is specifically for REA - now he has to hustle with their specific essays - anyhow, S doesn’t win concerto competitions, but he is a super solid violinist.