Music Supplement: To submit or to not submit

Hi all,

After reading through various articles and watching various videos I seem to have reached a point of being entirely confused as to what to do in terms of submitting a supplement. I am an avid tri-instrumentalist and originally wanted to submit a supplement of me playing the appassionata sonata mvt. 3 and fantasaie improptu. These are both considered challenging pieces; however, I do not wish to submit them if they are going to jeopardize my chances. I intend on getting a supplemental letter from my piano teacher regardless, but I want to optimize my chances of admission to schools (yale being my top choice, amongst many other top caliber schools including Johns Hopkins). Can anyone provide more insight as to what I should do?

Thank you!

If it’s of the quality that you would submit to a conservatory, submit. If not, don’t. Don’t send stuff just to send stuff.

An AO from and Ivy told me last year that any art/music-related supplements would go to a professor in the appropriate department, as an AO has no way to judge.

If your performance would impress a college piano professor, then submit it.

Correct. And to further clarify, for those colleges, they only send some supplements to the departments fir evaluation, those attached to applications that do not pass the initial cut never see the light of day.

I don’t worry that it is bad; however, I do fear that It might not be perfect enough to be conservatory level simply because I am not sure of how good it has to be, Would it hurt me if it wasn’t flawless? I am unsure of how to properly tell.

You can ask a music teacher in your HS or another professional to listen to it.

FWIW my D was second chair violin in her HS and did not send a music supplement. Honestly, we never considered it. She was a very good, but not close to a conservatory level violin player. She had orchestra as well as her other violin related activities (ex. she helped teach some elementary school students) listed on her application so the colleges knew of her involvement with music. And as things turned out my D ended up playing violin in her college orchestra for all 4 years.

In the end it is your application and your choice.

We can’t hear your piece, so even those among the readers who would be able to judge its quality simply cannot do it.
Most readers agree that it must be at the conservatory level. But you still need someone to tell you how your playing measures again such standards…

But why don’t you ask your piano teacher? And if s/he is unable to tell you, I’m sure s/he could suggest where to turn next for a professional opinion.

One more thing: I trust the wisdom of people who spent years on the forum, yet I want to report what we’ve heard from a number of admission people, especially from very good LACs - summit a supplement, even if not conservatory-level, if you consider music an important part of your life, especially applying to a non-music major.