For any musicians out there that have been accepted into the Ivies, how do admissions officers choose between two musicians who have an identical number of awards and achievements but play different instruments?
no one knows. ever. because students are not told why they were admitted.
Admissions is a closed black box.
Often, they don’t as both will be rejected. That’s what the numbers say.
For those that do catch their attention, in you parameters, it’ll go to the “soft” factors: personal statement & LORs.
Do you come across as interesting or likeable? If not, it’s easy to turn that person away. basically, stop worrying about your singular competing applicant. You’re in competition with about 30,000 other applicants – too much to worry about so stop it anyway.
It is usually determined by the audition performance per instrument.
Nobody knows what goes on behind those closed doors. And it is unlikely that two people will be exactly even. If statistics are identical there are still essays, recommendations to separate them.
“It is usually determined by the audition performance per instrument. "
At the IVY’s??
No… The music dept profs have no” say" regarding admissions at the IVYS.
How do you know this?
I am almost certain that applicants must submit a CD that showcases their musical abilities for the music professors to review.
Submitting a CD or music-related file to the school may only be necessary for prospective music majors. I know that for many of the Ivies an art supplement is just something extra to showcase your artistic talent (which includes music). The music professors get to look at it, but as with what menloparkmom said, they have no say regarding whether or not a student is accepted.
@Bryantviolinist Are you planning to pursue a music major in college? Or do you just want to participate in a music ensemble at the school?
There are THOUSANDS of musically talented students that apply to Ivys each year. Plenty to fill every seat in the student orchestra. IF you WANT to have your musical talents displayed ,then yes of course you must send in a CD. That does NOT MEAN that the IVY admissions counselors will pay attention to their recommendations.
If you were applying to a music conservatory, then of course audition results will play a part.
Many talented musicians don’t send in CDs. It’s not a requirement whatsoever.
Like others have said, unless you’re applying as a music performance major or otherwise highlighting your musical skill as the crux of your application, your CD will simply be another facet of your overall application. I don’t know what schools you’ve applied to but most Ivies admit students into the undergraduate College – and thus your intended area of study may only be a curiosity point. There are tons of talented violin and viola applicants – who will be admitted w/o regard to their musical talent. Sadly, many many more will be rejected w/o regard to their musical talent – again, it’s the numbers.
Thus, your comparison with the single student you know has no practical value. For all you know, that student didn’t even send in a CD yet might submit a fantastically compelling essay or series of LORs and be admitted.
There’s much more to it than your musicality. So stop wasting emotional energy on that. It’s time to relax and let things go you have no control over. It’s your last semester in HS. If you’re a viable applicant, then you’ve got plenty of accomplishments. Savor those and be confident that whatever school you’ll attend this Sept, will be blessed to have you.
@azwu331 I want to participate in a music ensemble at the school. So, my question is if the competition in a certain instrument pool is much higher than in another instrument pool, how do admission officers know the difference? If we both have the same number of accolades and awards yet one had much higher competition, will the officers know? @menloparkmom
oh geeze,
Admission officers AT IVY’S do not have as a priority filling spots in the music ensembles. They dont pull applications to compare one musically talented student to another.
They KNOW that there will be plenty of musically talented students admitted to fill any open ensemble seat.
@Bryantviolinist Admissions officers won’t know the difference. The Ivies do not accept based on musical abilities, so students who are accepted will not be accepted on their musical talent alone (this is especially true for non-music majors). There is so much more that goes into the application process. Your accolades and awards will certainly help you, but will not be the deciding factor in your decision.
So what are the most important aspects of one’s application? If the awards are not the deciding factor, why do so many people try so hard to make their resumes look stellar? @azwu331
So what is the purpose of a resume of accomplishments when one could simply write a stellar essay and have great LOR’s? @T26E4
"So what are the most important aspects of one’s application? "
At the IVY’s?
ALL of the following- top SAT/ ACT scores, top GPA, a rigorous HS transcript, great LOR’s, great Essays, outside EC’s [ not just one] that show long term commitment, and a real love of learning.
If a student comes from an alumi family, or is a highly recruited athlete, or his family has donated millions to the college- all those can be factored into admission decisions as well.
I never said that. I said given your scenario of two equally accomplished resumes, it then goes to the soft factors such as essays and LORs.
You apply to schools with under 10% admit rate and you have to be able to distinguish yourself. Hopefully, the entirety of your app makes you one of those. The idea that you’re vying head to head vs. one person is absurd. No school is looking to admit you to fill some ensemble – just like menloparkmom & azwu331 have said.
I get that violin is a big part of your identity. The problem is there are 100s if not 1000s of applicants just like you (with stellar resumes). Now what? You BETTER hope your essay and LORs are top notch. Otherwise your app will remain unmemorable.
unmemorable = rejection.
You might not like the fact that this falls to such a subjective area but that’s how it goes. If your CD is marginally better than the next guy – but you come off as cold or robotic or not the type of kid someone would want to share a suite with – well there you go. The next guy who comes off as friendly, warm and engaged – but is a lesser violinist – will be considered more favorably 98% of the time. We aren’t talking about a conservatory or a job with an orchestra.
But in the end, huge swaths of qualified kids will be turned away b/c that’s what the numbers dictate. You’ve applied. Now enjoy your last remaining months as a HS Senior like I mentioned in post #10. Enjoy your family and friends. Trying to squeeze out your “chances” at this date is a HUGE waste of emotional energy. You’ve got much better and more fun things to do. Go do them – you deserve it after 11.5 years of achievement. Go have a blast and let the decisions come as they come.
Or don’t and continue the level of needless drama. I know which route I chose. I had a wonderful senior year…
I’ve been accepted to Princeton early this year and I’m a violinist too. The actual number of awards means next to nothing compared to the quality of the achievement. My application revolved around music, and I’ve sent in a tape and sent in a music recommendation, and put in a music-specific achievement list as well as wrote about it in the essay.
I don’t think instrument matters that much. You just need to be super good at your instrument.
I’d say to send a tape in if you think your application will benefit from music; admission officers will be skeptical as to why you didn’t send in a tape when you say you’re dedicated when you didn’t send in the tape. They’ll ask, “if this person’s so good, why doesn’t he/she want to send in something for us to validate it? What’s he/she hiding?”, questions that can harm your application. So the point in this is that your application should tell a story and shouldn’t have any loopholes or gaps. That means if you focus on music as your passion, then your resume, your essay, your classes, your extracurricular activities, and your summer plans should all revolve around music to some degree. Not to mention national-international level awards for the top schools.
My point is elaborated in Allen Cheng’s blog on PrepScholar: “How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum”.
I would like to do the Harvard-NEC double degree program. I get the best of both worlds!