<p>I'm a very talented pianist (I've played multiple times in carnegie hall, the state department, etc. , won various national and international competitions, participated in master classes with esteemed teachers like dr. polk of MSM and dr. canon of Julliard) </p>
<p>I don't want to major in piano/music or anything related of that sort, but I do wish to continue it as a an extracurricular. </p>
<p>I'm shooting for Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Princeton, Yale, etc (my academics are very strong, I go to Stuyvesant in NYC, one of the best public HS's, arguably, in the country, and I'm also a very strong writer who has won awards in writing competitions and am the editor of the school paper) </p>
<p>I'm just wondering if I have a chance with music as my major EC even if I want to go for say an econ major? </p>
<p>(It's worth pointing out my math and science grades are lower than my humanities grades and I haven't really done too much with econ but I'm really intrigued by the subject because I did a group project called the Euro Challenge last year that really opened me up to that kind of thing and I love the idea of starting a company and the innovation behind that)
And if I don't have a chance, would I do better applying as a history or writing major? It's just I love those things but those are the extra stuff that I don't want as a major. Would it be possible to switch majors from like history to econ?</p>
<p>In addition, does anyone know how many pieces these schools look for in the music supplement?</p>
<p>To answer your last question first, the answer varies by university. Some universities specify quite clearly what they expect in a music supplement. So review the requirements college by college. For example, Stanford is explicit. See <a href=“https://music.stanford.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/prospective-undergraduates/arts-supplement-faq”>https://music.stanford.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/prospective-undergraduates/arts-supplement-faq</a>
while UPenn says very little. You should however be able to structure a 10 minute supplement that will work for the 5 universities you list. I recommend that you have a recording professional work with you, especially in setting up the recording equipment and creating a master. The $100-$200 that this will likely cost will be worthwhile. The alternative of an amateurish recording can be self defeating.</p>
<p>To your first question, ignoring UPENN/wharton for the moment you may be overthinking the “major” that appears on your application. Undecided is unlikely to be any better or worse than an explicit choice. But if you’re leaning toward one field it’s fine to pick that. In most cases you don’t need to declare a major till end of sophomore year. Wharton is different in that it’s one of the academic colleges at Penn and transfers between colleges can be difficult. Economics is in the college of arts and sciences. You will need to pick a college at the time of application.</p>
<p>Unless you truly want to major in music state either undecided or pick a very likely major.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response fogcity! So, I just want to clarify, applying as an econ major won’t be a detriment even though I don’t have EC’s and maybe even grade’s to prove I would be good at econ?</p>
<p>1) I’ve heard a number of admission officers say that unless an applicant is applying to a special school (ex. business, engineering etc.) that they really don’t pay attention to the intended major. This is because half of the applicants tend to apply as undecided and of those who apply with a major in mind, about half of them change their mind while at college. So not showing a big interest in business might only come into play for your Wharton application. Still, the Euro Challenge might be sufficient.
2) The question of if you can participate in piano/music as a non-major varies by school. My D had the same concerns and that is something she asked while on school visits. She applied primarily to LACs (and is attending one currently) and they typically welcomed non-majors into the orchestra. </p>