I’m a student who was wondering what is representative of the highest tier of piano in Ivy League schools.
Are you world class at the national level? Are Ivy League musicians conservatory level?
If anyone is questioning my legitimacy, my track record speaks for itself, not to sound arrogant.
I’ve been a pianist for 15 years. I have over 20 awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs,. I’ve performed for government officials as well. I’ve even received the 75 point cup, one of the highest musical honors in the United States, at least for youth.
I’m confused by your post. If you are interested in piano at the highest level you should be looking at conservatories. Why are you looking at the Ivy League schools? If you are trying to use your piano skills to get admitted then I think you misunderstand how admissions work. Being very good at piano will be a very good extracurricular but it will just be part of the package that you present in your application. You will not be admitted based on your music ability.
There is a Yale school of music but that is at the graduate level only. Is that what you are interested in?
Unfortunately, your academic history will make transferring to an Ivy practically impossible. Yale, like other Ivies, are primarily academic institutions, not conservatories, and one cannot be accepted to Yale or any other Ivy based on their music talent alone, without demonstrating the ability to succeed academically.
Perhaps you should check with music conservatories and see if they will accept you based on the strength of your music portfolio, despite your checkered academic history.
I will be a community college student majoring in Political Science. I do want to attend an Ivy for graduate school though.
I understand academic merit is equally important. But can’t a high level extracurricular help someone? I realize I have a long way to go.
I have known about someone who was in a similar situation to me. They had a difficult home life and failed their classes. But around 3 years later, they are attending Georgetown University.
And yes, Ivy League colleges do have conservatory-level musicians. Harvard has dual degree programs with the New England Conservatory of Music and Berrklee, to cite one example.
If you are thinking of grad school, for certain graduate degrees, your music talent may, in some cases, be enough to get you into the program. However, you should really contact the relevant departments and potential advisors.
Some graduate programs, even the music programs, have a minimum undergraduate GPA as a requirement, others do not. It also depends on the graduate degree - a PhD or an MA in music may have more stringent academic requirements than a DMA or MMA.
As a general rule, for admissions to a PhD programs and some MA or MS programs, what matters is undergraduate GPA, particularly in the courses related to the topic of the graduate degree, accomplishments on your CV which directly relate to the degree (for a PhD program, this would only include publications, presentations, and work on research), letters of recommendation (extremely important), a strong cover letter, in which you demonstrate that you a basic understanding of what grad school entails, and, in other years, GRE and subject GRE tests. For non-English speakers, a TOEFL is also required.
For other graduate degrees related to music, an audition and portfolio may be required, and may also be the major requirement.
As I wrote earlier - email or call the departments whose graduate programs interest you, and ask what the requirements are for admissions.