<p>Hello,
My daughter has been doing the RCM (The</a> Music Development Program | The Music Development Program) examinations for the past few years and set to take the Grade 8 exams.
The syllabus content and rigour of the exams seem great but I was wondering if anybody on this board has heard about these exams, how these are looked upon by college admissions committees. She wants one to take Music as one of her majors in college.</p>
<p>If she completes Grade 10, will that be a great EC to have and will music departments think well of it? These exams take a lot of preparation and we are wondering if it is worth the time or if it is better spent elsewhere.
Also, any notes on how RCM compares to ABRSM would be greatly appreciated !
Thank you very much !</p>
<p>I don’t think it will have any affect on admissions for music performance but if she is applying to BA programs it will be noted as an EC.</p>
<p>cconfgkss, you must be Canadian ;)</p>
<p>IME, the RCM will serve your future university level student well in a music program, particularly in the area of theory. If the performance element is on par, and your d is applying for a performance degree, it may confer the kind of “extra” advantage that a high level of theory development does at some top programs.</p>
<p>Where is she considering applying for school?</p>
<p>Thank you both very much for your responses.
kmcmom13- am as yankee (with an Asian accent) as they come 
D wants to apply to schools in the US- pre-med +music major…</p>
<p>Any insights on ABRSM vs RCM will be most appreciated…which is looked upon better by Music Departments, adcoms etc…
Hope you have a great day!</p>
<p>I suspect that college adcoms in the US are unlikely to know the difference. If you are communicating directly with music departments and expect that professors will be advocating for your daughter’s admission, you could check with them, but in general that does not often happen. (Adcoms are generalists and will probably recognize a 5 in AP Theory before ABRSM or RCM because they see it more often.) My advice would be to go with the system your daughter finds to be most interesting and challenging–for her own pleasure and education, not for the benefit of a committee.</p>
<p>I agree with GH, as an EC not sure the AD’s in a general college would recognize it, and if for performance will have no impact per se…I think looking at it as a valuable EC (besides my own general dislike of the “EC to impressed AD” stuff) should be in what she gets out of it. From the little I have read about it, they are roughly equivalent (I assume here you are talking performance, not music theory), the RCM is supposed to be a little easier early on, but once you get to grade 8 and beyond, if the websites I read were any indication, RCM may be a little tougher…</p>
<p>More importantly, for performance I don’t think RCM or ABRSM means much, if she is thinking of a performance degree, in terms of admissions directly.Obviously, if it well prepares her for her audition, then yeah, it is valuable, but earning the level itself may or may not mean much, due to the vagueries of what constitutes being ready to audtion…</p>
<p>I can say with music theory that my S was in the ABRSM program (theory seems to be similar between the two BTW, least from what I can tell) and it helped him when he went to his pre college program place into an advanced year, which in turn when he went to college allowed him to place out of their core theory track…</p>
<p>What I would say is if she enjoys it and it seems to motivate her, then it is worth it, if she is doing it simply to have a great EC, might not be a good thing to do IMO.</p>