sat/gpa and music majors

College Majors Music Major
21

<p>As everyone one here has already pointed out, GPA/SATs play differing roles in the music admissions process, depending on the institution. It’s good to see you’re here looking around for advice–your school list was extremely diverse. BassDad is going to be able to offer the most sound advice to you, and you should be in touch with him re: his questions to best determine your next move. </p>

<p>While we’re on this topic generally, I’ve always found CIM handles the whole academic question very well:</p>

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<p>[Cleveland</a> Institute of Music](<a href=“http://www.cim.edu/colAdmisFaqs.php]Cleveland”>http://www.cim.edu/colAdmisFaqs.php) </p>

<p>Q. How important to the admission process are grades, College Board scores, and letters of recommendation?</p>

<p>A. While the result of your audition will be the most important part of your application, it is not the sole consideration. If our faculty recommends you for admission as a result of your audition, your grades, standardized test scores, and letters of recommendation will then be reviewed. It is an overall picture of general strength that is important to the admission process. Therefore, you should not be overly concerned if one particular aspect of your application (for example, class rank or standardized test score) is not as strong as you might like it to be. </p>

<p>Q. What GPA should I have to be considered a desirable candidate?</p>

<p>A. A “B” average or higher is preferred. In general, if you are recommended for admission, you may be admitted unconditionally if your GPA is above 3.00 (based on a 4.00 system). If your GPA is below 3.00 and your audition is very strong, you may still be eligible for admission, either with academic caution or (in rare circumstances) academic probation.</p>

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<p>This gives them flexibility in making an admissions decision–they are not pinned down by a specific GPA or SAT score, but it becomes a factor if they’re on the fence about you. Oftentimes a high GPA can indicate a level of discipline that can then put you ahead of the other person they’re considering. Many HS guidance counselors do not understand the unique world of conservatory admissions, and may not be able to steer you in the right direction.</p>

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<p>what is your definition of tanked?..</p>

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<p>hopefulobie, the one reference to “tanked” was in a post by BassDad, referring to his knowledge of Oberlin’s process.</p>

<p>This thread is over a year old, and while the general topic of grades/stats versus audition is a repeated one here in this forum for music majors, it may help if you were a bit more specific.</p>

<p>If you give as an idea of your academic stats and test scores, there are those here familiar with Oberlin through experience that may help to answer your question.</p>

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<p>well i have a average gpa of a 2.2 this advisory i got a 3.1…did i tank o andi took the psat i got a 202 on it</p>

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<p>hopefulobie, I just read your past posts (which I should have done initially) and saw that you’ve already been asking questions in the Oberlin forum.</p>

<p>I also see that BassDad has responded within your thread here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/oberlin-college/832618-can-i-get-into-oberlin-conservatory.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/oberlin-college/832618-can-i-get-into-oberlin-conservatory.html&lt;/a&gt; and he is one of the most helpful and knowledgeable posters on CC when it comes to music based admissions, and Oberlin specifically. You are in excellent hands.</p>

<p>Please do spend time reading in the music major forum. Even though you are at a performing arts high school you might gain some different perspectives by looking through others experiences and insights. You quite probably have the added benefit of having counselors available who are knowledgeable and aware of specific programs beyond Oberlin that can further develop your talents.</p>

<p>My knowledge does not encompass the requirements of vocal performance applicants, I’d be more help in instrumental or music ed paths.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

26

<p>thank you violadad!</p>

<p>You guys are really helpful on here!!!
I do play the piano(minor in it at school)
Do you think colleges will look at that and factor it into considerin me for the facility??</p>

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<p>Actually, I was quoting the post above me from don9992, in which he used the phrase “completely tanked”. I cannot put a numeric value on “tanked” other than to say that you very likely have not tanked if you have a GPA of at least 3 and SAT scores in the high 500’s or better in each subject.</p>

<p>As I understand the PSAT, you multiply by 10 to get a prediction of your SAT scores. A 202 would translate to 2020 or about 670 on each of three sections. That is a little above the average for Oberlin Conservatory. So far, so good. See <a href=“http://oberlin.edu/instres/irhome/www/sche25/[/url]”>http://oberlin.edu/instres/irhome/www/sche25/&lt;/a&gt; for more information.</p>

<p>An overall GPA of 2.2 out of 4.0 may raise some eyebrows. It will help that the trend is upward and will help more if it remains so for the next couple of semesters. When colleges look at GPA, however, they often only consider the core courses in math, sciences, languages and social studies. I am not sure Oberlin weights standard vs. honors vs. AP/IB level courses. That would be a good question for Oberlin Conservatory Admissions directly. If your GPA for only the core academic subjects is less than 2.0, I think there may be cause for concern. Your high test scores may help, particularly if you can convince them that you would have done better on the academic subjects had you not been spending every available hour on music.</p>

<p>You should definitely go forward with your Oberlin application, but try to keep those grades at least above 3.0 and hopefully higher to bring up the low scores from earlier years. You should probably also apply to some stand-alone conservatories where the audition really is nearly the sole determining factor.</p>

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<p>Piano skills are a necessary requirement for any music aspirant, and there is coursework within the curriculum that is part of the BM degree requirement. It is nothing but beneficial, but as a vocal performance aspirant, it will most likely not sway an admissions decision. You will find that many will have formal piano training in addition to primary instrument or vocal training.</p>

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<p>I do not think your piano playing will enter into the admissions decision for an applicant in voice. It may, however, get you out of having to take a couple semesters of basic keyboard classes if you wind up attending.</p>

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<p>ok thank you both violadad and bassdad my other question is kinda general</p>

<p>Um…so i made honor roll first advisory and if i get at least a 2.8 or higher each advisory, what will my grade average be?</p>

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<p>o and BTW i took a honors class freshman year…</p>

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<p>Not knowing the specifics of how your school calculates GPA, I would suggest that is a good question to ask your academic counselor at your high school.</p>

<p>Not knowing the specifics of how Oberlin adjusts the information on your transcript, I would suggest you speak with Oberlin Conservatory Admissions and ask specifically about the academic side of their admissions decision.</p>

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<p>ok thank you</p>

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<p>hopefulobie, I’d like to offer you a piece of advice in all sincerity. Part of the entire college application process is figuring out your audience, and communicating appropriately. For Twitter and texting, abbreviations are appropriate and necessary, but for all other communications, watch your grammer/spelling/etc. Please know - this is absolutely not a slam - it’s sincere advice. If you are trying to convince a school that you are more than you GPA or SAT scores, your writing may be all you have.<br>
Good luck!!</p>

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<p>Thank you BeezMom, you beat me to it with your post! Another important thing to keep in mind is that admissions reps or administrators from many colleges frequently read this board and others, such as the student forum on Broadwayworld.com. It’s not hard for them to put 2+2 together and figure out who someone is and it isn’t good to have them to connect you with posts full of errors, misspellings, etc, no matter what your intent.
I’ve said it before, but there are times when grades and test scores are used to differentiate between students who may be equal in other ways…
Grades and standardized test scores are considered differently depending upon the make-up of the particular school, but I’ve yet to hear any high school guidance counselor or college admissions officer say that poor grades can easily be overlooked though ( actually had that conversation with a HS counselor just this afternoon!). At top conservatories that have affiliations with universities, you’ll find yourself in competition with others who have spent the past four years of HS taking all AP and Honors classes, so doing the best you can will only help you at application time. Voice majors take more academic courses than instrumental majors and also have to take at least 3 languages in college, so HS grades can be considered an important indicator of college performance.
BTW, a 2.8= and 82</p>