<p>I have a couple questions regarding sending in a tape of your playing with your app: </p>
<p>1.) Is it worth bothering to send in a tape if you play a really popular instrument that most likely is not in demand at Stanford? </p>
<p>Since Stanford is my first choice school and band is my most important EC, I'm considering sending in a tape of my playing in hopes that it'll distinguish me from other applicants a little. However, I'm not sure how helpful this will be. I know if you play a rare instrument like oboe, french horn, or tuba and Stanford's band is in need of those players, a good tape can boost your chances a lot. However, I play clarinet, which is one of the most popular instruments. I know there are a ton of clarinet players out there, and a ton of really good ones too. So I'm wondering if I should bother sending in a tape if clarinets are likely not in demand. </p>
<p>2.) Is it okay to send in a tape even if you haven't earned any regional, state, or national recognition? </p>
<p>Even if clarinets are not in need, a good tape can demonstrate your dedication and passion and work in your favor, right? So I'm considering sending in a tape for that purpose (like I said before, band is my number one EC -- I can spend as much as 11 hours a week on it), but I'm not so sure if I should. Stanford says only students with "extraordinary" talent who have earned recognition at the regional, state, or national level should submit tapes, but I've never even made the all-district band despite trying the past two years. My circumstances are a little different from the average person's, though: My school has a very high-level, competitive band program with five different bands. The top band is one of the best in the state (we've won the state championship multiple times and were selected to participate in a national festival a few years ago), and I've been in that band since sophomore year (seated third chair last year). Everyone in my band is a really talented, high-level musician. However, our school is in the most competitive district in the state, with 3-4 other top bands in it. So it's incredibly hard to make all-district with that kind of competition -- for flutes and clarinets especially, because we have 200+ really talented musicians vying for 30-40 spots. There are many, many kids who never make all-district despite being very good. (Not to mention there are some politics involved in the selections: upperclassmen who have not made all-district as underclassmen are discriminated against, and may not make the band even if they play better than underclassmen.) </p>
<p>So would it be okay to send in a tape even though I haven't earned any regional/state/national recognition? There's a chance that I may make all-district this year, but I won't find out the results for that until the end of October and by then it'll be too late to make a tape. </p>
<p>3.) Also, would a mediocre tape (or anything less than "extraordinary" really) hurt your application? Or would it just be ignored? </p>
<p>I would just try making a tape anyway, but I don't want to submit one if it'll hurt me because it's not good enough. I know Yale says don't submit a tape if you're not absolutely outstanding because a mediocre tape can hurt your app, but I haven't read anything like that from Stanford. I'm definitely not sending in a tape to the Ivys because I know I'm not good enough for them, but I've heard from various people that Stanford's applicant pool doesn't have as many oustanding musicians. So I can't decide whether I should submit one for Stanford or not because I have no clue what "extraordinary" means for them. </p>
<p>Any advice regarding any of my questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.</p>