"Standing out" from by crowd using music

<p>Ok,</p>

<p>I'm an asian male. When one of us talks about music, it is almost a guarantee to assume that they're talking about piano and/or violin.</p>

<p>Well..... I pay neither, so that's standout reason #1.</p>

<p>And reason #2, I pay electric guitar/bass.</p>

<p>On top of that, I have started my own hard-rock/metal band, in which I'm a leader and a rhythm guitarist. The band has 11 originals (9 of them written by me) and I will be sending our most recent CD that we recorded (all my friends think we kick ass).</p>

<p>Now, will this be able to stand me apart from other "asian males" per se? And will this necessarily be a good thing? I mean.. when admissions people think of metalheads, they probably think drug-addicts, alcoholics with tatoos and with skull ear-rings and stuff.</p>

<p>I would forget the Asian angle. I would also agree you might be careful about terms like heavy metal. There is a crowd of kids who play in garage bands, but not that many with a lot of original music and CD's. Focus on any unique accomplishments.</p>

<p>I don't think a hard rock band will make you stand out, whether or not the music is orignal. For many people (and probably admissions officers), heavy metal musicians leave a lot to be desired, and they are often identified with drugs, tattoos, etc. Submitting the CD won't do very much in my opinion, as it doesn't benefit the university to admit you based on that type of music. Still, if you have plenty of other accomplishments, you should focus on them and you may have a good chance.</p>

<p>I do have other ECs, but they're fairly generic things that almost all other applicants do. Things like student government, varsity track, research assistant at a university, school newspaper etc.</p>

<p>This would be my unique accomplishment, and I thought starting their own bands are pretty common in university?</p>

<p>err.. **** contradictory</p>

<p>you know what i mean......</p>

<p>If I am a good songwriter, and good enough of a leader to actually hold a band of 5 together for 4 years and record a couple of CDs, I just thought it would help me in the admissions process, because only a million applicants play piano/violin and play in school orchestras (I'm also in the school band too, but yea). Cornell advise that I definitely send the CD in if it highlights my strengths (songwriting, groupwork as well as individual instrument skill), but they suggest I limit it to about 2 ~ 3 songs. So, I was planning on sending a funk song, and 2 ballads.</p>

<p>Absolutely submit with your apps!
Just highlight those strengths and downplay the heavy metal side.
You are a major leader to keep a band of HS kids together to actually CREATE some finished music!</p>

<p>Our son studies classical performance (brass) in college and was in high school band/orchestras, all state bands, etc. He also is a serious electric bass player. He never was able to lead/motivate his garage band crew to finish anything! You deserve applause!</p>

<p>Too bad.... I have been looking for a replacement bass player for the band for quite some time now, since I had to kick out the last one (he was a pothead, behavior problems, never showed to practice, etc)</p>

<p>wait a second. Now, I could send like 10 of my originals all on a CD, but wouldn't that be a bit overkill?</p>

<p>What I'm thinking is that, I'm going to send 3 of the band's best songs on a CD (one of the songs is 10 mins long, so I think that should be more than enough)</p>