<p>What I mean is: let's say I'm a pretty good pianist, but I'm planning to major in computer science in college. Should I include a video or recording of myself?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the college and how “good” you are. If piano is one of your big ECs, it would probably be a positive thing. Only include it though if it will be a quality performance.</p>
<p>^ Absolutely agree. Don’t make the adcom feel you are wasting their time. If you do have an excellent performance, go for it. Otherwise, just mention in in your EC. My D was in the same situation like you. She even got an award in state level and did not bother to do that.</p>
<p>I second @ANNIE1389.</p>
<p>If you are VERY good, then by all means do it. If not, I don’t think it would hurt you unless you were terribly bad, but it wouldn’t help you.</p>
<p>Usually you just do that if your talent level is exceptional.</p>
<p>I’ve played a Mozart piano concerto with the local orchestra, played an hour-long piano recital. My programme was Mozart piano sonata no.8, Chopin Ballade No.2, Debussy Suite Estampes, and Liszt La Campanella. They’re LTCL repertoire I’m pretty sure, although I’ve never sat an exam. I’m also a jazz pianist, I’ve won numerous local competitions but I’m competing nationally this year (I’m 16 and live in New Zealand). Music is a major part of my CV in terms of extracurricular as I’m the house pianist for a 5 star hotel, have regular gigs, play keytar for a rock band etc. I doubt I’ll be THE best so would it hurt if I send a DVD with my application? Thanks for the comments guys!</p>
<p>Since it appears that music is an important part of “who you are” and is, in effect, an important extracurricular for you, I’d say, yes, submit the supplement. Colleges need active musicians just as they need athletes.</p>
<p>You might also include a music specific resume that outlines courses, significant performances, awards and accomplishments plus an additional recommendation from an instructor or mentor. An indication that you would continue to participate in music ECs at college (even if you don’t major in music) would also be a positive.</p>
<p>Admissions policies vary on how they view arts supplements. They probably have less impact at large, numbers-driven universities and more at small liberal arts colleges where contribution to the campus community is important. The medium sized privates are somewhere in the middle. A lot depends on the degree of arts focus of the individual college campus. All have music department, bands and/or ensembles and orchestras, but some place more emphasis on the arts than others.</p>
<p>Agree, in your case, send it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I’m also a national representative for table tennis, won numerous national awards and national titles. Are my sport achievements alongside my music supplement going to be a solid application?</p>
<p>Well it is depending on college selectivity and your main academic requirements of course, but sounds like your have the EC part well covered. Interesting and accomplished.</p>
<p>Thank you! My SAT results come out in a week, once I have those I’ll have a better idea of where I stand . Thanks for the help as I live in a very small city and nobody down here is really informed about applying to the US</p>
<p>Oh and one more thing, do you think I’m qualified enough for an Ivy? If my SATs are adequate of course</p>
<p>You didn’t mention anything about your GPA, your course rigor, what your letters are likely to reflect as far as discussing intellectual vitality, character etc. Are you the top of your class et al.</p>
<p>To get into “an Ivy” or other selective college or university you need excellent grades, scores, rank – plus ECs and ideally some distinguishing demographic or life experience. I’d say you have the EC category covered. </p>
<p>The most important factor for applicants to private colleges – especially for internationals – is financial. Will you need financial aid? If no, then that’s a plus. If yes, does family qualify you for need based aid? </p>
<p>Like the value of music/art ECs, the value of sports ECs varies from school to school. Some have a culture of arts, some have a culture of sports, some both. Some really don’t care what you do out of the classroom.</p>
<p>Same goes for international applicants: some recruit them, some have more than enough. Some colleges that have difficulty recruiting high achieving non-Whites use internationals to supplement their diversity percentages, but if you’re Caucasian you may not qualify for that boost.</p>
<p>Well, our education system here is a bit weird. If you have time you may read about it here <a href=“National Certificate of Educational Achievement - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Certificate_of_Educational_Achievement</a></p>
<p>In short, I think Excellence (E) is the ‘A’ in New Zealand. I’ve had all of my subjects endorsed at ‘E’ except for physics. I’m also accelerated, which means that I do Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and Music at a higher level, so I suppose that’s as close to AP as we can get. I would say, academically, I’m one of the top few in my year.</p>
<p>I have great relationships with my teachers and especially the principal (as he a big music fan). The mayor also knows about me as I’ve played piano for his garden party, and have presented ideas to the city council when I was at intermediate school. (he also attended my piano recital) so i don’t think letters of recommendations will be much of an issue.</p>
<p>Mum and I immigrated from China 6 years ago. I’ve managed to pick up english very well and have no accent haha. So I made friends easily and have no problems socially (though I’m not sure how to express this on my application).</p>
<p>In terms of financial aid, my parents can afford $20,000 USD per year. So I will quite a lot of aid :(</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>I would include the music supplement in your case. However, research each school’s website to see the format they want and follow it exactly in your best interests. If the college says that it wants the supplement uploaded as an audio file to SlideRoom, there is no ambiguity. The college has told you how they want the supplement. That means they do not want a CD/DVD/video file/link to your YouTube channel.Conversely, if they ask for a video, send them a video. There is no “one size fits all” for supplements, so research to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>You will just have to pick the ones that appeal to you and ‘see what happens’. You are aware that the college will calculate what they expect your parents to pay, right? Then your parents can see if they can afford that or not.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d mention I have seen a poster on here familiar with the active Princeton table tennis club team and offered to speak to another prospective student with national level skill. You might post on Princeton forum. You may want to contact the Princeton team, other colleges also have teams, but that is one stands out.</p>
<p>“Princeton University does not give scholarships for table tennis or any other sport. However, Princeton recognizes and supports athletic accomplishments and welcomes student-athletes with excellent academic qualifications. Over the past decade, PUTTC has been the most successful and prominent table tennis club in the Ivy League. For information on undergraduate and graduate admissions, please refer to the University’s Admission & Aid website. For questions pertaining specifically to table tennis at Princeton, feel free to contact <a href=“mailto:puttc@princeton.edu”>puttc@princeton.edu</a>. We are eager to hear from and advise all interested national and international applicants.”</p>
<p>If you are interested in CS and music look at Brown. My daughter was a math-cs major and loved the CS dept. She went on to grad school</p>
<p>Princeton sounds like a long shot haha but I’ll definitely contact them once I feel ready with my academics</p>
<p>I think you should do more research into the financials before you start making a list. First, have your parents use an online calculator to get an idea of your estimated family contribution. Each college’s formula varies a bit, but that will give you an idea of the maximum of NEED based aid you can expect to receive. If the EFC works, you then need to research whether the college guarantees to meet the so-called " full need" for internationals. Some do, some don’t.</p>
<p>If the need based aid isn’t enough or if it’s unclear if the full need will be offered to an international, then you have to start looking for colleges that offer MERIT aid to internationals. </p>
<p>This is all very complicated, but it is absolutely essential if you want to study in the US on a budget of $20,000 a year.</p>
<p>The Ivies and other selective private universities can be generous with need based aid as long as you qualify. They do not offer merit aid. Some small liberal arts colleges (which are academically very prestigious) are good sources of financial aid – both need and merit – for internationals, especially for non-Whites.</p>
<p>So go a ahead and apply to the big names, but also consider some schools that you might not have heard of. Most of these would value your international background and/or your musical ability. Some guarantee full need to internationals, some don’t promise it but are generous, some may offer merit. </p>
<p>These are some small liberal arts colleges that I’d recommend:
Wesleyan (in Connecticut), Williams, Amherst, Grinnell, Macalester, Carleton, Davidson. Smith if you are female.</p>
<p>For medium sized privates I’d look at Emory, Carnegie Melon and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>Thanks heaps! Will certainly look into those</p>