<p>
</p>
<p>LL, If you mean at Williams, then yes, I do think musical talent would be an edge as long as your grades and scores are within Williams' normal acceptance range. 130 musicians out of 1000 admitted is a fairly big chunk (especially considering they anticipate taking more musicians off their waitlist).</p>
<p>I took a break to do something and realized during it that I"d made a mistake when I said my remarks were made in your thread. They weren't. </p>
<p>What I posted is true...because H and Y get more musician applicants than Stanford does, being a very good musician would make you stand out more in S's applicant pool than in H's or Y's. That's NOT at all the same though, at least to me, as saying that S is a school at which being a musician will get you "a foot in the door."</p>
<p>ALL I meant was that in choosing which colleges to send applications to, an applicant shouldn't focus solely on those schools at each level which are strongest in his intended major and/or EC. I contrasted H and Y which attract a large number of outstanding musician applicants with S, which attracts fewer of the stellar next Yo-Yo Ma-type applicants than do H and Y. Saying that doesn't mean that S is a school which gives musicians a "foot in the door." </p>
<p>The idea that there is a list of top schools which weigh musical talents more heavily than others, which is the list gadad requests, is actually the opposite of what my original message was intended to convey--that the applicant should apply to some schools which are unlikely to receive applicants from lots of other people with the same strengths. The schools being named in this thread, e.g., St. Olaf's, are the types of schools which should NOT be used as safeties by musicians precisely because they DO attract a lot of musicians as applicants. In choosing a safety, a musician would be much wiser to choose one of the many LACs which are St. Olaf's academic equals which are NOT widely known for the quality of their music programs. That doesn't mean that the musician shouldn't apply to St. Olaf's--just that it would be unwise to treat it as a safety.</p>
<p>Williams, another school cited in this thread, also attracts a lot of musician applicants. Therefore, it would NOT be a good choice as a good, but not stellar musician's choice for a "reach" LAC.</p>
<p>I suppose that none of us are in the position of knowing exactly what will positively impact various admissions committees, but the opinions offered in this thread have been helpful to me in thinking through why a school may give special weight to certain talents. I find that many people initially assume that great schools will give great merit scholarships. In fact, the opposite is true - great schools get great students anyway, so they don't need financial incentives to lure them. It's the average schools that are more likely to court great students with merit aid. Along the same lines, schools that offer a B.Mus. in music performance are in the business of training professional musicians. Their B.Mus. musicians are required to perform in the university's ensembles as part of their degrees, so the academic program fills the performing need. I suppose my best guess at an answer to my original question would be to look for prominent schools that have good performing ensembles but relatively few music majors. They may be the musical equivalent of colleges with competitive Division III athletics that utilize non-scholarship athletes.</p>
<p>Although I don't consider any of the wonderful universities and LACs as average vs. great. Sorry. Even schools with conservatory programs such as Lawrence have places for musicians who don't want to go the route of a BM but have the skills to compete in the audition process. And these schools also have some wonderful financial packages for students. Taken from the website below.</p>
<p>"Students who are not pursuing a music degree but have demonstrated strong musical talent and a desire to participate in the ensembles of the Conservatory of Music will be considered for Ensemble Awards. These awards will offer the opportunity to study in a conservatory studio and will waive the cost of private lessons. In turn, the student must participate in one of the major ensembles. These awards will be granted on the basis of a student's audition and on the availability of studio space. Students may audition for the ensemble award on campus, regionally, or by tape, and must follow the same audition guidelines as the Bachelor of Music candidates."</p>
<p>"Students who can demonstrate high academic standards may also be eligible for Academic Scholarships."</p>
<p>Mini:
I'd love to hear what else you know about Bard. It was put on our radar by some other posters on CC mentioning Dawn Upshaw, a world renown soprano, taking over the program. I didn't hear about any other teacher additions specifically but you mentioned they are from the prestigious Juillard and Curtis Institue! It was put off our radar when I saw they were listed as the #1 reefer school on the Princeton Review survey and also hearing that my "preppy" child may not fit in.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Their B.Mus. musicians are required to perform in the university's ensembles as part of their degrees, so the academic program fills the performing need.>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That is true in some places. However, Boston University has a conservatory style music program. The music department has its own ensembles...orchestra, chamber orchestra, wind ensemble, opera orchestra, brass ensemble, choir, women's choir. In addition, the university has music organizations...two big bands, orchestra, wind ensemble, two pep bands...and the places in these ensembles are for those NOT majoring in music. These university ensembles require the student to audition, but I don't think folks get turned away. They are fun and for a single credit. DS, the music major, did play in the orchestra last year (they were short trumpets) and he said the music was great and the conductor good. It was fun.</p>
<br>
<p>With Stanford's ethnic composition, I find it hard to believe they have a shortage of classical musicians applying.</p>
<br>
<p>Not to mention the vibrant a cappella scene there, which I'd place among the top 3 in the country in terms of consistently finding great voices across groups (which I would not say of either Harvard or Yale). I don't know enough about the applicant pool to say whether musicians are underrepresented vis-a-vis H&Y -- but if it's true, you sure can't tell by listening to them sing.</p>