USC Thornton Music Industry Chance??

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hey guys, thanks in advance.
I was wondering my chances for admission to USC based on the following. I know they are very hollistic in admissions but I was wondering what my odds are.</p>

<p>Im applying for the music industry major.
1760 on my sats, first generation college student, white from Connecticut, 86.881/100 or 3.3 gpa, no class rank at my school, but i have a pretty lengthy experience resume as follows.</p>

<p>EDUCATIONAL FOCUS
• Currently seeking a solid liberal arts institution which will prepare me for a career in music industry, and educate me not only in the industry of today but will build business skills and media application for a range of other possible careers. </p>

<p>AWARDS AND HONORS
• Honor Roll: Sophomore, Junior
• Courses geared towards music industry, including
o Sound Reinforcement and Recording, MIDI, Music History, AP Art History, 4 Years Foreign Language and Culture studies, Independent Study in Media and Design, Multi-Media and Communication
• 2012/2013
o Outstanding Achievement in Jazz Ensembles
o Outstanding Achievement in Sound Engineering
• 2013/2014
o Excellence in Advanced Placement Art History
o Outstanding Achievement in Jazz Ensembles
o Outstanding Achievement in Chorus
o Outstanding Performance in Les Miserables</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
• Yearbook Staff
o Photography: Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior
o Editor In-Chief: Senior Year
• Planning Committee for Class Activities – Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
• Teacher Hiring Advisory Member – Junior Year
• Member of Superintendent/Principal Hiring Committee – Sophomore, Junior Year
• Drama Association
o Photography, design and publicity: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
o Member of International Thespian Society: Inducted January 2014
o Paris in Romeo and Juliet – Junior Year
o Marius in Les Miserables – Junior Year
o Ed in You Can’t Take It With You – Senior Year
o Senior Project (upcoming) – Creative director, designer, and starring in West Side Story
o Design, production, and cast member in “Comedy Night”, non-profit show</p>

<p>MUSIC PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
• Tenor Saxophone
o 8 years playing experience
o Concert Band + Marching Band – Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
o Jazz Combo – Tenor sax as well as vibraphone – Sophomore Year
o Lead Tenor in Jazz Band – Junior, Senior Year
o Lead Tenor in Community Music School Jazz Band – 2010-2014
o Private instruction by composer and song writer, Russ Becker – Sophomore, Junior Year
o Participation in 87th Annual New England Music Festival in Bennington, V.T. under conductor Dr. Peter L. Boonshaft – Junior Year
o Member of Bethany Covenant Church Praise band Sophomore, Junior Year
o Member of Old Lyme Town Band Freshman, Sophomore Year
• Vocalist
o 7 years singing experience
o Bass/Baritone/Low Tenor Range
o Concert Choir – Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
o Chamber Choir – Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
o Men’s Choir – Junior (helped form it), Senior Year
o Participated in 2013 American Choral Directors Association Honor Choir
• Piano
o Private piano instruction from John Ladone 2006-2008, Irene Listorti 2008-2010, Thomas Briggs 2010-2014, specialized instruction in jazz keyboarding, music theory, chord structure, improvisation, and ear-training.
o Jazz piano in Community Music School Jazz Band 2010-2013
o Jazz piano in Jazz Combo Sophomore, Junior year
o Worship Band pianist, Pilgrim Pines Summer Camp – Junior, Senior Year</p>

<p>PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE</p>

<p>• Freelance Photographer
o 7 years photography experience
o Owned and created freelance photography business, with website, with extensive experience with sports, fashion, product, portrait, studio, wedding, and documentary photography.
o Awarded first place peoples choice at the Statewide pARTners in Art show
o Clients Include:
o From You Flowers, Inc.
o Hayley Segar, YouTube beauty vlogger with over 64,000 subscribers
o Kevin Olusola, of group Pentatonix, signed with RCA records
o Harbor News, New Haven Register, Hartford Courant
o Nicole Rhodes, fitness model, photos featured in Women Of Soccer
o CT Department of Environmental Protection
• Graphic Design
o 7 years experience
o Computer Proficiency with Industry Standard Programs: QuarkXPress, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Illustrator and Dreamweaver on both Mac and PC platforms. Also working knowledge of Flash, HTML, CSS, Joomla, FileMakerPro, QuickBooks, Excel and Word.
o Understanding of pre-press plate requirements for 4-color process, spot colors as well as dies and varnishes
o Ability to modify high-resolution graphics for online presentation utilizing CSS/HTML coding and photo optimization maintaining up-to-date guidelines for successful cross-platform browsing and efficient image downloads.
o Original poster design for the High School productions of Les Miserables, 12 Angry Jurors, You Can’t Take It With You, Romeo and Juliet, Comedy Night
o Website design and social media management for Pilgrim Pines Conference Center and Connecticut Sports Foundation, LLC
• Disc Jockey
o 8 years experience
o Owned and created mobile DJ business with a large range of professional equipment including powered speakers, intelligent lighting, virtual vinyl setup, etc.
o Employed by the Old Saybrook School System and Old Saybrook Parks and Recreation, for all events (prom, holiday dances, spirit day, formals, balls, fundraisers)
• Videography
o 5 years experience
o Proficiency with Avid, After Effects, Final Cut X, Canon 5d Mark II, Canon 6D, Canon 7D, GlideCam HD-5000
o Hired to create films of hour long events, with multiple camera angles, requiring compiling, editing, audio synchronization and editing and distribution.
o Hired as videographer at Pilgrim Pines Conference Center family camp summer 2014, creating visual re-caps of camper experiences in documentary type style.
o Successful presence on YouTube with over 22,000 channel views
o Directed and produced an anti-drunk driving short film in collaboration with the Old Saybrook Police Department shown in cities across Connecticut</p>

<p>MUSIC INDUSTRY RELATED EXPERIENCE
• Fellowship with Uncle Will Turgeon, in-ear monitor engineer for Connecticut Audio and Theatrical Supply and Backline. Hours of countless experience for touring productions with artists such as Cobra Starship, Maroon 5, Ben Folds, and other live sound events in the New England Area.
• Producer/Designer/Publicist/Manager for artist Dillon Torres and Young Scholar
o Completely self-produced, mastered, recorded and engineered an E.P. entitled “Gotta Make It”. Consisted of creating original hip-hop instrumentals, recording and mixing vocals and distributing and promoting the album online.
• Attended Grammy Foundation Career Day in New York City sophomore year. With industry professionals Just Blaze (Producer for Jay-Z etc.), Ricardo Gutierrez (Mastering Engineer for Stadiumred), Katonah Coster (Marketing Manager for Fame House).
• Experienced with many types of software including Compressor, Pro Tools, Cubase, Live, Reason, Reaktor, Peak, Serato Scratch Live, Logic Pro X, Mixmeister, Garageband, Antares, Autotune, Digidesign DA/AD.
• Proficient in electronic media design and production, including graphic design, web design, photo editing and retouching, DV and HD videography and editing, DVD authoring, interactive video design, installations, electronic music composition and sound design.
• Digital Console Experience with Digital consoles, Reason, Antares Processors, Waves Bundles, Sound Libraries, Korg Triton, AKG microphones, Native Instruments Soft Synthesizers, dbx Signal processor, Yamaha, MPC 5000</p>

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<p>Hey!</p>

<p>I’m a transfer student also applying to the Music Industry program. I’m actually from Connecticut as well! But I moved to Los Angeles after graduating high school a few years ago. </p>

<p>I’ve done an incredible amount of research about the admittance rates in this program, and though it’s super competitive as far as GPA goes, having an outstanding array of ECs is really going to stand out amongst the other applications. Especially if they’re in the music industry field. I think your ECs are really amazing, you have a ton and they’re all extremely involved in the business already. </p>

<p>I submitted my application a couple days ago, but made sure to really go all out on the music resume portion and videos on Slideroom (I don’t know if that’s different for first year applicants?). Spent weeks on my statement of purpose essay too-- made to sure to dive into my experiences as an independent songwriter for other artists and working with professionals in the industry. Here’s some more I included on mine, I wrote a post on the USC Transfer 2015 Thread: <a href=“Official USC 2015 Transfer Thread - #236 by aubreygiveshugs - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums”>Official USC 2015 Transfer Thread - #236 by aubreygiveshugs - Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Anyway, you sound like an impressive candidate. Your GPA might be a tad low but honestly, your ECs compensate more than enough. I’d say you have a great chance! :slight_smile: </p>

3

<p>@andrewthorpe - You have an amazing background, and a stronger resume than most 30-yr olds. I would hope it would compensate for your stats, but USC is very competitive and your test scores and grades are pretty far below their middle ranges (however, with everything you accomplished outside of school, those are pretty good grades!). It will really depend on the pool of applicants and how you stack up. Good luck, and if not USC, there are other good programs you could pursue that are less competitive and you can still meet your education goals.</p>

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<p>any reccomendations for other schools? @cameron121</p>

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<p>Syracuse (Bandier program), Northeastern, Drexel, Belmont, Middle Tenn State (yes, I know…) all have music industry programs similar to USC. So do U Miami and NYU, but those are equally as competitive as USC. American has an audio technology major and a major in the business school called “Business and Entertainment”. U of Hartford has a music engineering program. University of Indiana has a good recording technology program.</p>

<p>One thing you’ll face at this point is that if you haven’t already applied, some had earlier deadlines due to auditions, etc. Check out Drexel and Northeastern - NEU will be a stretch for your stats b/c it’s been very competitive this year, but you have a shot at Drexel. Make sure you show a lot of interest and talk to the admissions ppl and the department heads at the schools.</p>

<p>Also, if you want to go to CA, Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona both have MI programs but they are performance based and you need an audition. Plus the application deadlines have passed.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

Hey! Also a hopeful for the Music Industry B.S. at USC… Good luck!!