<p>This is my very first cc post. My freshman S is a very good musician and an amazing composer with solid classical, jazz and rock skills in guitar. He's listening to music, playing and composing non stop. This is his biggest and brightest talent. We would like to start building his resume for college and between these three musical styles we think jazz will work the best from many angles. However, he's not planning to become a musican, but considers a business degress. He is naturally smart (but not a straight A student) with some other interests in history, philosophy, physics and business, of course. My question: will perfecting his jazz skills increase his chances to get into a very good college whose music dept might be interested in him in terms of jazz ensemble or do they have their own students to participate in ensembles, orchestras, etc. Thanks a lot to all who can share their knowledge and experience.</p>
<p>Can only speak to the experience of my kids and kids of friends.</p>
<p>Ds went to smaller schools without a large music department. They were in demand to play in orchestras and small ensembles (bassoon and French horn). Non music majors.</p>
<p>Kids of friends went to large (20-30 K undergrad population) universities. They found it hard (but not impossible) for a non-major to get spots in the performing groups (marching band not included).</p>
<p>I know Lehigh offers music scholarships for non-music majors, which includes an audition recording be submitted.</p>
<p>there is no reason to force him to specialize into only one area of music, especially as he is not planning on becoming a musician[ which I take it to mean he will not be a Music major in college] Having a strong long term interest in music, in which he can show his abilities across various musical styles, will only benefit him when is comes to how colleges look at his application. IMHO He should strongly consider applying to USC, which has a great music program, [ Thorton] as well a strong UG business program[ Marshall] and allows non music majors to take music classes as well as encourages talented musicians to participate in various venues- orchestra, band- across campus.[ he could do a music minor there in addition to his major in another field] USC encourages students to have multiple interests , an offers many minors in programs.</p>
<p>I think music is always a great skill for students to have. It’s something you can enjoy your entire life, even if you don’t want to make it your actual career. It’s good for your brain, and it’s fun. It’s not easy at every school for non majors to get into ensembles, but that’s not true across the board. And he can continue to take lessons or form his own student-run ensemble, or just jam throughout college. </p>
<p>I agree though that there’s no reason for him to focus on one musical style. For one thing, it’s impossible to “perfect” your skills at Jazz, or really at any style of music. It’s always going to be a work in progress and narrowing your focus isn’t going to neccessarily get you to “perfection” faster. As menloparkmom said, the important thing is that if music is his main interest outside of school, then that’s something that should go on his application. However he expresses that, whether it’s through being in school band, private lessons, all city orchestra, doing his own compositions (it would be cool if he could link up with other kids at his school who also compose, maybe do some kind of composer’s club where they could share ideas and works?). Maybe he just puts his videos/compositions up on YouTube. Whatever. He can probably guide a lot of this himself. If he wants to focus just on jazz, then go with that. If he wants to be more multi-faceted, that’s OK too.</p>
<p>Top schools have far more academically-qualified applicants than they have spaces, so extra application “hooks” such as musical talent can be difference-makers. Schools that are not in such demand may not have the need to favor applicants with extra talents, but your son probably wouldn’t need the extra boost there. Giant universities are often more GPA and SAT-driven in admissions by virtue of the numbers of applications they process, and may not offer as much of an admissions edge on talent as smaller schools. </p>
<p>My D1, a classical soprano, decided not to go the conservatory route and was accepted at Harvard. When she went to the accepted students weekend, her admissions rep greeted her by name and D1 expressed surprise that the woman knew who she was. “Well of course,” said the rep, “you’re our soprano!” I have to assume that the music hook is an application asset at Harvard.</p>
<p>Let him do what he loves. S is also a musician (oboe/english horn, keyboard, acoustic, electric, bass guitar) with broad music interests. He is a senior and applications are in and we are waiting to hear the results. He has no intention of becoming a professional musician, but cannot imagine not participating with some kind of group while in college and beyond. I hope that schools recognize that he has pursued his passion with a lot of discipline. There is not one correct path to take with it, but if your S is happy and enjoys it he will have plenty of options!</p>
<p>Op said: “We would like to start building his resume for college and between these three musical styles we think jazz will work the best from many angles.”</p>
<p>Follow the kid’s interests, not the other way around. What I mean is that your knowledge base is so small that you cannot tell what musical style will significantly provide an advantage to him over other styles. Different colleges may end up viewing these styles differently - or not - but there is no way you can tell right now whether college X needs a jazz or classical musician for the class of 2013.</p>
<p>Our DS wanted to take drums - in addition to classical piano, jazz clarinet and his own compositions on keyboard - but only if he could do it for fun, without lessons. So he did . . . along with those other musical interests. DS is now having a great time as a first year non-Conservatory student at Oberlin. There is absolutely no way we can tell in retrospect whether his specific mix of music worked in his favor over a different hypothetical mix . . . and to be blunt you can’t tell prospectively, either.</p>
<p>“Building a resume” is in my mind a futile effort to control the uncontrollable . . . you’d serve your son better by helping him build the person he is and - in a year and a half - help him apply to schools that fit the person he his, whether his music is jazz, rock, folk, electronica, classical or country.</p>
<p>His musical passion and joy will enable him to tell his own, genuine story when the time comes for applications and essays. No need to package this kid.</p>
<p>There are great stories on this thread about kids with musical passions. Some will get into their top choice schools, some won’t. In the long run, the effect of their college application outcomes will be negligible. But every one of them will have a fuller and more rewarding life, will have networks of close friends who share their passion, and will never know the feelings of boredom or stagnation. That, to me, is why by all means, you need to encourage and facilitate your son’s musical interests.</p>
<p>For all you know, four years from now, he might end up a music major. Or apply to colleges that have special degree programs in Business and Music (UDenver and American come to mind). Or he might decide he doesn’t want to do music at all.</p>
<p>Let him take the lead. You are WAY too early to be working on his resume. Come to think of it - you should not work on his resume at all, just help him package it when it comes time.</p>
<p>DD is an oboe and English horn player who was state ranked by the time she was a sophomore in high school. She was very accomplished. It didn’t help her a LICK in her college admissions but her college orchestra was VERY happy to have her play both instruments for the four years she was there. She received a small orchestral scholarship each term (paid for her books) and free instrument lessons for the four years. </p>
<p>I’m sorry but being an accomplished musician is probably NOT a “hook”…unless you happened to win a Grammy along the way. However, music as an EC is a good thing.</p>
<p>Don’t think of his music as an aspect of his packaging! Let him pursue it and enjoy it. He’ll find his way to a great college, and he’ll always appreciate his musical journey.</p>
<p>Many schools encourage artsy students to submit “arts supplements” with their applications. For a musician, this would ordinarily be a CD, tape, or video of a performance. Where I teach, these are sent to the faculty in the appropriate arts departments to be evaluated–so, for instance, the flute faculty would evaluate the flutists, the jazz faculty the jazzers, the dance faculty the dancers, and so on. Then those evaluations are sent back to the Admissions Department to be included in the student’s file. Sometimes it makes a difference, sometimes it doesn’t. </p>
<p>At most liberal-arts colleges and universities, students don’t enter as majors in a particular program, so the fact that your son would want to major in business wouldn’t be relevant. Schools that “track” students into specific programs from the outset–into, e.g., a School of Business or a School of Music–might operate differently.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot to all who answered my question!</p>
<p>The reason why I am working on his “resume” now is because I don’t want to miss any opportunities that exist for him at this time and feel sorry about it later. </p>
<p>He is heavily involved in music (organized jamming club in school, has his own band, writing music for the kids play at the local music and arts school, etc.) and it makes me very happy. </p>
<p>This summer he would like to attend the jazz camp and we narrowed the list down to Eastman Summer Jazz Studies and Litchfield Jazz Camp since we are on the Eastcoast. Any of you had any experience with either of them? Which one is better?</p>
<p>Your input is very much appreciated!</p>
<p>If he likes playing jazz, by all means encourage it. But there is no one right way to look good to colleges. My son’s best friend (bass player) played in the school’s string orchestra, occasionally in its jazz band and had a rock group for which he was the major songwriter. He also really liked musical theater and was in a number of school productions. He didn’t do any of these things to look good, but because he loved what he was doing (and had great grades and SAT scores to boot) he ended up at Yale. </p>
<p>My son (not nearly as good grades) did pretty well just being a run of the mill violinist. He played in two school orchestras, and went to music camp summer after freshman year, but didn’t want to do music camp again after that.</p>
<p>I think if he’s not majoring in music, letting him play whatever style he likes is a great idea. However, I think attending jazz camps and participating in other documentable jazz ECs could potentially be helpful down the road. Schools don’t tend to have ensemble needs for classical or rock guitarists, but some school he’s interested in may be looking for an experienced jazz guitarist (who can read music). I have no idea which schools might look for non-major guitarists for their ensembles, however. Playing rock and/or classical will be an EC; playing jazz will be the same with a slight possibility of fulfilling a need on the college’s end.</p>
<p>I dont know about either jazz camp specifially, but the Eastman School of music has a terrific reputation, so it might “look” better to have that on his list of EC’s than the other camp…</p>
<p>If your son is passionate about his music and can write about that passion, it could help him on his application even if he does not want to study music at college.</p>
<p>We have roughly similar situations. S is a crossover (i.e., plays both “legit” and “commercial”) trumpet player. Halfway into his HS junior year, he’s decided he doesn’t want to major in music.</p>
<p>I see two scenarios: the school he’s interested in either does or doesn’t offer a degree in music performance. If the school does not offer a degree in music performance, and it has music ensembles, it needs some way to populate them. This is where the “arts supplements” jingle mentioned can come into play. If I’m remembering correctly, Michele Hernandez, in <em>A is for Admission</em>, says the arts supplements can provide a “hook.” The strength of the hook will vary by school and by the strength of the supplement.</p>
<p>If the school does offer a degree in music performance, an arts supplement, if even accepted, won’t count for much. However, selective colleges like to see an applicant pursue a passion in depth and as several posters have already mentioned, his music activities will contribute to demonstrating that through lists of extracurriculuars, honors and awards, etc.</p>
<p>As for specializing, I have to agree with most everyone else that he should have the freedom to pursue his interests at this point. That said, tuba269 is right to point out that there typically aren’t classical or rock ensembles for which to be recruited. As to the camps, Eastman requires an audition recording and Litchfield does not, so the “prestige” factor probably goes to Eastman. I don’t know the guitar faculty at either camp, but by reputation, I don’t think he could go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>