Hi, dear CCers, this is an updated version of the profile I posted elsewhere, for those who read it before, please feel free to jump to the end and enjoy the music!
Full IB diploma (2017) at a decent public school in Washington state.
GPA: 3.983 (unweighted)
SAT: 2400 (one sitting), will take subject Math II, biology, and literature in October
Sports:
Has trained in Shotokan karate since age 5
Earned his black belt at age 14
Has taught youth karate for 2 years
Has won a gold medal at the Oregon state championship and national qualifier
Has competed at the 2016 USA National Karate Championship & Team Trials
Will compete in 2016 AAU National Junior Olympics
Music:
Has studied piano since age 6
Has performed at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Carnegie Hall (5 times) in New York, and Salle Cortot concert hall in Paris.
Has performed in free concerts at senior centers in around Seattle area
Has performed in fund raising concerts for Seattle Int'l Piano Competition
Was the rehearsal pianist for his high school musical "Pippin" in 9th grade and "Mary Poppins" in 10 grade
Has won numerous top prizes:
Gold medal, Northwest Chopin Festival
Second place, Washington State Outstanding Artist Competition
Second place, American Protégé International Competition
First place, Crescendo International Piano Competition
He composes music for fun.
Misc.
He is the founder of his high school film club that produces short films for competition and for their own entertainment.
He is also an avid writer. He has just published his novel on Wattpad.
Lopsided ECs are almost never bad - Harvard wants many lopsided kids to make a well rounded student body. In fact, that’s what most schools aim to do. The OP seems very invested in his respected ECs; I think they’re great! I would say you should definitely apply. if it is your first choice, applying EA would help too. Good luck!
Washington State is a plus right there (+++), as you are not from a state that traditionally has thousands of applicants applying to Harvard.
That’s a neutral, as thousands of high school students apply to Harvard having a similar background. I personally know very talented pianists – students who have been accepted to Juilliard, Curtis and Oberlin for piano – who were rejected from Harvard. I suppose the reasoning comes down to “how many pianists does an orchestra really need? Two!”
In actuality, THESE incidental things might kick you over the fence. I would highlight them in your application including any links to film competitions that you have won.
One more tip: NEVER use “he.” Always use “I,” “We,” “me,” “us,” “my,” “mine,” “our,” and “ours.” Writing in the first-person will give your essay a more personal touch and allow Admissions Officers a glimpse into your soul. Writing in the third person could torpedo an application (even with your GPA and test scores) as the phrasing doesn’t allow an Admissions Officer to make a personal connection to your story: http://www.gradesaver.com/writing-help/essay-writing-first-person-and-third-person-points-of-view
Thanks @gibby for the tips. I am the dad, forgive me for my sloppy English, it is my second language. Junior is too busy to hang around here. I will definitely let him read your comments. I hope he would say, “Hey, dad, I know.”
TimeUpJunior, you have done quite a lot of ECs. I think it can be beneficial for you to be able to articulate what some of these ECs mean to you as a young person so that universities can better assess you as an applicant.
My son has a profile very similar to yours, particularly in the area of piano performance. His essays mostly focus on what kind of things he has done with his music, his views of music as a subject of humanities, and what kind of musician he is, etc. Among those universities accepted him, Yale and Columbia’s admission officers specifically mentioned liking his way of doing piano music.
Yes, there are way too many pianists; if you play french horn well, that will surely help you much more for college application. Good luck on your application.
Excellent point @prof2dad about articulating what music means to him. Yes there are too many pianists out there, hopefully, he has set himself apart by achieving at the level he does.
Congratulation to your son! May I ask where he end up going?
Yale has one of the best piano program. We have a piano teacher who graduated from Yale, his students win all the top prizes in competitions. He charges $200 an hour and he won’t take anyone who can pay, he picks the cream of the crops!
@prof2dad: Boola Boola! May your son have as wonderful an experience at Yale as my son did (not a music major or a pianist)! Best of luck to him and you!
The problem is piano and karate is not necessarily related to class work. It may not be something Harvard is looking for. On the other hand I do know H has a current student who gets a couple of thousand dollars when he plays the piano at performances. Harvard looks for leaders more than anything else.
Nor do they need to be related to class work. Many, if not most, EC’s are not related to class work. None (zip/zero/zilch/nada) of my EC’s were academic in nature and I think I did quite well in the admissions process.
I would have to agree with @skieurope on this one. I have seen so many kids here who have devoted too much of their time and effort in such a young age in all things “related to class work”, Math Olympiad, Intel science competition, cancer research, … Those are the things you do in college. I’ve tried to encourage my kids to cultivate the fundamental skills such as writing, martial arts, and music performance. These are the skills that will benefit them for life.
gibby, thanks. I also wish to note that I have found your suggestions and comments on this forum to be very useful and helpful for my son’s college application. Really appreciate!
I’m glad @gibby said what he did, because I was planning to say something similar.
There’s no question the OP’s son is a great candidate for any college, but I think the presentation has the wrong emphasis.
Piano: I can’t tell what those awards really mean, but I am reasonably certain that unless the kid is applying to the joint program with Harvard and the New England Conservatory, (a) he has peaked as a pianist, and (b) he is unlikely to be better than, say, the fifth (or tenth) best pianist at Harvard. Which means that he will get plenty of credit for the discipline, focus, art appreciation, and life experience he has gotten from his piano studies, but Harvard doesn’t “need” him as a pianist.
Karate: Something similar. Unless the application makes clear he has a program to train for the 2020 Olympics, and a reasonable prospect of getting there, it will be saying that he has peaked at karate, too, and that his karate prowess will not really contribute anything to Harvard’s luster. So, again, it shows discipline, fitness, and ability to set goals and achieve them, all of which are great, but it doesn’t show any type of accomplishment Harvard needs.
On the other hand, his music composition, his filmmaking, his writing – those are areas he has clearly chosen for himself. (Sorry, but very few kids actually choose the things they start when they are 5 or 6.) And those are activities in which he certainly hasn’t peaked at all yet. If he has actual talent in any of them, that’s what will really add excitement to his application. They aren’t “oh, by the way” extras; they are probably the main event. If he has the goods.
@jhs said what I was trying to say except much more eloquently. Someone who had potential to be a great filmmaker or composer would be looked at closely by Harvard.
Good luck on your application.