Yale arts supplement?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I was just wondering if anyone knew how good you needed to be to submit a music supplement to Yale. I'm sending my recording to all the other schools I'm applying to, but Yale was the only one that said that a less than stellar supplement could actually hurt someone in the admissions process. Now I'm wondering if my abilities are good enough.</p>

<p>If anyone knows anything about the viola...
I was third chair in all state orchestra
I take private lessons
I'm in two other orchestras
I played bach cello suite no. 3 (gigue) and bruch's kol nidrei for my recording.</p>

<p>should i send it???</p>

2

<p>Which state? In California, 3rd chair is incredible. In a much smaller state, it speaks less of your abilities (not to say you aren’t good).</p>

3

<p>Depends on what state. CA? That’s awesome. RI? Maybe not.</p>

<p>But yes, colleges do like violists, way more than they like violinists. I would go for it, but let’s see what everyone else says.</p>

4

<p>@christiansoldier: lol, was still composing when you sent that in. (Were you accepted, btw? I think I knew this before, forgot.)</p>

5

<p>Yale expects music supplements to be of conservatory quality. Only someone knowledgeable who has heard your CD can tell you whether you should send it. Can your private teacher give you an objective assessment? Also, if you decide to submit a supplement, you should check with Yale’s Department of Music about requirements. In past years Yale has been particular about repertoire and length.</p>

6

<p>No, I was deferred.</p>

7

<p>how often does yale deem a supplement strong and one that they like?</p>

8

<p>^^ It is rare for them to actually like it. Most supplements are not listened to at all, and when they are listened to they are typically deemed OK but nothing special. This is what two separate admissions officers told me at different times.</p>

9

<p>the same applies to visual arts supplements, i’m assuming?</p>

10

<p>vicariousparent: “most supplements are not listened to at all”–seriously? Aren’t they given to music faculty to listen to? This concerns me that all the effort of putting together a supplement is for naught, if it is never even listened to. “typically deemed OK but nothing special”–does this mean lots of people are not sending in high quality performance level work? My S considered the supplement an important part of his application–now I’m wondering.</p>

11

<p>^^Before a music supp gets forward to the Dept. of Music, the student’s application has to make it past a certain gate with respect to grades, curriculum, and scores. Only if it gets over the academic threshold will Admissions send the supplement to the Department of Music for a ranking. Faculty for the particular instrument does the screening, and they’d be inundated if they had to review every single supplement. It makes sense that Admissions weeds out those that aren’t viable on academic grounds. </p>

<p>As for how many CDs get forwarded to the Music Department at Yale, I don’t know. At another Ivy my son applied to (not this year), the head of the piano program told him she only reviews about 25% of all the piano supps that are sent in each year. The rest don’t make it past Admissions.</p>

12

<p>Yes, I understood that–I guess I was just thinking that since there would be less supplements submitted for EA than for RD they would be listened to for sure if they passed academic threshold. I can see for RD there would be way too many (especially in piano, violin, and voice probably) for the music dept to handle. But, vicarious parent said the admissions officers stated most are not listened to at all. That is what concerns me.</p>

13

<p>Generally the consensus is that you should be of conservatory level, or else it might hurt your application. At least that’s what Yale’s website seems to suggest about talent/level of performance. </p>

<p>I once read a statistic about how 60% of orchestral musicians were choosing between top conservatories like Julliard, Curtis, and Ivies such as Yale, so the competition is pretty brutal I would say.</p>

14

<p>New Jersey is the state. My recording was done primarily with LAC’s in mind (rather casually), so i’m pretty sure i won’t be sending it. Thanks for the input, though!</p>

15

<p>I think you’d probably be right to not send it if you’re at all uncertain about it. I’m a theatre person, but I decided not to send in an arts supplement because I doubted it would be good enough, considering the level of talent they’re looking for and all the other people sending stuff in (this is especially true with Yale, since it’s known for being great for theatre/the arts). I got in EA. Your dedication to viola will be clear from the rest of your application, and not sending anything certainly won’t hurt you, while sending something less-than-stellar could.</p>

16

<p>Not that this will necessarily help the OP, but I’m posting it for future reference <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/738525-how-strong-music-ec.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/738525-how-strong-music-ec.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There’s links to various music supplement threads and scenarios within as well, and much has already been written that’s not linked there, but available by the search function. </p>

<p>Some good advice by a few of the posters regarding Yale specifically. There is a wealth of musical talent, and conservatory (and beyond) ability abounds among the applicant pool. It can vary by instrument each cycle but expect violin, piano, cello, flute, sopranos, to be overly represented talent wise. In any given year, I doubt viola talent at Yale undergrad would be lacking; in any given cycle there might be an abundance of bassoon or harp talent as well. Specifically, professional assessment from instructors knowledgeable and familiar with conservatory level talent or professional musicians is the best source of evaluation of talent. </p>

<p>Do not confuse proficiency with mastery, or mastery with artistry. You will be competing with a a good number who are masters of their instruments, and a few that can be truly called artists in their discipline.</p>

<p>Do not necessarily use All-State selection (regardless of chair position) as an indicator of relative talent within a national (and international) pool. Many “serious” student musicians
of the caliber that may submit to Yale do not even participate within the All-State process, as they are well beyond the abilities of the peer level involved. This is not said to denigrate the abilities and talents of those with All-State selections (congrats), but it said to illustrate the depth and level of commitment and backgrounds of a number of Yale applicants that submit music supplements that command attention.</p>

<p>Participation in extensive and highly selective summer immersion programs, fellowship festivals, years of intense private study and competition may be far more indicative than an all state chair. But they are not necessarily mutually exclusive either.</p>

<p>If you’re of conservatory level ability, are confident of your training, experiences and talent, a submission to Yale may be worth a data point. It may not.</p>

<p>For those with fine/creative arts supplement questions, the thread here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/789177-fine-art-supplement-how-good-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/789177-fine-art-supplement-how-good-good.html&lt;/a&gt; may help.</p>

17

<p>so I was planning on submitting a music supplement too, but I have only prepared one piece, which is around 8 minutes long. but the commonapp supplement sheet says to prepare a 10 min piece of contrasting examples.
should i submit mine?</p>