Advice for suppliments

Applying to College
1

Hello! I’m a rising senior looking at colleges such as MIT, Yale, Stanford, harvard, CMU, UChicago, UC Berkley, and WashU (St. Louis), and I’m facing an issue: I don’t know what supplements I should prepare and send in. A bit of background: I’m a science-oriented student with high test scores, a high GPA, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and four passions: science, drawing, singing, and violin. Now, I have been informed by my voice teacher, my art teacher, and my violin teacher that if I don’t send in a supplement in their respective subject, I’m an idiot, and my science mentor has said she would be willing to write me a LoR should I need one.

Of course, I can’t send in all of these, so here’s some background on my immersion in each activity so maybe someone could suggest which supplements to send to which schools:

Science: 2 science awards in school; Science Research student; summer lab internship at a good college research hospital; science contest winner (about 5/350 ppl nationally); what I want to pursue in life; Science Olympiad (three regional medals—1st, 4th, 9th; one state medal—1st) and assorted other science activities; probably the focus of many supplemental essays/the “big” common app essay itself.

Drawing: Unable to participate in art in school after 8th grade because of scheduling issues, but it is something I continued by myself and studied in other means, and it will probably also be a focus of many essays. I have designed shirts and logos for multiple clubs and classes; I have painted an entire quartet (gotten the instruments, sanded the varnish off and painted on the wood) and my ceiling and walls with a mural; have filled multiple sketchbooks, and I’m sure my art is at an appropriate level for a supplement (I would feel comfortable using it to apply to art schools such as RISD had that been the path I had chosen in life), and I have non-family confirmation of this (from an art teacher, none the less)

Voice: member of church choir from 4 to 8th grade (last possible grade to participate), chorus from 4th grade to now, member of most selective HS choir, next year will make 4 years in our school’s acapella ensemble, and I will be co-president next year and have arranged music for 2 years for it; received 92% (freshman year), 99%, and 98% at a statewide evaluation festival for solo performance; participant in selective chorus based on said scores; have auditioned for an all-regional (encompassing multiple states) honors choir and will be notified of the decision in september, so hopefully that will bring good news; have studied privately for a year now; solo repertoire includes arias, art songs, musical theatre, folk songs in english, french, italian, german, and norwegian; soprano 1, but could be alto (range: c#3 to g#6); 5 on Music Theory AP as sophomore

Violin: Have played since 3rd grade, studied privately since 6th; member of one regional youth orchestra (by audition) 9-10, a different (the rehearsal date was easier) 11-12; founding member of a quartet that often gets paid gigs at weddings, parties, funerals, etc. (actually, though, I’m the violist bc I taught myself viola bc we needed a viola in the quartet); 4 year member of most selective school orchestra as of next year; received 97% (freshman year), 95%, and 97% at a statewide evaluation festival for solo performance; participant in selective orchestra based on said scores; will be principal violist (yes, violist) in school next year; solo rep includes mozart (4), solo bach, saint seans (D minor), vivaldi (4 seasons among others), ten have (showpiece), mendelssohn, etc.; 5 on Music Theory AP as sophomore

so yeah… any advice would be appreciated! Any questions, just ask :slight_smile: Thanks!

2

I don’t know that much about music/art, but I think it would be cool if you focused on singing! When I read through your descriptions, the one that stood out to me the most was your singing experiences, and it’s really cool that you can sing in so many different languages! I don’t really know if one of those four areas would stand out more to admissions officers, but I feel like you could write a strong essay centered around singing. Sorry if that wasn’t very helpful, just my opinion!

3

@CDOESenior2k16 thank you for your advice! I appreciate any and all input :slight_smile:

4

I would not submit a music supplement. Not to downplay your accomplishments (because you are accomplished!), but you don’t seem to have that many exceptional accomplishments for music. To submit a music supplement, you should be performing at a conservatory level and/or be planning to major or minor in music. Violin and voice (especially soprano) are so common that you have to be extra special for these to matter; they get so many supplements of people doing these. The people who make great supplements are the people who have won national competitions, performed in Carnegie Hall, made all-state all four years, etc.

To me, the only one that stands out in your drawing. You obviously have talent in this and it is at the level where a supplement would be appropriate.This could definitely help your application!

You could also submit a science supplement to a few of the schools (Iike MIT). I would not recommend submitting one to all of them because most will only want one supplement. If you choose to submit one, focus on your research. They won’t want another list of everything you’ve done with science.

Source: My brother and I are both very musical (he’s a brass player, I’m a woodwind that’s not very common). My brother went to a conservatory for music (lol, I won’t even get into his accomplishments; he’s won international competitions). I went to a STEM magnet high school, and am now majoring in math/CS. I considered also doing a music major (doing a minor) and submitted music supplements to everywhere I applied (won several concerto competitions, soloed with local youth orchestra multiple times, was first in the district and first-in-state my senior year). I received full-tuition music scholarships at 2 schools.

5

I would choose this. It’s authentic, it’s original, and it is a part of who you have always been.

6

@rubberfall @guineagirl96 thanks for your input! :slight_smile:
Guineagirl specifically, I totally understand where you’re coming from! For voice, I was actually considering doing a dual degree program with a conservatory but decided against it (mostly because of cost issues, etc.), and I totally get what you’re saying! I’ve participated in quite a few “major” things as a vocalist but I didn’t want to get too specific on here because confidentiality and all that XD But not only did you give great advice, but you also gave it kindly and politely, and for that I thank you :slight_smile:
(and, to be honest, even typing out the list I was already leaning towards drawing, anyway; not submitting a supplement isn’t going to bar me from music programs or anything crazy, and I just wanted to see how other people saw things. I do feel like the art would help most!)