Chance me (NYU Steinhardt, UCs, UPenn, Rice, USC, Cornell, Dartmouth)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Currently a high school junior, class of 2018.

Korean male living in SoCal
16 years old

School: Public (around 2000-2500 students)
GPA: 3.5 weighted, 3.3 unweighted
Rank: Top 40%

ACT: 31
SAT/ SAT II: n/a

APs:
AP Psych (3)
AP US History (have not taken yet)
AP Lang (have not taken yet)

ECs:
Vice President of a film club
Photography Director of school’s performing arts conservatory
Have played piano since 6 (didn’t play when I was in 3rd to 4th grade though)
Lot of chamber music experience
Will be performing a concerto with orchestra summer 2017
Pianist at high school orchestra

Volunteer:
Volunteer at a local theatre as an usher (15 hours, super weak)

Work:
Teach kids piano, twice a week

Awards:
bunch of state/local awards for piano competitions
Won local videography competition

I want to have a double major with Piano Performance and something else… I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Even though I am a junior, I want to know what I can do better to increase my chances of getting into my dream schools, even if it may be a reach. I’m I’m open to any criticism, and feel free to chance me at other schools as well!

2

Looking good! Maybe try taking the SAT, and see how you perform in comparison to your ACT score, then go from there. Or you could just try getting your ACT up a 1-3+ points without taking SAT.

Try to get you GPA up some more while you still have the time, which will also help improve your ranking.

Finding some more ways to volunteer would be a good idea (maybe film or piano related, but anything is good).

Other schools: have you considered Oberlin College or Vanderbilt University? Oberlin is a liberal arts school with an amazing conservatory and a unique double degree program if you wanted your other major to be outside of the music. Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music provides conservatory quality with Vandy’s strong academic foundation, and is only for undergrads. Just some ideas!