I’m the mom of a senior applying to schools this fall and I apologize ahead of time if I haven’t provided this information correctly. I did not post a “chance me” for my older son when he was applying but I have actively read these for many years.
My son is looking to add more “target” schools to his list and maybe a few safeties. So thanks in advance for your advice!
US citizen
CA
Small private high school
Legacy at Tufts, Dickinson and USC
Need to obtain some merit aid if out-of-state and may qualify for financial aid for first year as brother is in college at the same time.
*Possibly BA in music or musicology. Also interested in psychology, philosophy and neuroscience and biology.
Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
Weighted HS GPA: 4.33
Class Rank: 1
ACT/SAT Scores: not submitting
Took all AP classes offered by school. No honors classes were offered. Will have completed A-G requirements for UC system and highest level offered at school for math. Lots of music classes take as electives.
Extracurriculars
Strong music skills including piano for 13 years, taught himself drums, guitar and mandolin.
Composer with following on Spotify (over 15,000 monthly listeners) and over 1 million plays on streaming platforms for original compositions. Signed record deal with small independent label.
Student body president, elected in junior year
Student class representative for sophomore and junior year
Active athlete but not particularly strong in any one sport. Played varsity teams for basketball, volleyball, tennis and baseball.
Started first ever drum line at high school.
Admissions ambassador for school for last three years.
Camp counselor for last two summers.
Mandolin player in school bluegrass band.
Drummer in band outside of school that performs at local venues.
Strong writer so essay will be well written. Not sure his story is particularly unique but it will be interesting and well written. Very strong LORs as son has good relationships with teachers who know him very well.
Schools
UCLA
UCB
UCSB
UCI
UCD
UCSC
Boston University -RD
Tufts - RD
George Washington University - RD
American University - EA
Carnegie Mellon - RD
Columbia University - RD
University of Oregon - EA
University of Washington - RD
University of Colorado, Boulder - EA
Lewis and Clark - EA
Whitman College - EA
Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
Has he considered Occidental? Their Music BA could be a good fit, with multiple focus areas including composition. Whitman seems like a great option too.
Boulder does have a lively music scene - could be a very fun place to do what he wants to do. Much pricier than Utah, though, and the two schools have more in common than many people’s first impressions would suggest.
URochester is wonderful for musicians with other academic interests, and particularly good for crossover areas like music cognition. (The conservatory musicians are on the separate Eastman campus, so it’s more of a level playing field for the BA and non-major musicians on the river campus, which has its own facilities and ensembles.) They meet need and give merit as well.
Would the no-merit privates be affordable after the older sib finishes college?
Thank you! Occidental is a too close to home for him (UCLA might even be but it would be worth it if he got in!). SDSU was a thought but it’s just as hard to get in to as UCI and UCSB these days! But I’ll tell him to take a look at the music program there. University of Rochester is a a school we hadn’t even thought about so I’ll tell him to take a look!
The beauty of Rochester, beyond the great performing arts and academic strength generally, is that their structure for general education requirements is just to divide everything into three broad categories - STEM, Humanities, and Social Sciences - and require only that each student take a minimum of a three-course “cluster” from each division. For a student like your son, this would mean that he could basically study what he wanted and meet the requirements without even trying. His music major (with nine different choices of emphasis!) would cover humanities. A cluster or minor in psychology would cover social sciences. And a cluster or minor in Brain & Cognitive Sciences (which includes Neurobiology), Music Cognition, or Logic would cover STEM. He can search course clusters here to get an idea of what’s available.
Below are my guesses as to what your son’s chances for admission might be at the schools on the current list. I excluded the UCs as they’re their own special beast but yield to the expertise of others like gumbymom who has already posted. Additionally, this does not take into account the role of music in the admissions process (in terms of the impact of supplements submitted or if any require a portfolio, etc).
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Lewis and Clark
U. of Colorado
U. of Oregon
Likely (60-79%)
American (with demonstrated interest)
Whitman
Toss-Up (40-59%)
George Washington (with demonstrated interest)
U. of Washington (note the many capacity-constrained majors, including music, neuroscience, psychology, and biology)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Boston U.
Tufts
Carnegie Mellon
Columbia
I’ll think about some other possibilities and post again later. Also tagging @compmom who may have additional insight to provide.
Below are some additional schools that you may want to consider (and also seconding the U. of Rochester rec from above). I will link the profiles of schools that are members of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) association which is a group of smaller colleges that are focused on undergrads and were originally recognized by an external reporter for the quality of their instruction and undergraduate experience.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Cal State – Chico: About 13k undergrads
Indiana U.: About 36k undergrads
Ithaca (NY): About 4600 undergrads and students can also cross-register for classes at Cornell
Loyola New Orleans (LA): About 3300 undergrads and can cross-register with other New Orleans schools like the adjacent Tulane
U. of Montana: About 7200 undergrads and a WUE school
Thank you! this is helpful. You said that the GPA listed is the uncapped weighted UC GPA? Which one is that? I only see unweighted, weighted and weighted and capped.
The GPA for the UCLA data is Weighted (uncapped).
UCLA and UCB will focus on the Unweighted and Weighted (Uncapped) GPA’s while other UC’s will focus more on the Unweighted and Capped weighted UC GPA’s.
The most common GPA listed in the UC statistical data is Capped weighted UC GPA.
I am moving today and tomorrow but wanted to check in on this thread. Your son should do a music supplement with recordings or videos, music supplement (including the info posted here), and letters of recommendation (1-2) related to music. This can make a lot of difference with admissions and I think he can shoot high. Many schools (including Harvard) have broadened their curricula to increase access and diversity so although there may be a strictly classical path available to those who want one, there are other ways to go while majoring in music.
A general music BA sounds good for him and will include theory, composition, music history, ethnomusicology, technology etc. Often funded lessons sometimes for credit, and extracurricular performance. Also studio/music tech classes and access to those resources.
I personally know the Tufts music department and the composition chair and it would be a great fit if financially feasible.
Clark University has a really interesting music curriculum and has produced some talented composers. (Worcester MA).
Oberlin has a Musical Studies BA.
He could consider Ivies and little Ivies with great financial aid if his music supplement is submitted. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia (is on there), Brown and also Amherst, Willams,Wesleyan (Tufts is also a little Ivy). These schools will also appreciate that he has many academic interests and they will enrich his muci.
I am intentionally avoiding schools with BM programs (except for Oberlin). Bard, Oberlin and Lawrence are often mentioned for double degrees for kids with multiple interests, as well as Harvard /NEC and Yale.
If he is more interested in commercial music or music production, music tech. etc. I will PM you with a list of schools for that. It sounds like he is working on a DAWS… Does he make scores?