<p>In terms of a talent helping a student with a lower SAT to get into a school in the same way that recruited sports do, that is not what generally happens. The talent makes the applicant more interesting, and perhaps more desirable because he/she is more interesting, which can bolster the application in terms of what that candidate can bring to campus life. But this will not help in terms of lower acceptable stats. These sort of extracurricular talents are those intangibles that separate one great, qualified candidate from another.</p>
<p>Getting into a conservatory is another story. Those, like Peabody, rely largely on audition and on the level of talent.</p>