D18 is applying to top 10 schools. She has 4.0 UW and 1580 and ranked in top 1% of class. Her main EC is music as she plays an orchestra instrument and piano. She made All region, All State and All Eastern US in her orchestra instrument. She does not plan on majoring in music but does plan on playing in orchestras and other ensembles in college. My question is how significant are her musical accomplishments in terms of admissions to a top 10 school? Are they as impressive to ACs as achieving all state and all Eastern honors in an academic bowl or model UN or some other type of EC?
You D’s stats are strong, and her focus on music is good. Having said that, she will be against some of the best music minds in the nation, and there are a lot of them in the top applicant pool. I would suggest a couple of things…(1) applying to enough reach schools, because for her it is going to come down to a little luck; (2) her essays (demographics) will have to help her break through the pool.