<p>2030 SAT (single sitting) 640 M 670 R 720 W. 3.75GPA UW and about 4.2W. 7 APs and the rest honors courses. Like everyone else, strong ECs and essays. </p>
<p>Possible hooks–2nd team All-State high jump as a sophomore in H.S., member of a band that plays professionally at venues such as The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, School of Rock, and w/first University concert date later this month. Not yet signed to a label, but have first professionally produced CD out. Likely liberal arts major wanting to keep hand in the music business, but not limited to that. Business management and entertainment law are possible career options, but not ruling out performing. Experience in all aspects of the music business incl. : Web design, promotion and merchandising, finance, etc. Too much so lately, have taken on a business mgr. for the band.</p>
<p>5’10" as soph., small schools div. gave it up to concentrate on band and academics. fooling around a bit since then when the bar is up, 6’0 to a little higher is about where I’d be now, but no intent to go back to it.</p>
<p>I jumped 6’0’’ and was not top three on my team so I could not compete in meets. I did run a 1:57 800m and was getting looked at by small division III schools like Kenyon, however none of them had engineering. </p>
<p>Your stats seem a tad low, so study extremely hard for the SATs, maybe get a reading tutor because that may show you what to look for. But independent studying for the math/writing section is certainly helpful. Or you could try the ACT. GPA does not mean much without context, if this GPA is to 10% in your school, and if you have taken tough classes, then I would not stress too much about that. When i visited Virginia they stressed that they look at what courses you chose to take in comparison to what was available in how you did in the class. They also said they look at if you take harder classes from year to year, and if you do better as the competition increases. From what they seemed to say, it is just as good if not better to have taken all 5 APs offered by your school, then to have taken 6 or 7 of the APs at a school that offers every AP class.</p>
<p>taken the APs that have been offered, H.S. is very small, grad. class will be a tad over 100 students. Top 10% yes. Looking at liberal arts major if that helps, no interest in pre-medicine or engineering as a major. GPA and course rigor is strong. Feel like I have a shot, but it seems so hard to get in to any top school. The CC discussions make it seem impossible unless you have 700s across all SAT sections and a 4.0 GPA UW. 800 M under 2:00 is really, really strong BTW.</p>
<p>But when you look at these people with the 10 AP classes, and 4.0 GPA, and high SATs, they all end up being echolls scholars, or in the honors program at what ever school they apply to. College Confidential is a self selecting pool, meaning the people on this site are highly motivated enough to find this site, and also highly motivated in their work. You never know until you try, don’t let all the impressive stats deter you from applying.</p>
<p>Try the ACT. I got an SAT score equivalent to a 32-33 ACT, but on the ACT I got a 34 (one point from a 35, I believe). Point is, some people naturally test better on one type of test, so trying both is usually a good idea.</p>
<p>That said, I did not really study for the SAT, but I also didn’t study for the ACT outside of taking a couple practice tests, so maybe the scores would be evened if I studied.</p>
<p>Your scores are alright for UVa, but for the OOS pool you would be better off bringing them up a little. Good luck!</p>
<p>Do include your CD, or other documentation of your performances, as an “arts supplement” to your application. These will be evaluated by faculty in the relevant department (music, in your case). The arts supplement won’t get you in by itself but it could be a tip factor, esp. if you make it clear that you will continue with your music interests in college.</p>
<p>Interest in the marching band might also be a plus.</p>
<p>thx. does it commit one to the music major to incl. such supplementary material? Is it pushy/appropriate to just include it in your regular application or is there a formal process for doing so? I know at UMich you can submit 3 separate applications for review: one for regular admission, one for the music program and one for business pre-admit (Ross), if you want, each for separate consideration.</p>
<p>No, submitting an arts supplement does not commit you to major in an arts field. UVA doesn’t have a separate School of Music the way Michigan does, nor does it issue a BFA degree. Everybody comes into the College of Arts and Sciences
“undeclared” and nobody needs to decide on a major field until the end of the second year. However, if you sound serious about continuing to participate in music in some way–not necessarily as a major–that might make the evaluation of your music supplement weigh more heavily in the minds of the admissions people. There are tons of people who participate in the chorus, marching band, symphony orchestra, jazz ensembles, etc. who are not music majors. But remember that the admissions people are trying to admit a class of people with diverse interests and talents, and obviously they want people who are going to manifest those talents once they get to Grounds. </p>
<p>As far as the process goes: you just send your CD or portfolio or whatever to Admissions, they forward it on to the appropriate department, some faculty member or other volunteers to evaluate it, and his/her evaluation is sent back to Admissions to be included in your file. In the case of music arts supplements, the evaluator is generally a performance faculty member in your field–the voice teachers listen to the singers, the violin principals to the violinists, the piano teachers to the pianists, the jazz faculty to the jazzers, and so on. Whereas in schools of art or music the portfolio or audition is going to be an absolutely central consideration, at UVA the arts supplement is going to be a tip factor at best. Every year there is gnashing of teeth among the music, art, or drama faculty because some especially talented kid was denied admission despite their endorsement.</p>
<p>I don’t do college admissions, but I would think that if your major and career plans have absolutely nothing to do with math, then your math SAT score wouldn’t be as important as it would be if, e.g., you were planning a career in physics. So maybe keep this in mind as you consider what you want to claim as possible major fields. Nobody will hold you to those “plans” once you’re admitted.</p>