<p>I have seen wayward trojan trash Penn’s music program repeatedly. On the one hand, I am convinced he knows what he is talking about. But, on the other hand, one of my kid’s best friends is a music major at Penn. He has been wildly enthusiastic about his classes in music history and composition so far, and his relationships with the faculty. He is a multi-instrumentalist who chose Penn over a number of conservatories. His parents are very music-centric, and they love the program, too. So all I can say is that opinions seem to differ.</p>
<p>As for the conservatory-quality pianist question: I think a high level of distinction in anything is a big plus in applying to Penn, but I doubt the music department has any discretionary slots that Admissions gives it, and if it does have slots they are probably used to make certain the orchestra has a full complement of less-popular instruments. Certainly the music faculty would evaluate any performance recording submitted. I imagine, however, that in the natural course of things Penn is never short of quality pianists, violinists, or flautists. Also, you should understand that local standards of what constitutes an extraordinary pianist are very, very high, since Penn is about a mile from one of the top conservatories in the world, and students there may take courses at Penn and are often involved in performance at Penn.</p>