Stop it! The AO is 100% able to understand your accomplishments!!! And in the extremely unlikely event that they cannot, they will reach out to a music professor. In my opinion, if you continue with this approach you risk torpedoeing your application.
If you really think your achievements need elaboration a reference saying something along the lines of “this kid is the most gifted musician I have taught in my 40 years of teaching” will go much farther than you explaining.
Delete
Wrong thread?
To put more simply:
Music supplement! (video, resume, LOR’s)
Plus guidance letter that includes out of school commitments.
That GPA is relative to where you are applying. My daughter had a 3.5 ish ( 89 GPA in HS, rigorous classes super strong EC and music leadership) but was applying to schools for music ed that she would solidly be in the admissions criteria range. For her, the audition was where she was burning the midnight oil. She got in everywhere she applied AND got music talent scholarship money and even some merit money. Don’t reach too far, and you should be just fine. Don’t try and explain it, if you are going to school for music you will still be spending hours a day on music, don’t point out that this is a problem, as it is not.
Agree with every other poster here. Don’t try to explain your grades, as it will not come off well. It will sound defensive, no matter how you write it and what you say. There is no “tone” you can use that will turn this into a positive. Talk up your commitment to music in your essays, and be sure your guidance counselor and recommenders know about your level of commitment as well, so they can mention it in their letters/reports.
Put another way - lots of kids have obsessive hobbies. I just read about a girl who got into a college and danced 6 hrs a day. Others do marching band, sports, work, play video games, watch too much tv - whatever.
But everyone owns their grades.
Some schools are stat based. Wouldn’t care if anything was written.
Others are holistic.
Let your passion show. A teacher can write about your passion and dedication in their LOR and your essay can show it.
You’ve made a choice to play piano and it’s gonna benefit you far beyond college. You’ll be playing for your grandkids. I wish I could.
You are who you are and that’s what you go with.
It’ll get you to the right place for you.
Good luck.
PS - there is no evidence that your piano and grades are tied together. None !!!
Don’t try and “explain away” your grades. They are what they are, and are a reflection of where you put your time in HS (btw, there is nothing wrong with that choice, but that is what it is - a choice). If you are looking at music schools this is going to be a moot point as a 3.5 gpa is solid and they are going to be focusing on your musical accomplishments. If you are hoping, instead, that your musical accomplishments will make up for a 3.5 gpa at a super elite school (non-music), I’m not sure that is going to be successful.
Yes, just to be realistic, apparently very talented musicians with a lot of accomplishments are one of the most common “EC” profiles the most selective colleges tend to see. That makes sense to me because there are all sorts of studies about the relationship between musical talent and other brain activities (not least math).
And while there is nothing wrong with such a profile, it does mean that these extremely selective colleges can have it all from such applicants, both top musical talents/achievements and also top academics.
Now if you are actually applying specifically for a music program at one of these colleges, then maybe the academic standards are slightly different–but the musical standards are usually no different from at a top conservatory.
But if you are not applying to a music program specifically and just want it to be treated as a good EC–that is perfectly reasonable, but very much not uncommon, and therefore not likely to trigger any sort of special academic consideration.
But again, all this is just in reference to hyperselective US colleges. There are many great colleges other than those.
I am not sure this will benefit you. My kids both studied two different instruments and neither explained away their grades. They were what they were. One was a music major and the other was not…both very accomplished musicians in high school.
Exactly. You don’t want to make excuses. You simply want to explain…but I think this would come better from your school counselor. As noted, if you are that accomplished, include a music supplement. That and the counselor letter should suffice.
Adcom’s already know that musical achievement is time-consuming and strenuous. Accountability is NOT “I got a few B’s because of my time commitment to piano”. You are sending the wrong message with your explanation!
Interesting you say that - a lot of engineering majors are musicians. And there are more than a few rock stars who majored in engineering in college.
So it seems there is a correlation between the brain/ rigorous academics and musical ability.
I haven’t read all the responses.
You do not need to explain your GPA. Doing so will sound like an excuse and/or will not endear you to the admissions officers by drawing attention to something that you perceive of as negative.
Your piano skills will obviously be a large part of your app and they have seen performance level musicians before. They will be aware that you spend many hours practicing, as do other types of musicians, athletes, and others who have extremely demanding extracurricular activities.
You have what you have. It’s up to the college to decide if they want you. You can describe your piano commitment in more detail in the additional information section. No doubt you’re probably submitting clips of your performances too.
You’re right, it sounds arrogant. Don’t confirm it by trying to explain what needs no explanation. You still need great recommendations and course rigor if you’re aiming high. Good luck.
Music is almost entirely based on math…With a dose of creative inspiration, of course. But music theory? It’s really just math.
Bingo!
Just a quick Scientific American link for those interested in this subject (with a math focus, although as discussed there it is probably broader than strictly math):
As described there, there is an ongoing debate about exactly what explains the observed correlations. But for the OP’s purposes, what is important to understand is there IS an observed correlation. And this means it makes sense that highly selective colleges are going to see a lot of talented musicians with very good grades.
Appreciate all the input thank you! I ended up just having my GC write about it as several ppl recommended. Additionally I have a LOR from my piano mentor and will be attaching videos and link to website. Hopefully that will be able to set me apart a little.
And now you get to forget about it and make sure you have safe bet colleges which would love to have you-- warts and all-- and you’ll be in great shape come March.
I understand you want to explain a 3.5, and I understand piano takes up a lot of time. However: I join others In cautioning you against using hours toward your passion as an excuse for (mildly) lower grades. A 3.5 in a rigorous courseload vs a 4.0 will only matter at couple dozen schools : the most hyper-competitive and highly rejective colleges in the country. The vast majority of colleges in the US will not view gpas under such a microscope. Furthermore, at those elite low-admission rate colleges, they will already be aware of how to read your application in context and it risks looking like you are making excuses. And: the kicker: there are tens of thousands of high schoolers with 20hrs or more per week on a performance art (or other activities) who also have 4.0s.