Sending a link to your website may not be useful. Call the schools and ask how to submit a proper music supplement. Find out if a video, LOR’s and resume are all accepted.
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I agree about sending a link. Many receiving this won’t even open a link to an outside site.
Contact the colleges and find out if and how they want supplements sent.
I’m going to start posting this everywhere I see it come up….Links that an applicant puts in their common app are not live in Slate (the software that many schools use to read apps)…meaning an admissions person would have to go to their browser and type in the site’s address to get there. Not many AOs will be motivated to do that.
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The Common App has an arts supplement option to use after you submit. But check on what is accepted for each school. What you are proposing to do is too informal. A music supplement can be very helpful for admissions if done properly.
For example:
Students who wish to submit an arts supplement will be sent, after submission of the application, a link to complete the Case Western Reserve arts supplement. You can find additional details at “http://www.case.edu/admission"” target=“_blank”>case.edu/admission.
This!
Wanting them to know how “strenuous” your piano activities were, will only point out that you couldn’t handle the strain.
My children are/were all violinists, with various awards at state levels. Dad is/was a violinist and began their training at the age of three. They also were state-ranked tennis players. The funny thing is, they really liked practicing! They even brought their violins to the tennis courts! (practice playing while waiting for their matches!) We didn’t have to drag them anywhere.
Their “focus”, in their applications, was on their academics, and what they hoped to study, achieve, and bring to their Universities.
I know that the guidance counselors, at their high school, explained to all of their students, that the universities really wanted to see how all of these experiences would contribute to their universities.
If your piano experiences were really that strenuous, then it’ll look like you didn’t enjoy what you were doing and That the activity was not intrinsic but extrinsic. They don’t need students who will make excuses for their grades. Your grades are your grades. And the 3.5 is not bad.
Edited to add; they all had 4.0’s. They all were national merit finalists. Plus, they got into top 10-20 schools. Each of my children chose and attended their universities, based on how they felt about the “personality” of the University.
My kid achieved in music at the national and even international level, simultaneously, in two disciplines (jazz and classical). When we totaled it up, it was obvious that they’d spent at least 40 hrs/wk on music, throughout high school. They also had top 5th% GPA in a good suburban public high school, and a 36 ACT. That was what it took to be admitted (EA) to a tippy-top.
I agree with above posters - so many applicants will list over 20 hrs/wk of ECs, and still have excellent GPAs and test scores.
Your parts of the application should focus on you, your hopes and dreams, your academic aspirations, why the school is the right place for you to fulfill those aspirations, what you bring to the school. If there is something that needs to be explained, get your guidance counselor to do it in his/her cover letter. If the issue was untreated ADHD, it should read something like, “John has excelled academically at the highest level since he received a diagnosis and treatment for (insert what you’re willing to reveal), which has allowed him to function at his full capacity. His academic record from (9th grade or whenever you were untreated) reflects his untreated ADHD, and is not representative of his academic ability.”
It’s always better to let the guidance counselor explain any adversity. Work with them beforehand, to make sure that they fully understand the circumstances, and that they’ve gotten it across in their cover letter.
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An impressive music supplement can actually help in some cases where academics are not as stellar as the last two posters have described. You still need to meet a benchmark and the supplement needs to be exceptional in that case.
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Stellar is what were going for:)
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