<p>In undergrad, I co-founded a composers’ orchestra with three goals:
To give composers from any background - not just classical composition majors - an opportunity to hear their works performed
To give non-music-majors from all backgrounds a chance to perform in a contemporary, low-pressure ensemble
To show our audiences that modern orchestral music is awesome and fun.</p>
<p>We were very successful, performed for the local community, formed ties with the local Philharmonic and businesses, etc. I was an econ/music major, and this was the best and most important thing I did in college.</p>
<p>As a part of our outreach, we took on a few dedicated HS students, and held a HS composers’ competition.</p>
<p>We had one student, a HS sophomore girl that was really dedicated to us, and we really impacted her life. HS was crazy for her, but she would come in and make music with college kids and she felt cool, validated, and accepted. She often talked about how great we made her feel. And, of course, she made great music.</p>
<p>I was a bit of an informal mentor to her - musically speaking. One of my proudest moments was teaching her to conduct, so that she was able to step on the podium and lead the orchestra in rehearsal. Her, a 15-year-old girl, leading a 35-piece college ensemble. It was one of my proudest moments in college.</p>
<p>I’m thinking about writing an essay about this. I have 3 (required) recommendations from my professors. Would it be crazy to ask her to write me an optional fourth one? She’s now a senior in HS.</p>
<p>If you’re applying to a music graduate program - particularly one focused on music teaching - it could be helpful. Otherwise, I don’t think it would seem relevant for other academic graduate programs.</p>
<p>The program is a social sciences/quantitative/econ interdisciplinary program. Most grads go on to analyst-type roles.</p>
<p>My other three recommendations are from econ professors/advisors. The fourth is optional. I’d like to use this one to describe my music background in terms of impacting others and giving back - and tie that into an eventual goal of running a business using the quant/econ skills I’ll learn from the program.</p>
<p>If there’s explicitly an option for a fourth, I don’t think it can possibly hurt you to add it.</p>
<p>I would caution that your proposed essay sounds too much like a “personal statement” for undergraduate studies and not enough like a “statement of purpose” required for graduate school.</p>
<p>Your SOP needs to explain how you have been academically and professionally prepared for the particular program you’re applying to, and if it involves research, you need to discuss and propose a particular research direction that fits with the program. You do want to briefly discuss your goals for what to do with the graduate degree.</p>
<p>I think you should absolutely include a recommendation from her. The point of a recommendation is to help to make you human, to allow the admissions committee to really know you. This would certainly be someone who could shed some light.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses. The whole trick is to tie my music background in and explain how it sets me apart from their typical econ/poli-sci applicants. I definitely also have the econ background and recommendations from econ professors and thesis advisors. I wouldn’t write my SOP about running an orchestra - but I do want to use my experience in music, and particularly with her, to talk about the intangibles of running and business and the rewards of giving back and making an impact. The challenge is to tie them together…</p>
Afraid I’m going to have to disagree with this. That might be the case for undergraduate letters of recommendation, but graduate LoRs are a different story. It’s not about “being human,” it’s about stacking your credentials against other strong candidates.</p>
<p>For graduate admissions, you want a credentialed recommender strongly endorsing your academic proficiency, research aptitude and professional skills - because those are the things that graduate admissions committees care about the most.</p>