u/UnAcademicWeapon87

I recently received some information about Orchestra and Wind Ensemble auditions.
Going in, it was my intent to continue my musical endeavors at least a little bit after high school and I was excited to see all that I could try at Swarthmore. Then I realized that, even with the lowkey audition process described, I can't even imagine having any sort of piece/repertoire to play for an audition. I was never the best player of any instrument and I don't really know what to expect in the future. Should I take this as a sign that perhaps the repertoire of these ensembles would eat me up and perhaps now (at my current skill level) would not be the best time to be looking into this stuff?

If that is not the case, any recommendations or advice on how to move forward, both in what to expect in any Swarthmore ensemble or the audition process? Anything is much appreciated!

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Income Bracket: Low
• Type of School: Small and rural public school
• Hooks: FGLI

Intended Major(s): Something in the STEM field, likely Statistics and/or Computer Science. If I am feeling extra unemployed I may commit to Philosophy.

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0/4.475
• Rank (or percentile): 2/86
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 15 DE Semester Classes, 1 AP (Calc AB)
• Senior Year Course Load: Intro to Humanities (over Summer), Sociology, Psychology, World Religions, Civilization, Philosophy (All DE). Concert Band, Jazz Band, AP Calc AB and another DE Music Appreciation class (2nd semester only).

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• ACT: 32 (31E, 30M, 33R, 33S)
• AP: Calc AB coming up, not too high stakes at this point but I'm predicting a 3.

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Marching Band (Flute Section Leader and Featured Tenor Sax Trio Member, Awarded the Esprit De Corps Award)
2. National Honor Society (Chapter President)
3. Academic Challenge/Quizbowl (Varsity Team Captain and Co-Coach)
4. Student Council (Chapter Vice President, Senior Class President)
5. Family, Career, and Community Leaders of American (National Qualifier/2nd Place @ State Leadership Conference for Leadership Career Development Event)
6. Prom Committee
7. Safety Town Group Leader
8. Pep Band
9. HUDDLE (Junior Officer)
10. Teen Ambassador Board

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. 3x Superior Ratings for Solo & Ensemble Performances (Sax Solo, Sax Quartet, Flute Trio)
2. Student Council Leadership Excellence Award
3. FCCLA Most Involved Member (2x)
4. 4x Academic Letter and Band Letter Recipient
5. Whole bunch of Quizbowl stuff.

Letters of Recommendation

Upper Level Science Teacher and Academic Challenge Coach - 8/10 Likely very strong and personalized due to my daily class and practice contact for the past 2-3 years. Likely also some bonus points for me because of his background in academia as well as teaching as an associate professor.

Upper Level Math Teacher and Athletic Director - 6/10 Overall likely very positive and glowing but probably not very personalized. He was pretty open (and I was openly fine with it) that it was likely going to be an AI template with a handful of specifics sprinkled in.

Essays

I believe I started my personal statement a maximum of 3 days before ED was due (yikes, don't recommend) and spent most of my time after ED to work on my college specific essays for my RD applications. I still think the concepts/ideas of my personal statement are there, just maybe not min-maxed to perfection. I wrote about how my path of musical discovery after a particular encounter with a new song inspired me to work on my core beliefs of living with a genuine passion and to have a purposeful intention for everything I do.

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

• The Ohio State University (EA)
• Rochester Institute of Technology (EA)
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (EA)
• Miami University (Ohio) (EA)
• College of Wooster (EA)
• University of Cincinnati (RD)
• The University of Toledo (RD)
• Syracuse University (RD)
• Swarthmore College (RD) Committed!!!
• Case Western Reserve University (RD)
• Carleton College (RD)

Waitlists: All RD

• Skidmore College
• Kenyon College
• Denison University
• Dartmouth College

Rejections: All RD

• Brown University
• Cornell University
• Johns Hopkins University
• University of Pennsylvania

Additional Information:

So going into this application stuff, I was planning on submitting 5 in-state applications max. Once I learned I was able to waive my application fee and that most schools are currently test-optional or allow you to self report, I decided that I might as well just start dreaming big and fill out some far-fetched reaches. I absolutely did NOT expect to get into half of where I was accepted to. After seeing my results fully, I feel I definitely underestimated myself and was likely fear-mongered by the tragic tales of non-profit founders, cancer researchers, and 5.2 GPA Academic Weapons being rejected from top schools.

With that in mind, I would like to give the same advice many of us have heard before and will continue to hear: shoot your shot. The T20 world and likely beyond are still for sure just a bit random, but it only takes 1 acceptance. I still think after all of this the my Swarthmore acceptance is a fluke and that I will be, for a lack of a better term, the most ignorant person there (which I'm personally excited about). But yeah that's about all I got as it is late and I should be sleeping instead of writing this all out.

I'll see you academic weapons on campus in the fall.