By Richard Floyd
Music Director
In the mid 1990’s the College Band Directors National Association committed to a project intended to validate the importance of performing arts as a part of the admission process to universities across the nation. The results were encouraging. When asked, many of the major institutions of higher learning throughout the United States provided statements that clearly validated the value that admissions officers placed on high school participation in the performing arts such as band, choir and orchestra.
In an educational climate that routinely tends to down play the importance of the arts it perhaps is important to be mindful of these compelling statements. They offer convincing evidence of the value of participation in the performing arts as an integral part of the university admissions process. You are encouraged to share these quotes with school counselors, students and parents.
University Admissions Statements
Harvard University: “The ARTS are clearly an integral part of life at Harvard and Radcliffe, important for their value to the college environment and also for the potential they provide for lifelong enrichment. In addition to academic criteria, therefore, we always consider extracurricular talents and personal strengths when we evaluate a candidate’s credentials. We look for students whose previous participation in the ARTS shows that they can make a substantial contributions to our community.”
Yale College: “Qualifications for admission to Yale College include not only the reasonably well-defined areas of academic achievement and special skill in non-academic areas, but also the less tangible qualities of capacity for involvement, commitment, and personal growth. The ARTS offer remarkable opportunities for the exercise of these qualities. The highly skilled artist, the student whose intellectual interests include close study of the ARTS, and the many applicants who demonstrate motivation and the willingness to extend their reach through participation in the ARTS, all promise to enhance the quality of life at Yale.”
Stanford University: “... we believe that exposure to the creative and PERFORMING ARTS enhances a student’s intellectual breadth.”
John Hopkins University: “The real challenge in selective college admission is not to assemble a class capable of negotiating a rigorous academic curriculum, but one that will also enhance the quality of life on our campus. Participation in the PERFORMING ARTS during the pre-college years is a clear indication to our admission committee that a student is dedicated to, excited about and engaged in the educational journey. As such, a background in the ARTS is one factor that helps us choose, among academically qualified students, a class which will avail itself of the many opportunities at Hopkins and will contribute to the life of the University.”
The University of Michigan: “Intellectual leaders from Plato to the present have recognized the importance of the ARTS to a thriving civilization. The University of Michigan joins in recommending the ARTS because of their humanizing influences, their demands for self-discipline, their abilities to evoke idealistic dreams that transcend everyday issues, their effectiveness in reflecting the achievements of diverse peoples, and their capacities to stimulate that most important of all intellectual abilities: creativity. Perhaps in no past era of our increasingly global civilization have these qualities been more sorely needed than they are today.”
Cornell University: “There is no magic formula that assures admission-or forebodes rejection-to Cornell University...the ARTS can play an important role. As we seek students who will make contributions to the Cornell community, where the ARTS are so prevalent, their exposure and experience in high school are highly valued.”
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: “As of 1993, the University of Tennessee has required the completion of one year of high school course work in the visual or PERFORMING ARTS for admission to the university. This is tangible evidence of our commitment to the ARTS as an integral part of a liberal education an affirmation to the vital role that the ARTS play in enriching our campus community.”
University of Virginia: “The founder of this university, Thomas Jefferson, was an avid musician himself and his influence can be seen today in the strength of the offerings in MUSIC, drama, art studio, history of art and also architecture. This university seeks students who have solid backgrounds in English, math, science, history and foreign languages. In addition, we look for students who have well-developed talents in the ARTS, for we know that they add a richness to our student body. They enhance the quality of life for all of our students and faculty at the University of Virginia.”
Virginia Polytechnic Institute: “At Virginia Tech, the ARTS are quite important in our admission policies, and we do pay particular attention to prospective students who have ARTS training or experiences as a part of their secondary school curricular or extra-curricular record...the University has special admissions procedures for students with “exceptional abilities in certain fields of study such as the creative and PERFORMING ARTS.”