Do I have a good chance at getting into an Ivy League school?

Do i have a good chance of getting into an Ivy League if i am a recording artist?

• I am 18 years old and I am currently a recording artist. I am no Beyonce or Rihanna, but I am well respected in the music industry and please don't ask who I am. my unweighted GPA is a 3.5 and my weighted is a 4.7. I have good grades (all A's and B's) and I am an apart of a good amount of clubs and volunteer a lot. My SAT scores are not the best, I got a 1070 out of 1600. Besides my high school life, I am a singer. I travel a lot performing, and I write my own music, even for other famous singers. With music being my everything, it was very hard for me to maintain my grades in high school and try to keep up like everyone else because I wasn't normal. I was barley in school and did a lot of my homework on the road and in the studio so I think its pretty good that I didn't drop out due to my career. As of now, I am in the process of getting signed by a label. The thing is, I don't know wether or not it will go through by the time of graduation, and thats why I am going to apply for college like everyone else just to be safe (if I get signed before graduation, then I wont attend college for the most part). In terms of my grades and career, I always wanted to go to UPENN, Duke, Vanderbilt and even Brown. I know if I didn't begin to sing, I could have had the sat scores and grades to make the ideal ivy league applicant, but because I was so busy, I got stuck with the average college applicant characteristics. Do you think because of my singing, I have a good chance of getting into an ivy league? Not as a free ticket of course im not stupid, but I am an above average student, who normally wouldn't stand out. What I am asking is, with my music, and me wanting to study medicine, do you think I could get in?

• Answer:

  If you had great SAT scores, amazing GPA, and also your success in music, then you might be able to use your music career as your edge to get into elite level schools. However, your SATs are very much below what elite schools look for. Schools at the level of Brown and etc. admit only about 10% of applicants. The reality is that nearly everyone who applies could get in, academically, so it's the hook that does it - but your SATs are very low for them. Your GPA is okay. If your SATs were high enough for Brown and etc., then your recording career would be your "hook", and you might get in. But your SATs are not at the level of a Brown or etc. I'd suggest the following: - Apply to unis where your SATs are just a bit on the low side for them, and then your music career might help you get in, and/or - Apply to unis, like Bowdoin, where the SAT is optional - and don't send them your SAT scores.