I know 2 people who got full ride at Catholic University because their first instrument was bassoon They both played the contrabassoon also at a very high level
I also know a person who got a full ride for violin
They all majored in instrumental music and music education

I had a music scholarship in college. I did not major in music, but played in the bands and orchestras and took private lessons for four years that my university paid for in full.

I also taught music lessons to grade schoolers on the side for extra spending money. You can make some real cash!

Music, especially if you win any awards for individual or group performance, is a nice thing at which to excel. It looks good on a college application, and it shows perseverance, teamwork and dedication. It's like sports for the non-sporty person.

Encourage her to stick with it. Bassoon players are fairly rare. Look to see what types of college music scholarships are offered, too.

I was a bassoon major in college (until I figured out I needed to learn a skill so I could eat). I assume dc does not plan to major in music. If dc is looking to go into a school and will not major in music, and that school has a big music program (IU,UofM, Oberlin, UT etc), then playing bassoon will not be a hook- they have plenty of bassoon majors to fill their performing groups. But if its a school that has an orchestra and a small music program (or no music program) then playing the bassoon will be a hook, because they will need bassoonists to fill out the ensembles. Its hard for me to believe that an admissions office would know about this special need, but you never know.

And tell your dc to keep playing. After college there are many fine groups that always needs bassoonists, so there will be plenty of opportunities to play.

Anonymous wrote:In the order of "hooks"

Academics > Development > Sports Recruit> Legacy > Piccolo > Mellophone > Marching Band > Student Council > Viola> Debate> Cello > MUN > Bassoon > Bass > Oboe> Tenor Sax > Clarinet > Flute > Violin > French Club

So the real question is -- why in the world did you not make your kid play the piccolo? It is THE ticket to an Ivy.

Oh man my daughter plays flute and takes French. We're screwed.

Anonymous wrote:In the order of "hooks"

Academics > Development > Sports Recruit> Legacy > Piccolo > Mellophone > Marching Band > Student Council > Viola> Debate> Cello > MUN > Bassoon > Bass > Oboe> Tenor Sax > Clarinet > Flute > Violin > French Club

So the real question is -- why in the world did you not make your kid play the piccolo? It is THE ticket to an Ivy.

Yes, I heard that hundreds of piccolo scholarships go unclaimed each year.

Bassoon is a huge hook. A huge hook is one that increases your chances of admissions a huge amount.

Most huge hooks only help admissions by a huge amount for a hand full of schools.

All you have to do is sift through all the schools for those who have orchestras with admissions pull.

Then narrow the schools further to orchestras that haven't used their admissions pull for bassoon the last two or more years.

On the one hand, there may not be more than 10 schools that meet those criteria.

On the other hand, if Stanford is one of them and you play bassoon at a high enough level, bassoon is enough to get someone with a 3.3 unweighted and 1250 SAT admitted.

IF you really are at the top of the bassoon heap, you should be able to ask around through the people that run the All State and All Eastern programs and find schools that will help bassoon players.

The thing to point out is that programs that use bassoon as a huge hook will want a huge bassoon commitment.

If you use a huge hook to obtain admissions with barely qualifying stats and meet that bassoon commitment, your chances of graduating are not that great.

Anonymous wrote:She plays at a very high level, All State, All Eastern, pre-college, high level orchestra etc. TIA

It is a ticket for someone once every four years (per school) at a max. If the orchestra gets a few spots, it is only one or two a year and then it has to be the instrument they really really need and can't find.

It will count as a very fine extra curricular, but not a hook.


(For the Marching Band scoffers- Marching Band is higher than Orchestra as an extra curricular because of the time commitment.)
(The >>>>> poster, Legacy is much lower now that you have indicated at all schools. It doesn't really count for much unless the parents/family are large donors.)

Anonymous wrote:In the order of "hooks"

Academics > Development > Sports Recruit> Legacy > Piccolo > Mellophone > Marching Band > Student Council > Viola> Debate> Cello > MUN > Bassoon > Bass > Oboe> Tenor Sax > Clarinet > Flute > Violin > French Club

So the real question is -- why in the world did you not make your kid play the piccolo? It is THE ticket to an Ivy.

So my daughter who plays the cello on a very high level (as in won several international competitions, played in Royal Albert Hall in London) would be much better off if she were in a marching band? Lol, thanks for the laughs.

Marching band is better than the cello? You are kidding, right?

Anonymous wrote:In the order of "hooks"

Academics > Development > Sports Recruit> Legacy > Piccolo > Mellophone > Marching Band > Student Council > Viola> Debate> Cello > MUN > Bassoon > Bass > Oboe> Tenor Sax > Clarinet > Flute > Violin > French Club

So the real question is -- why in the world did you not make your kid play the piccolo? It is THE ticket to an Ivy.

facetious, right? Anyway, I heard bagpipes is the ticket

Anonymous wrote:How much does a college need a bassoon is what you have to ask yourself.

Not at all unless she intends to keep playing...

In the order of "hooks"

Academics > Development > Sports Recruit> Legacy > Piccolo > Mellophone > Marching Band > Student Council > Viola> Debate> Cello > MUN > Bassoon > Bass > Oboe> Tenor Sax > Clarinet > Flute > Violin > French Club

So the real question is -- why in the world did you not make your kid play the piccolo? It is THE ticket to an Ivy.

No that's not going to be a big deal. IF your kid has been playing it for many years, has passed exams in it and loves it and can compose, maybe? But just playing in a band, no, not the most exciting element to the application.

other posters were unnecessarily rude, by the way.

How much does a college need a bassoon is what you have to ask yourself.

She plays at a very high level, All State, All Eastern, pre-college, high level orchestra etc. TIA