My son is very keen to end up in the US for university. US colleges look at the candidate holistically - extra curricular activities are almost as important as academic performance.

Although he will only be in college in four years time, admissions committee expect candidates to be seriously involved for at least the preceding four years in the activity and to be very passionate.

Music is the one activity he spends most amount of time and enjoys.

My question is how does he show that Music means a lot to him? He is currently preparing for his Grade 6 piano, Grade 3 flute and Grade 6 singing. He is involved in the choir, but because he is not Grade 5 in flute he cannot join the orchestra. He doesn't have many opportunities of playing the piano in public.

Are there any activities that would be possible given his level? He needs to show involvement and passion beyond passing AB exams, and practising at home. Obviously he is never going to be the next Andrew Lloyd Webber, but how does one convince the Admissions committee he is striving to be one?

Thanks for your advice.

I'm from the US and I just went through the university applications process last year. Regarding music as an extracurricular, I actually wrote a little (read: ranted) about that on "Lessons dilemma" thread in the parents' forum... But at any rate, I'll try and PM you (or you can PM me) sometime soon

How about talking to his teachers to see what other activities may be possible. At nearly grade 6 level on piano, he might be ale to manage some of the simpler accompaniments for early flute pieces or songs (he could look at the piano parts for his own pieces to start with) - perhaps his teacher could arrange for him to get together with another pupil to try this - accompanying is a way of getting more performance experience on the piano, and it would teach him some ensemble skills in preparation for joining an orchestra later. Perhaps he could play the piano for the choir occasionally? Accompanying is an under-rated skill that develops many musical skills and makes you very marketable as a musician - it would definitely be attractive to college admissions tutors, I would think. It would also demonstrate some initiative in creating his own musical opportunities. Getting together with friends to play duets and trios is a way of getting started on chamber music. School or teachers should be able to suggest suitable partners.

Old people's homes and lunch clubs are often grateful of offers for entertainment - could you try some of these for performance opportunities and the 'community service' angle - he could lead a sing-song or play popular tunes.

Do you have a local community wind band? They often welcome younger members.

There must be something he can join surely? Our local council music service runs ensembles from pre grade 1 level and any one can join, even if at an independent rather than state school.

My daughter's school restricts entry to the senior orchestra but runs a separate wind band which is open to all (well - grade 3+ supposedly). Could he find a few keen friends with a similar interest and talk one of the staff into starting a group?

I can't reply to this at length now but will do so when I can soon.. I'm a volunteer interviewer for a US university so I have some familiarity with the process.

I've got to give the following disclaimer before I write anything - please take what I say only as a guide; I know how the admission process for my own university works, and I know that it is similar to the process for other US universities. The details will vary, but the general idea is the same. Also, please don't take any of the examples I give as prescriptions eg. "if X does that he will get in".

I am a volunteer interviewer for my university admissions programme, and the interview reports have equal weighting with the rest of the components of the application. Interviews are usually optional, but if the universities that your son is applying to provide the opportunity for an interview, your son should take it. It is the best chance he has of showing the college what sort of person he is. Because that's what we are asked to evaluate; who the student is outside of their admissions transcript.

If I was interviewing your son, these are the things I would be looking for from someone who says that he is passionate about music.

* What opportunities has he availed himself of? We understand that not all schools provide comprehensive music programmes, and that not everyone lives near a town or city big enough to have easily accessible music programmes. I would want to see that he has made the most of the opportunities available to him. Maybe he wrote all the music for a school play- maybe he orchestrated it all using the ensemble available to him of xylophone, tuba, ocarina and kazoo.

* Is he self-directed in his interest? Does he try to learn about things himself? You'd be surprised how many candidates I meet who entered for Physics Olympiad because their dad or their teacher thought it was a good idea, and only for that reason (obviously parents and teachers can encourage students in a certain direction, but it's usually pretty obvious when I meet a student who has a true self-directed interest).

Neither of the above are necessarily correlated with high achievement in music graded exams - I don't even ask about this if I have a candidate who tells me that they are interested in music. They may volunteer it, but I would ask them a lot more about why music is important to them rather than just accept 7 Grade 8s as evidence of it. We are specifically asked to check that the student's interest is self-guided - I am not saying this because I think you are a pushy parent but just for general information.

I'll add to this if I have more thoughts. Feel free to PM me if I can help further

Thank you every one for so much useful information, advice and suggestions. Really appreciate it.

Could he find a couple of other similar standard flautists, or a clarinetist and do some duets/ trios. Maybe enter a local music festival with a duet as performing experience. There are classes for classical guitar and flute at our local festival.

As someone else has said there may be opportunities to join an orchestra at a lower level than grade 5. Our county music service has windbands for up to grade 3, grades 3-5 and grade 5+. Our town music service also does ensembles at all levels. I only found out about these groups by accident as my children didn't learn from county music service teachers. There are also courses he could go on, which run at a variety of levels, all good experience.