<p>I am currently a H.S. freshman at a very competitive "specialized" high school in NYC. My schedule is currently periods 2-9, and contains Phys. Ed., Bio/Bio Lab, Foreign Language, Geometry, English, Lunch, and Global. I also am taking Intro to Engineering as an elective course. </p>
<p>Today, I received an automated email from the Band Director of my school, telling me that if I was interested in joining band, I should see him during my lunch period. Also, no experience is necessary. I am considering to join, seeing that it would help me for college admission. However, I think there's a few problems that stand in my way: </p>
<p>1) The band teacher has terrible ratings on Rate My Teachers. According to the site, he is a "freshman hater," gives negative + discouraging criticism to students, and can not teach well.
2) I'll probably have to sacrifice my Intro to Engineering class.</p>
<p>There's also another option that I could take that would still allow me to learn music. I could participate in a musical instrument program outside of school. This would most likely begin in January, and be a few times a week but for long durations of time. Price is not a big issue, as my parents have expressed their interest in wanting me to participate in this outside program and certain schools have great deals. Doing an outside-of-school music program like this would also allow me to continue taking the Intro to Engineering class at the same time. </p>
<p>So should I take the band class at school, or do the outside-of-school music program?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>P.S. I don't really have any intentions of majoring in music or one of the arts.</p>
<p>Urgh, why not take it Sophomore year, if he is a “freshmen hater”? Also, the rating of a band teacher does not matter, since you can learn an instrument by yourself (what I did for the clarinet at my school). </p>
<p>As long as he grades fairly, nothing else matters.</p>
<p>Band won’t help you an insane amount with colleges, esp. if your’e not looking for a related major, but that engineering class will if you are a engineering major/</p>
<p>Look, if you’re interested in learning music, most ensembles at schools (i.e school bands, school orchestras) are complete jokes. My brother’s orchestra played an easy arrangement “Pirates of the Caribbean” at a concert. </p>
<p>Go with the outside of school music lessons. If you’re interested in ensemble playing, join an outside of school band. Private lessons help a ton, though you better be ready to commit. You’ll probably have to practice anywhere between 30-60 min every night. </p>
<p>What instrument are you interested in taking up?</p>
<p>My school is top 5 in the city (band-wise) beating many other Specialized High School bands. So it’s pretty good. Plus most of my band-mates were first time users (almost all actually). </p>
<p>So my music department is pretty good. We were 1 point away from a gold medal with distinction (highest medal) in the NYSSMA concert, and nobody else acheived a gold medal with distinction.</p>
<p>CSIHSIS, what school did you choose? Judging from your name, I would probably guess that you’re at the CSI High School for International Studies.</p>
<p>I am at SI Tech. I was just several points away from Stuy, and would have gone to Bx Sci if the commute were not 1.5 hours on the train for me. </p>
<p>I am interested in taking up an instrument like the cello, violin, or double bass.</p>
<p>nothingto, what school is it?</p>
<p>Generally, how much does playing an instrument help with college admissions? I’m talking about HYPMS, Cal Tech, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, etc. I am definitely up for the challenge but am unsure if I can provide time this year for it. I’m on my school’s cross country and track teams, which means not getting home until around 6 pm every day and going out-of-state sometimes during the weekends.</p>
<p>Well it depends. If you join your schools band (assuming it is a class), and commit all four years, PLUS other other clubs such as choir, orchestras, and other ensembles, then it is a positive EC, and it shows commitment and passion.</p>
<p>I’m currently doing school band, New York City All-City marching band (my band teacher is the head-director of it, so he is pretty well known and famous around musicians in my city), clarinet choir, AND a Orchestra at the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra Reportoire in full scholarship.</p>
<p>If you want to know my full EC’s, then just PM me lol.</p>
<p>Do not take band in your school - it won’t really help much for college. Now if you make it into a well-known youth orchestra (need to have talent and put much effort), that means something. Most people who get into such orchestras have been playing for years with private lessons. If you’re doing music because you enjoy playing music and think the time is worthwhile to invest, go ahead. If you’re looking for an opportunity to impress colleges, it’s probably not gonna get you far at your stage (mainly because you are starting from zero).</p>
<p>Note this has nothing to do with the actually point of this thread.</p>
<p>I can’t believe that your on this site as a freshman in highschool, good for you. I would be so much better off if I had thought about college in 9th grade. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about music unless your really interested in it their are plenty of other extracurriculars that hold more weight for admissions. Any student with your foresight wont be broken by not joining band.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to these guys. What they do say is true, it’s not the complete picture. I agree, if you are doing music classes ONLY, it’s not much of a boost. However, if you join orchestra’s, marching band, choirs, etc and show passion, it as good as any other extracurricular that “hold more weight” (according to what Sean518x said above). </p>
<p>Doing an EC because it has more weight can be seen by Adcoms easily, and it can show in your Essays or etc (negatively). So no-one can predict to you what is a good EC other then national competitions or state-competition. </p>
<p>So by the looks of it, you don’t really have any interest in band (although you never know until you try), so don’t try it if you don’t in freshman year. </p>
<p>I never liked Band until I actually tried it. It just struck me as a fun place to be other then academics.</p>
I have tons of friends in Tech. How’s Russian so far?</p>