<p>At Exeter, both sports and fine arts are valued and required parts of the curriculum. You can avoid music, I suppose, by participating in theater and art classes (I’m assuming dance wouldn’t float your boat 
), but many, many kids play on three sports teams AND take music lessons and participate in an ensemble. The school sees it all as important, evidenced by the fact that time is set apart exclusively for both–music ensembles are the only thing scheduled in the evenings. And there’s respectful interaction between the groups–my son’s x-country team, for example, went en-masse to Chapel the night two team members were the featured instrumentalists.</p>
<p>So dismissing the worth of music MIGHT be a sign that Exeter’s not a good fit.</p>
<p>enregyturtle,
you are totally right… people just play music because they believe it helps them in the future… playing a violin or some other classical music instrument doesn’t help you in any way… i play sports i learned a lot about teamwork from there… it showed me what other people can be like and how you have to adjust… i think you are a perfect fit for exeter because of you grades and your sports… don’t listen to people who try to bring you down… Good Luck!
ctkhan97 :)</p>
<p>The idea that musicians do not experience competition, teamwork, communication, and (for goodness sake) the ability to adjust for the good of a group could only come from non-musicians. It’s really sad that so many young people would completely write something off as a waste of time out of ignorance. Have any of you guys ever even BEEN to a performance of an orchestra?? How do you think you get to be concertmaster or first chair? Competition. (think first string - where do you think that term comes from??) What do you think that guy waving his arms is doing? Communicating (in a language that you simply don’t understand.) And teamwork… oh. my. goodness. There is rarely an instance of more precise teamwork than in a musical ensemble. And gee, what do we call those people who are really good? Section leaders, because they will rehearse the other members. (think special teams coaches). Adaptability? Let me give a very recent and simple example from a student’s perspective (I am a professional primarily because of my ability to adapt musically on the fly). My daughter plays multiple instruments within one section of concert band. In the middle of a concert, she found that someone had switched music stands on one of her instruments and she had Bflat clarinet music in front of her. Her instrument is in C. Since she is the only one playing this instrument (no back-up) she was forced to transpose the music in real time. She did it. How is that for flexibility? It’s the same thing I do when a conductor skips a measure or when the soprano (and it’s always a soprano 
) comes in early or I have to incorporate parts into a score or reduce an orchestral score to two staffs in real time. </p>
<p>Musicians – good musicians – have to think, process, respond, lead, communicate and react to any number of situations under enormous pressure.</p>
<p>I think the real issue is that it’s…well…it’s HARD and most young people have little tolerance for something without immediate gratification.</p>
<p>This whole discussion is really heartbreaking, though. It’s also very telling. There is no room for beauty in our culture. It’s not something that is considered worth while, apparently. It all has to be about brute force.</p>
<p>@EnergyTurtle: I kind of see what you’re talking about but there are plenty of people out there that would think exactly the opposite as you. Music and sports both contribute to a school so you can’t say that music doesn’t get you involved in school since there are orchestras and bands. Also, music can help you express yourself emotionally in ways that you can never do playing sports. Although sports can help your physicality and mental toughness, music can also help you express yourself and relax. I just think you should keep comments saying that music is a waste of time to yourself, especially if you have never tried playing an instrument.</p>
<p>Just for the record, I took the extreme position in this argument. I don’t believe it is inherently a waste or time or that there is no competition is involved. Honestly, nothing neatoburrito is saying is news to me. Although, I did laugh out loud when you said that this entire discussion is heartbreaking. My main point was that most kids do it to a.) impress schools/others or b.) to appear diversified and thus more appealing to schools. I then contrasted that with sports, which I believe to be a much more effective investment of time with far more benefits than the costly task of learning an instrument. I understand that there can be benefits to playing an instrument, I just think it’s negligible in the face of other activities, especially when the kids have very little interest in the music they are playing.</p>
<p>I do agree with you that some students learn instruments under the influence of their parents or to impress/satisfy other people but I wouldn’t say that they learn it to impress schools. Honestly, I think most applicants that are musicians have been playing music for a very long time, before they even looked over schools. I started violin when I was seven years old and never even thought about applying to private school until the I was 12 years old. Also, playing an instrument does not really make an applicant appear diversified because nowadays, majority of the applicants are playing piano and guitar at extremely early ages and applicants that play instruments are not very rare. I’ll agree that playing an instruments costs much more than playing a sport depending on how dedicated you are in playing music. One more thing, where did you get the idea that kids aren’t interested in the music they are playing. When I learn a new piece, I always get excited and practice for hours perfecting it. I don’t understand where you came up with this.</p>
<p>@yongatilla:
– When parents are rationalizing about why they are making their young children go to piano lessons or whatever, I am sure college apps or prep school apps are in the back of their mind.
– I think they have no interest in the music they are playing because classical/instrumental music is completely dead. Look on their ipods, like I mentioned, and you won’t find any mozart or anything like that, it’s all popular music. They have no interest in the pieces they are playing, as a very general rule.</p>
<p>It is interesting that in the olden days, when us parents were growing up, most of us took instrumental lessons from the neighborhood lady teacher in her home or in elementary school, not city conservatories.</p>
<p>The goal I believe then was to learn how to read music and how to play an instrument; to introduce a student to the love of music, not to get into a college.</p>
<p>Nowadays, everyone is competing for a spot in XYZ name brand orchestera, trying to achieve concertmaster or first chair, or Junior/Senior District or States or Regional bands and orchesteras. How many are really doing it out of love vs. trying to build their resume? Prep schools are boasting that theyr’e top orchestra played for the white house.</p>
<p>I’d like to go back to the Waltons Days (anyone watching reruns of that show?), a simpler time, when a family looked for a good community teacher, the one in a thousand who did graduate from Juliard, with the goal of teaching music appreciation and skill in playing an instrument to make music for oneself and one’s family, eg. playing the piano at Christmastime for those singalong carols. </p>
<p>The world keeps getting far too complicated and kids are pushed into both sports and music for reasons other than “for love of…” The musicians of the world will find their niches, but does everyone have to be a musician nowadays to get into a top college?</p>
<p>@EnergyTurtle: Now I totally understand what you’re saying. I think one of the problems nowadays is that since all the kids are obsessed with pop and rock, they assume that classical music is boring and stupid. I know some people who constantly get teased for having classical music on their iPods. It’s kind of sad to see how classical music is fading away.</p>
<p>@EnergyTurtle: BTW, I think you have a solid chance but you should widen your search to more schools instead of just Exeter because so many people apply there.</p>
<p>Quote:
I could go on about better things to do then sit in a room spending thousands of dollars on learning to pluck strings in a precise order, but I think you guys are smart enough to figure it out for yourself. </p>
<p>It is “better things to do than,” not “better things to do then.”</p>
<p>Quote: You could of at least observed the conversation lightly and seen that someone suggested that playing musical instruments can lead to a career later in life. </p>
<p>It is “you could have,” not “you could of.”</p>
<p>EnergyTurtle, maybe you should worry about your English skills instead of debating whether your athletic skills are more important than musical talent. I know Exeter WILL care about that.</p>
<p>Guys give it a rest… It is his opinion and he stands by it… just focus on what the other things are… He is a strong candidate… Hopefully he will get in
Good Luck
ctkhan97</p>
<p>Jeeze, Ranabona, it’s not like everything I post to this website is my ****ing essay for Exeter. I understand how those are grammatical errors just fine, although I am flattered you would go out of your way to peruse my posts for the most minuscule grammar mistakes to report them back to me. In fact, I have an english essay due on friday that I might need a proof reader for, would you mind helping me out? You do this sort of thing totally unprompted, so I assume at my request you would be even more eager to do so.</p>
<p>EnergyTurtle, if you don’t like being corrected or critiqued by everyone within ear shot, I strongly recommend you reconsider Exeter That sort of thing is it’s hallmark.</p>