<p>Hi</p>
<p>My son will be starting Tech in the fall as a Computer Science major. He has done marching, jazz and concert bands in High School for 4 years and is dying to march at Tech. I am pushing him to wait a year and start marching as a Sophomore, he doesn't want to. Anyway, my question is do you think it's wise for a Freshman to be involved in the marching and jazz bands their first year considering work load ,etc. I would appreciate any advice anyone has. thanks</p>
<p>Being in band is not going to destroy your sons GPA. In fact, students who are involved on campus (whether it be in band or other activities) have, on average, higher GPAs than those who are not involved. With proper time management, you can do quite a bit in addition to your coursework. I was personally in the marching band and I do not feel it negatively affected my grades in any way. However, band does take a lot of time, and I do feel I probably slept less and had a couple of days that were more stressful because I was involved, but it was definitely worth the minor sacrifices for me. In short, if your son can keep his grades up without being in band, he can keep them up while being in band, and if he is passionate about band he will be much happier participating than if he is forced to abstain from activities he enjoys. Wind Ensemble and Concert Band also take far less time than marching band.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the advice. You changed my mind about marching Freshman year!</p>