Every day i practice for about one hour, but i no longer take lessons and just play on my own. Would I be able to list this, and would it even be worth mentioning if i could?
Can i list piano as an extracurricular activity, even though I have stopped taking lessons/recitals?
What you could do instead is to record yourself playing and send it as a music supplement to some schools.
Absolutely list it! They want to know what you do with your time.
And, no, I would not send a music supplement. It won’t be at the level it needs to be at to be beneficial to your app if you don’t take lessons anymore.
I really don’t think playing piano for fun with no structure is an EC. My D listed her participation in an orchestra as ab EC but not her private lessons and practice time. Just my opinion though – there appears to be some disagreement so I guess it not a cut and dry issue. If you play piano for a local nursing home, in a school play or something like that then that would be an activity.
Of course playing the piano for fun is an EC. Nowhere in any admissions material anywhere does it say that an EC has to be ‘structured.’ Lots of people have ECs that are unstructured - they garden, ski, hunt, cook. write poetry, paint, care for siblings while parents work, repair old cars…and have achieved a high level of skills after many years of doing it. ECs of this kind are every bit as valid and important and a lot more interesting than being one more editor of the school newspaper. If you enjoy the piano, be prepared to talk about why you love it, what kind of music, how you challenge yourself, what you hope to do with it…
My daughter put in something about quitting piano and then coming back to it in one of her essays. It’s time well spent, it is certainly an EC. Why this focus on “structured”? My son taught himself computer programming and put that in his essay… My kids “did their own thing”. It worked out fine for them.
I’d say it is a valid EC, if you do it regularly and with some kind of point.
I never took lessons, but messed around on the piano probably 3 hours per week, BUT there was no real point and I didn’t really learn much.
If you practice an hour per day regularly and are trying to get better - perfecting old things and practicing new things - I do not see any ethical problem with listing piano as an EC.
But don’t say you are “performing” if only your little sister is listening (and she has a pillow over her ears)…
Conversely, messing around with a soccer ball or a football, or another team sport, without actually playing on a team would not be a valid EC.
@rhandco Here is the disconnect for me…would practicing soccer or football with a “point” such as improving dribbling skills, passing skills etc. be an EC for a person who doesn’t play the sport on a team? I’m not sure it would be – and if not, then how would be playing piano without the formality of taking lessons or performing be one? And how would playing piano on one’s own be different from someone who likes to do positive things such as read for pleasure an hour a day which I’m guessing is not an EC. I’m not trying to be argumentative, I guess I’m just surprised that so many people here regard playing on one’'s own as an EC.
To the OP – perhaps asking your guidance counselor for advice in the fall would be a good idea. In the end it is your application and it is your decision. As you can see there is no one right answer to this one.
I think it shows self direction and ambition. Nothing says you have to take formal classes for an activity to count. I’d list it.
thanks everyone, i think i’ll ask my guidance counselor and see what she says and then see if it would be beneficial