<p>I'm the drum major of my high school's marching band and I was wondering if colleges/scholarships will view this in the way that it should be viewed: a really, really strong EC. My school's marching band has 180 members and won the state championship last year, and a lot of the managerial and leadership stuff is put on my shoulders. I practice on mondays with percussion, tuesdays with the full band, thursdays with the full band, football game on friday, band competition on saturday, sunday to keep my sanity and my grades above trouble.</p>
<p>I know that having a leadership role is good, but with the hours that I put into the marching band, I'm worried that people won't fully see my potential and my dedication to things outside school. Am I worrying too much? Besides marching band, I'm in the symphonic band, jazz band, all-state band and I have a part-time job that I work in the offseason and the summer.</p>
<p>I ask because I'd really really, REALLY like to go to Sewanee and I know that I have a snowball's chance in hell to go there without at least 10k in scholarships, even if I get accepted.</p>
<p>You don’t need tens of ECs to be considered to have “strong” ECs, it’s about the quality, time, effort, and care you put into it, which clearly you have done all of that, and have merits to show for it. Don’t let kids on CC fool you, or kids who join tons of clubs at your school. I know a great guy who was STATE PRESIDENT of DECA and a state-level swimmer, had tons of other great attributes, and only got into his safety.</p>
<p>Clearly you love music, and you have dedicated alot of your time into it. THAT is saying alot more than some kid who’s the editor-in-chief of their schools news paper, president of their DECA chapter, and VP of their forensics team. You clearly enjoy music, and even if you don’t want to major in music, you clearly care about what you do and how you spend your time. Alot of the times colleges like kids like that more than the 2nd kind, if not all the time.</p>
<p>I like kids like you, gives me hope for the future what with all the name-huggers and resume whores out there. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>As a former high school marching band member, I have an utter respect for drum majors. I was a high-ranking officer in band, but my responsibilities did not come close to all that our drum major had to do. It’s tough stuff.</p>
<p>So though most colleges will just see it as a leadership position (which is always viewed favorably), you might want to write about it in your essays to make sure the adcoms know what you’ve been through.</p>
<p>And as the folks who posted before me have said, when it comes to ECs, it’s QUALITY not quantity. You’re sincerely interested in music; colleges will love this. </p>
<p>A laundry list of ECs generally shows lack of genuine interest, a motivation to impress colleges.</p>