<p>As the title</p>
<p>It is a leadership position, so yes.</p>
<p>I agree! My son’s leadership was with drama directing and Scholars Bowl captain. All leadership is good.</p>
<p>Yes! Drum Majors have superior leadership qualities. Good luck to you wherever you apply to college. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think it would hurt, and it is a leadership position.</p>
<p>I agree. It would be great. Many apps have a leadership slot, and sometimes students busy with music don’t have such an item. But drum major would fill the bill.</p>
<p>My question is this… if it didn’t matter one way or another, would you still do it? If yes, than it will look good because it fits who you are. If not, than it doesn’t fit you and you are creating a myth of what rings your bell, so to speak. </p>
<p>At least start out in life trying to be authentic. It gets so much harder to figure out who you are if you’ve spent your life trying to figure out what other people THINK you should be or what looks good. </p>
<p>OK… maybe this is just a rant or a vent, but I am seriously concerned with people who take on leadership roles or any other EC with the sole intention of it looking good to colleges, especially when there are surely other kids who may consider this a real and true part of who they are - if they only got the chance. At least attempt to be genuine.</p>
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<p>You can major in drum these days? Sheesh.</p>
<p>It is not me, it is my son who is asked to be audited to be drum major by his band director. He is a sophomore now, he always speaks out when other students complain too much work for the marching or symphony band. He is already involved in many activities, but he really cares his marching band. In the last two years the marching bands got two 2 rates, that upset him. The current drum major will graduate this year, my son wants to do something to change the attitude of the students in the marching band. Now he has to make choice between a summer science and math camp and a drum major camp because schedules conflict, he likes both, but can only go one of them.</p>
<p>Modadunn,</p>
<p>I do not know the answer, but I think he will, because he is the kind of kids who are very responsible and dependable, and thinks he will make difference.</p>
<p>As a parent, I am not that holy, when I give him a suggestion, I need to know which one is heavier for the college applications.</p>
<p>He should do the one he loves the most. Colleges like to see kids follow their passions. </p>
<p>If he’s done math and science related stuff in the past, one more thing like that (summer of math/science camp) isn’t that “exciting” to add to a college app, so I wouldn’t push him to do the match science camp if he wants to drum major.</p>
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<p>He is good at all subjects so far including music, but not sports (he does not need take any PE class, he is pretty good at basketball), almost every his teacher thinks he should major in the subject she/he teaches based on his perfomance in the class. He really loves and is good at music, he likes to compete, but he does not want to be music major, because he thinks it is not a good option for his future career.</p>
<p>
I’m going to give two kinds of advice.
First, the approved standard CC advice: he should do what he loves and has passion for.
Second, strategic advice: this is harder–but if the rest of his resume (or likely future resume) shows a lot of math/science stuff, being drum major may be very helpful in showing that he is not one-dimensional, and that he is a leader. The counter-argument would be that if the math/science program is selective, it constitutes an achievement outside the school (which isn’t the case for being drum major).</p>
<p>In this case , I would say the kid should do the one he has a passion for. I’d recommend he NOT choose based on which activity would look better on the “resume”.
I hope you’ll recomend he be true to himself on this issue and in life, rather than picking the activity that might mislead others about his passions and interests. You don’t have to be 'holy" to suggest your kid be honest about his interests.
Look at it this way- if he chooses drum major because “it looks better”, then he isn’t a leader. He is a trickster.</p>
<p>I just have to say that teenagers can be on the fence about which of two activities they’d like to do, and it’s hardly being a trickster to think about which might have more long-term benefits. Each activity has pros and cons, and a sensible person will consider all of them.</p>
<p>My son was a drum major for 3 years. It was one of the best experiences for him in HS. Not only did he lead a group of peers but he also had the experience of dealing with band parents (all the good and the bad) the band staff, the administration and he was a face in the community. Our director was terrific at developing his abilities and treated him almost as an assistant director. He went on to play in his college marching band for 3 years. He also was an RA for 3 years and I feel that those skills developed as a leader in HS carried on through the university. At his school only a few kids major in music, 95% of the band are non music majors.</p>
<p>^I think that’s true for my kids’ HS band, too. My S’s senior year drum major (and close friend) went on to major in history at West Point, and is training in Special Forces. Talk about leadership!</p>
<p>The Op’s title is a bit vague. Of course drum major is a good thing. Who would argue it is a bad thing? Drug arrests are bad things. Jail time is a bad thing. Participating in school band related activities is a good thing.
There are reasons in general, to choose drum major. There are reasons to choose something else. They can be good, sound reasons. Imo, to pick it because “it looks better” is being a trickster. What would student say(if honest) if a counselor asked him why he chose drum major? If the answer was “I had many interests, but I chose this because I thought it would look better”, then that answer would not impress. If the answer is “I had many interests, but I chose this because this is the one I was most passionate about” - that does impress.</p>
<p>Is that what the Op is asking about? Looking better? I think so.
The young person in question has many interests, but may determine his course not based on passion, or cost, or subject matter, or availability; but based on what looks better. I urge the Op to guide toward the course that better suits the kid’s passion rather than the course they hope will look better.</p>
<p>I like the second answer in Hunt’s post. .</p>
<p>Adding here, as a parent, if you might be hung up, as a parent, on whether it “sounds smarter” (my words NOT yours) to be a drum major vs. a science camp student for one summer, I would say that is a wash. Both are intelligent ways to spend a summer.</p>
<p>Eventually for some top schools (Ivies, top LAC’s) a student will be evaluated, in some measure depending on the school, by self-composed personal essays which might include what any EC activity meant to him, what meaning he derived from it. A drum major who ends up changing the culture within the activity, at the student/parent level, or even tries/doesn’t entirely succeed/yet learns from the experience of trying, will have something very smart to say about this coming summer if he chooses to.</p>
<p>PS, One of my brothers-in-law was a precision drum/bugle corps leader in h.s. and you wouldn’t want to be on the other side of him in a law case. Today he’s a mighty sharp attorney.</p>
<p>I appreciate your sense of humility as a parent; it’s humbling to do this work isn’t it? ;)</p>
<p>Many thanks to you all.</p>