<p>My daughter is an Oboe player and detests her school band. They are the Pep Band all of fall semester which has no Oboe music so she plays the tamborine or cow bell. She is a rising senior. She wants desperately to not take band this year. I have mixed feelings, on the one hand I see it as quitting, she has been in band since 6th grade. On the other hand we are tired of the complaining. Her GPA would actually be higher without the band class. I am interested in what others might think. Specifically, would selective schools also perceive this as "quitting" and consider it a negative?</p>
<p>I was in string orchestra since 3rd grade and continued until I got to high school and then dropped it. I didn't enjoy it, and frankly, I don't see how playing an instrument distinguishes you from the rest of the pack (unless a virtuoso of course). Let her do what she's interested in. Not only will she do better in that, it very well may be something that does distinguish her. How about making her replace her band commitment with another equally time consuming commitment that she likes better?</p>
<p>On the other hand though, since she is going to graduate soon anyway, she could also just stick with band until college applications are all out...</p>
<p>I agree. I think dropping such a major commitment in senior year might look like slacker/flake. Her GPA's pretty much set at this point anyhow (one semester max of seeing improvement), so again you'd probably want to stick with it.</p>
<p>I have no idea what colleges would say about this. IMO band is an enormous time committment and by focusing on this a kid can miss a lot of other opportunities that might be more important to their individual growth. The question is, what is she going to do to replace this. If closing this door opens a window for her it could be a good thing. Band can be a wonderful thing for kids if it is for the right reasons. If it is for the wrong reasons it can keep them from other possibly more valuable experiences.</p>
<p>Bulinskimom, which universities does your daughter plan to apply to? What is her school rank/GPA?</p>
<p>These factors could influence whether she should or shouldn't drop out of band.</p>
<p>Personally, I had the same decision (I'm assuming) as your daughter. I liked being in concert band during high school, but I didn't really like pep band and marching band. I did 3 years of concert and honor band.</p>
<p>However, I did 2 years of pep and marching band (mainly, because my band director didn't let anyone do honor band without marching band).</p>
<p>Then, senior year came. I had 15 clubs, hundreds of hours of volunteer work, membership in a school committee, etc. I need to lighten my extra curricular mode for the college application season.</p>
<p>That's why I had to quit band senior year. Also, it conflicted with my AP Chemistry class, which I had to get to another high school just to take it.</p>
<p>Finally, my decisions came in the Spring. I got into Berkeley, UCLA, USC, NYU, etc. I was waitlisted by Brown and Stanford (then, later rejected).</p>
<p>However, I knew 1 genre of activity did not keep me from my top choices. </p>
<p>Test scores kept me from my top schools. Thus, your daughter should decide if she wants to stay or not. If she can't do band senior year, try to get her into a Youth Symphony (I couldn't do this because I played the saxophone, which is not a standard symphonic instrument).</p>
<p>Also, if your daughter has other activities that she has done throughout all 4 years, then most likely, colleges might place more emphasis on those activities instead of her decision to quit band.</p>
<p>If band is a class for credit, would she replace it with another class for credit? If so, and particularly if the replacement class is an academic subject, or another arts subject, I don't see that it would be a huge problem. I might feel differently, though, if music is a big part of her activities and interests. How accomplished an oboe player is she? Has she been in county or state honors bands? Does she want to play oboe in college?</p>
<p>Does your community college offer band/orchestra? We found that the time commitment was much less than high school band, yet it still showed commitment. Rehearsals were in the evening (just once per week).</p>
<p>i think you should be fine dropping band.
I dropped band after sophomore year, because I REALLLLLY hated it.</p>
<p>If she really dislikes it, let her drop it. Do let her know that it may impact college decisions (but honestly, not that significantly, at least I wouldn't think) but remember that it's her choice.</p>
<p>Could she keep up with private lessons? My daughter did that and did some private recitals but she dropped school band and took other electives.</p>
<p>Look: I played clarinet from the time I was eight. Come senior year, I had a choice to make to either drop band or to take rigorous classes I really wanted. I dropped band. I applied to two ivies and 4 top engineering schools, accepted by each and matriculated at one of the HYP colleges.</p>
<p>As long as your D doesn't trade band for some totally fluff course, she should be fine.</p>
<p>Let her drop band. No reason for her to continue with something that she hates. The time that she gains could also allow her to get involved in something that does interest her. High school is probably the best time in one's life for exploration and self discovery. </p>
<p>Most colleges use ECs at most for merit aid. The bulk of admissions decisions are made on the basis of gpa, scores, class rank, and in the case of public universities, state of residence. </p>
<p>It's only the very top colleges -- places like HPYS that have an overabundance of high stat applicants -- that have the luxury of picking and choosing among their high stat pool -- the students who'd most contribute to maintaining a diverse (in all meanings of the word), active student body. For such colleges, for an applicant to stand out for being a musician, they'd have to be a professional musician of the child prodigy type. That's because probably the majority of applicants to top colleges have some kind of background in music, so being in a school band isn't something that would tip a student in.</p>
<p>Are there any local private orchestras in your area? I dropped band after freshman year of high school, but continued to play trumpet sophomore and junior year in a private band. I quit that band senior year too, but that was because I tacked on an internship in the same area as my prospective major. In school I tacked on two years of computer programming (very glad I did) instaed of band. I got into two top 10 schools (US News standards anyway). </p>
<p>Unless band is your daughter's only EC, it is fine to drop it. Just be sure to replace it with something valuable like an AP class.</p>
<p>She doesn't need to replace it with an AP class. Band isn't the equivalent of an AP class. Almost any class could be a replacement for band, a class that many colleges wouldn't count in terms of recalculating the students' gpa (something most colleges do, using their own standards) anyway.</p>
<p>It could be good if the D replaced band with a class in an area that she's been interested in, but hasn't had time before to delve into.</p>
<p>If she's looking at selective colleges it looks better to replace band with an AP, or at least honors, class (keeping up with the whole "toughest courses possible" check box) than to supplement it with an obvious fluff elective.</p>
<p>The D already has a hook for selective colleges: She's Alaskan. She also had some of the highest scores in the state when she was in 7th grade. Presumably she has excellent SAT scores now. She should be a highly desirable applicant at most colleges, so should be able to do well in admissions after swapping band for virtually any class she chooses.</p>
<p>You mention that her GPA would probably be higher without band. Selective schools are much more impressed with a higher GPA and challenging course load. She already has 6th grade through 11th grade - 6 years of band as an EC to list - I don't think any admissions reader would consider that "quitting."</p>
<p>And you mention that she detests band. She detests band. It is time for her to quit band.</p>
<p>Band is not really an EC if it's a class, anyway.</p>
<p>I would think it qualifies as an EC if she participated in the out-of-school aspects such as marching in parades and at football games. Even the cowbell at the pep rally would count if the pep rally is after school!</p>
<p>Northstarmom, how in God's name am I supposed to know that? I'm just giving blanket advice that my GC gave me a few years ago.</p>