<p>I'm going to be a sophomore in high school (before you tell me to get off the board, just hear me out). I play the trombone for the school band, and I believe I could get district or state honors by at latest senior year. Private lessons are probably not an option for me because of cost and the matter of scheduling lessons on top of a tough workload. My trombone-playing is the only thing that shows my musical side. Unfortunately, the band class also occupies a valuable slot in my daily schedule. If I didn't take band, I could take about three more AP classes on top of the 11+ that I'm already slated to take. I'm not sure what to do, because I do enjoy music, and I also enjoy challenging academic classes. From a purely admissions-related standpoint, should I go with the trombone (which is a relatively unique-ish instrument, especially for Indians like me), or should I take those extra APs, which would boost my GPA?</p>
<p>Keep trombone (and band). High school is too short to give up something that's fun. Taking more APs may or may not boost your GPA - if you don't have another break or an outlet, you may not do as well in your classes. Colleges want kids who do something other than study.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn't think anyone else had this problem. Cool. Anyway, now that I sound like a loser-if you are planning on taking 11 AP's you don't need three more. Having not taken any-I don't think you realize that signing up warrants a lot of time and effort. Colleges love to see commitment to an activity, especially something like an instrument because it is a musical skill. I could have had more APs but I chose to do band for 4 years. I got a leadership position in Marching Band, and I'm first chair Saxophone in conert band. If you stick it out, you'll have the benefit of commitment and leadership options on your side.</p>
<p>Im sure I could have been #1 or at least in reach in my school If I didn't take the extra 2 years of Improv. My theory: you can never be too talented. Take what you like, esp. if you think you're that good in it.</p>
<p>Take the band, have fun with it. If you want an AP you can likely take it online. My son is taking 2 extra courses online through the county schools system in order to stay in orchestra.</p>
<p>Definitely take band. I took band all four years, and I never regretted it. When you look back on high school ten years from now, it's going to be all the great memories from band that you remember, not those extra AP classes. </p>
<p>Also, taking band doesn't automatically doom your class rank. If you do well in all your classes and other people don't, you could still have a very high class rank. Heck, I'm currently ranked number 1 in my class despite having taken band, and a lot of the other top kids are in band as well. So don't worry too much about those extra three AP classes, and take band.</p>
<p>I'm taking two band classes. Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. That's two periods out of seven in which I can't take an IB class.</p>
<p>I don't regret it.</p>
<p>Of course, in my school, my class rank absolutely WILL be pushed down because of it. 520 students, wager that about 10 will take 7 IB classes both years... some will take 6... I don't stand a chance at the top 15. No matter. At least at my skill level, my band classes are free A's. Not weighted A's, but ah well.</p>
<p>yea im taking band as well and my decision to stay with it has really payed off because of the recognition ive gotten for it ( also rare for me being an indian drummer :-) ) but i think being more well rounded than the perfect student is what colleges are looking for nowadays. Also, 11 AP's by senior year is quite a load id say. so yea, stick with trombone and band. Represent the brown bandies minority!</p>
<p>boner love 4ever!! :D</p>
<p>district or state honors FAR trump 3 more AP classes. Selective colleges want to see that you pursued an EC and excelled in it. Music will do this for you, 3 more APs will not. Just look at the FAQ of any top college (Stanford, for one, spells this out) and see what they say about ECs.</p>
<p>And you should try to do more with music than just individual accomplishment. Can you be a leader at school? Create outreach progams to play concerts (retirement homes, etc) or encourage kids to take up an instrument? Organize fundraisers for the band? The sky is the limit, but the more you do (and genuinely throw yourself into, not do with an eye to what some adcom might think about it) the more you'll and enjoy it AND the more you potentially enhance your attractiveness to college.</p>
<p>AP is not worth that much, unless you want the National AP scholar thing.
Band is also fun to be in. Just do whatever you think is right.</p>
<p>Being in band can expand to give you way more positives than the APs. Besides the state honors, there are numerous leadership opportunities in band (section leader, band government, etc). And then there are all the other ECs connected to it--besides band, my S also played in the orchestra, jazz band, and brass ensemble. He played trombone, like you, and I really think it was an asset to getting into a very selective school.</p>
<p>But that's not why he did it; he did it because he loved playing music, and it was tons of fun.</p>
<p>As others have already mentioned, I would also encourage you to stick with band if you enjoy it; if you can make it a strong EC you should have nothing to worry about as long as you already have a rigorous courseload. Band can also provide many EC opportunities in college even for non-music majors--a great way to get to know other kids! Some colleges even offer music scholarships for non-music majors to increase membership in their bands.</p>
<p>Colleges actually look down on people sacrificing things they like so they can take APs (especially if they're already taking a good number). It's more respectable to sacrifice those extra APs and stick with what you actually enjoy, as it demonstrates balance (though i suppose I'm a bit biased, I missed out on 6 extra APs by taking debate and ROTC every year in HS, including upcoming senior year).</p>