Ideas for high school sophomore just starting; interest in marching band, video/film/web design majors, small to medium school

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Definitely not uber-serious as in “must audition weekly to participate” but loves playing and the comradery. Doesn’t want a music major per se, but finds marching activity a great blend of musical arts and socialization, if that makes sense.

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Yeah, it’s early, I realized. BUT … you have to start somewhere and have some ideas of what is/isn’t reachable. He’s a very strong student, excellent work ethic, advocates for self when needs help, great communicator. Not a great tester, and not interested in the super-selective, cutthroat, mania. Really just seeking ideas on where marching band plus major interests can intersect (outside of the schools in our area or the obvious huge football schools). There are some good ideas in here that I hadn’t considered and the feedback is all very helpful. I’m a professor so see this from a VERY different side, LOL. While I want my kiddo to ultimately lead his search, I think I need to give some ideas as starting points. Even if they’re all “No way!” – those will lead to him looking on his own (I think?!?). So while son isn’t thinking of all of this right now, it will creep up before we know if, and I want to be prepared, if that makes sense. So I truly appreciate all of the suggestions and things to think about!

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110 Marching Men was what the band at OU used to be called. Of course it has women too…and it’s a great band. This is a school with checking out. Also has a broad range of majors.

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I understand.

Based on the experience of my own daughter, and with (slightly) younger kids from close friends, the next year or two will bring “clarity” to him. It seems, as they start taking more advanced classes in high school, try out some electives, get more involved with other school activities - and, importantly, listen to what their peers are doing differently - will help them shape some prospective areas of interest, or start to realize a dislike for others.

Also, when everyone around them starts talking more about their college/career ambitions, and they see some of “their” upper class man graduate each year, it causes them to consciously think about their own path.

Many will still be “undecided” about a major - and that’s good and normal, but I suspect your student will take much more active interest just in time when potential college options need to be identified.

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Edited my previous post to fix gender - sorry about that, not sure how I did that.

Another more reachy school to look at could be BU, which has a great film program (and an LA Semester option with internships), strong visual arts (film and graphic design are both BFA programs), and a nice marching band program that isn’t as heavy a time commitment as some (practice 3x/wk, season ends in early November, with non-marching pep band the rest of the year) https://www.bu.edu/bands/bands-and-ensembles/athletic-bands/ (Could be a great way to get all the social and musical benefits of marching band without a life-devouring full-year commitment.) This is a lower-odds school that would require a program-specific admissions process with portfolio, but it’s not as tough (esp for film) as USC.

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My kid went to BU. The pep band is the that plays at sporting events, so if that is what interests you, look into that at BU. The marching band doesn’t play at sports events usually.

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As others have mentioned it is a bit early, but sometimes visits to schools, even early in the process, can help clarify things like size of school, location, distance from home, etc…

If you are looking for a few schools you can visit on a road trip that would include Washington DC, and the Shenandoah Valley in VA, which are different in terms of size and location you could look at:
American University (pep band) - approx. 8,000 undergraduates
Shenandoah University – approx. 2,500 undergraduates
James Madison University – approx 20,000 undergraduates

If you want to continue south into North Carolina you could look at:
Elon University – approx 6,300 undergraduates
UNC Greensboro (Athletic Band) – approx 15,000 undergraduates
Wake Forest University (Film and Media Studies Minor) – approx. 5,400 undergraduates
High Point University – approximately 5,000 undergraduates
Appalachian State University – approx. 18,000 undergraduates

This is a mixture of public/private, rural/suburban/urban, size, selectivity, campus feels, etc… and could help to see what kinds of campus environments resonate.

There are recreational activities along this route as well, so it could be an early trip to see a number of different types of schools and campuses, mixed in with vacation activities depending on how long a trip.

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This is a great list! I’ve recently heard great things about Elon from a colleague whose DD is starting there so will have to keep an eye on that one. JMU has also come up several places, and I didn’t realize American had a pep band. These should be great additions to the “long list” of starters! Thx!

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No worries with gender. A male flutist is rare until you get into the professional realm (where do all the women go?), so I get the assumption! You’ve got great intel about BU’s marching program. My sense (right now) is that he’d want band primarily to blend social outlet with musical skills and it not be “life-devouring” as you put it. It’s going on the starter list! Thx!

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Great timeline advice! And I agree, going when school is in session is much better gauge of what the campus culture is like

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Just out of curiosity, does your child’s high school have Naviance? If so, then that could give you some ideas about schools where your child might have a decent shot at acceptance.

Also, I don’t know how many guidance counselors your child’s high school has; but since it is a public high school, the number may be fewer and those GCs are likely to be overworked. If that is the case, then it will be a case of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”; and you need to make an effort to meet with them the next year or two, so that the GCs get to know both you and your child, and will be more likely to make an effort to help your child with college applications.

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They do use Naviance and there are 4 guidance counselors, split up by alphabetical last names, plus a dedicated college/post-high school career counselor. It’s a pretty small public school and son’s counselor has been very helpful so far (e.g., selecting AP courses, etc.), but I definitely agree, being the squeaky wheel can help!

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We started the college search my daughter’s freshman year. I had a suggestion that she search at least one local, at least one out of state and her dream school!

We visited SCAD in Savannah, GA an art based school, High Point University in North Carolina and Georgia Southern to name a few.

Look for schools with open houses for high school students! My daughter went with High Point, and attended an open house at end of sophomore year! It’s never to early in my opinion!

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It is early, as others have said, but I think if your student is interested you could go see different school sizes and settings to get a feel for what they like, generally speaking. We did tours of schools within a short drive with our older one in the fall of 10th, official and unofficial, just to start: did an urban public with no distinct quads/campus, a small to medium school with a classic campus feel, and a big flagship type with a classic separated college campus. She loved one feel/fit over the other two, so we aimed the rest of the list around that general size and feel and eventually found safety/match /reaches that were similarish to build a varied list. I just recommend not touring super reaches this early because in a year it could become clear they are way out of reach.

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Has your son toured any of the SE PA colleges? Some other schools which would be extremely likely admits that would address some of his areas of interest include:

So with the Pennsylvania publics he can visit urban, suburban, and rural schools as well as small (Lincoln), medium (most of these), and large (Pitt, Temple, Penn State) to see what feels like a good fit for him.

ETA:

Finding an in-state public that he’d be happy to attend is always a great safety, and there are many to choose from in Pennsylvania.

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Thank you for starting this thread! We are in a similar position, sophomore daughter, strong student but not uber-competitive, looking for design major (prob industrial but still exploring), and really wants to do marching band. I started a thread really early back in January that’s been closed now – lots of life happened in the interim, so I haven’t been checking in, lol:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/building-early-list-industrial-design-plus-marching-band/

I’m grateful for the suggestions on this thread! Baldwin Wallace looks intriguing. Also James Madison University, which someone mentioned on the other thread as well.

Since starting that other thread, daughter has decided that she would really like the big traditional marching band experience, and doesn’t really want to settle for only scramble band or pep band. So that eliminates quite a few schools. But, she hates the idea of a band so competitive that she might not get a spot after committing and attending band camp.

I think Virginia Tech might fall into that category? I’m not sure. We’re talking about Appalachian State, NC State, Tulane (which my older daughter was waitlisted at with amazing stats, so it’d be a far reach), and now James Madison.

Georgia Tech is in-state for us, but even if she could get in, I think the vibe might be a little too intense. And she knows several kids who are in the band there – they tend to quit after a couple of years because the schoolwork is too time-consuming, and because no one goes to the football games, so it’s not so much fun for the band.

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Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. Wentworth students can join the Boston College marching band.

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This might need to be split off into its own thread to avoid confusion, but I’ll respond here…

CU Boulder seems to fit!

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Note that the other thread has been reopened.

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My daughter is an Interior Design major. She loves the program at High Point University in North Carolina! We have been incredibly impressed with the program as well!