<p>Does anyone have any experience with their kids being in marching band at Alabama? We will be visiting in April and my son is interested in aerospace eng. or actuary science. I know both of those majors will require a lot of work and I wasn’t sure how that might work out with marching band. Any comments are welcome. Also, any tips on how to make our visit useful would be great. We are traveling from Virginia to Florida and than to Alabama.</p>
<p>One of my son’s suitemates for next year is in the Million Dollar Band, and he just loves it. He is a chemical engineering major who works his schedule around practice/games. I do know that he will be on campus earlier than other students – like the first few days of August.</p>
<p>One of my older son’s former suitemate’s is in the Million Dollar Band. He likes it, but it is a big time commitment.</p>
<p>That is exactly what I was thinking. The band is going to be a big time committment and engineering classes are not too easy. But every website I look at everyone says the same thing. Engineering majors can be in band and do manage to get everything done. I was just hoping someone on this thread might have a kid in the band and give me first hand knowledge. Looking forward to visiting this wonderful school I keep reading about in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I wonder if you could contact the director of the MDB and ask how engineering students manage. Just a thought.</p>
<p>That is exactly what i am having my son do. We are visiting in two weeks and I want him to talk to the engineering folks and someone in band. I know not all schools have the same requirements for marching band, some are more lax while others treat it as a number one priority. I’m just concerned with adjusting to college (no matter where it is) and the work load, the band might takeup too much time. But as I mentioned before, anyone I ask from various schools all spout out he same mumbo, jumbo : the kids can handle it. I guess I’m just a worried parent. Looking forward to our visit.</p>
<p>As most people have said Engineering and the MDB both require a lot of time. My sister, currently a junior in the MDB was an engineering student as a freshman. She had a very tough time her first semester with time management between practice everyday and doing all of her school work. She was still able to succeed in both. However, if your child is able to do both I suggest doing it as both programs are very rewarding.</p>