marching band/colorguard questions

<p>is there anyone here involved in either the ucla marching band or colorguard? i twirled tall flags for three years and would LOVE to twirl again, but i want to get in touch with someone who can answer loads of questions...</p>

<p>i realize i shouldn't make my choice (ucla vs scripps) based on the presence of a colorguard but... it's tempting!</p>

<p>anyways, any info would be appreciated. thanks!</p>

<p>i might be able to answer your questions. i'm a former UCLA marching band member. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.uclaband.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uclaband.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>great!
how intense is marching band? how often do you rehearse, do you get class credit, and is the atmosphere serious or more laid-back?
also, does every member travel to every game? do we pay travel costs? is it hard to balance academics? (i would be in the honors program as a psych major)
anything that you could tell me would help me out a lot. i'm just trying to get the inside scoop...
<em>picks up ipod</em>
<em>starts choreographing tryout routine</em></p>

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how intense is marching band?

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<p>band camp is intense. we basically learn the drill to the pre-game show and one of the halftime shows (we do around 2-3 different halftime shows during the season). marching band overall for the rest of the year is not intense, but we do put in a lot of effort and accomplish a lot in a short time</p>

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how often do you rehearse

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<p>three 2-hour practices during the weekdays, and morning rehearsal before game days. occassional extra rehearsal for colorguard and battery. compared to high school rehearsals, it's not a lot in terms of time commitment. this schedule only goes for the fall quarter during football season.</p>

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do you get class credit

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<p>you can. 2 units of free A. </p>

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is the atmosphere serious or more laid-back

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<p>more laid-back. definitely not serious like drum corps. </p>

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does every member travel to every game?

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<p>every member goes to all the home games. for the away games, usually everyone goes up to the bay area trip (stanford or cal), but next year everyone's going to travel to NOTRE DAME! as for the other games, only a returner pep band goes for the games before the school year starts, and no one goes to the rest of the away games during the school year. </p>

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do we pay travel costs?

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<p>the band is free! no fundraising! everything, including transportation and hotel when traveling, is free! you even get lunch on football game days. </p>

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is it hard to balance academics?

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<p>you should be fine. </p>

<p>i think they're usually short on colorguard/flags so i think you have a very good shot at making it. let me know if u have more questions and good luck!</p>

<p>thanks so much kfc! i'm really jazzed about the colorguard... now i hafta keep myself from making my college decision based solely on my desire to twirl... lol!</p>

<p>I thought you people like to call it spinning because twirling is for the baton girls. lol.</p>

<p>nah at my school we twirl... tall flags and pep flags. or board, in the case of ID. but tall flags = <3!!!</p>