<p>Actually Vanderbilt. But it was strictly one clerks opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a spun from a discussion about music and how it relates to reports of higher test scores, etc. She knew of D’s school and it’s national rankings in band.</p>
<p>Interesting, though, that most of the schools in the Ivy League, as well as Stanford, don’t have true marching bands per se, but have what I think they call ‘scramble bands’. A very different kind of activity.</p>
<p>There seems to be a North/South (or perhaps more accurately a Blue State/Red State) divide on the relative ‘ultimateness’ of marching band.</p>
<p>
Not really. Marching band is also huge in states like California and Illinois.</p>
<p>I consider marching band to be the ultimate EC. It demands more time, skill, discipline and commitment than just about any other EC. But it is well worth it, because the kids learn the value of teamwork. They learn not to let each other down. They go to summer band camp, sweat it out in the heat, give up every Saturday in the fall, every day after school and one or two evenings a week for practices, snap to when they hear the whistle blow, and they learn to do it all with a smile. 
It’s great preparation for the rigors of college.</p>
<p>^^I agree, but the same can be said of many other demanding ECs, particularly sports. Cross country certainly requires everything you named above.</p>
<p>I would argue that for a student going into engineering an EC such as robotics or science olympiad, where your school has a very active club (15-20hrs/week), you were very dedicated, and competed on the state and national level, that activity is going to get a second look.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Truer words were never spoken! All CC parents should be required to memorize this!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. Why is it any more or less important than any other EC?</p>
<p>“IMHO, the reason to do an EC is that you enjoy doing it. If it helps you get into college, so much the better.”</p>
<p>Can I say “AMEN” in a way so as to not offend a soul?! If your student is going to spend 15-20hrs/week doing something they better darn well love it. If not, your student, and you, are going to be miserable!!!</p>
<p>“So there are no swanky half-time shows for us.”</p>
<p>One of my pet peeves…the marching band is ignored by most of the crowd during the half-time show of the football games where I live. Not only ignored but many in the crowd stand up, talking loudly to others in the crowd, blocking the view and sound for those who enjoy the kids’ performance and appreciate their hard work. Rant over.</p>
<p>The good news at the high school I attended was that the football team was so terrible and our band was so good, that the band was really appreciated and everyone watched the shows. I had no idea high school football could actually be GOOD until I got out of college. (College team was also terrible- won only 1 or 2 games while I was there and this was a Big Ten school! Now-if you want to talk BASKETBALL…)</p>
<p>I have a great respect for marching band, but I can’t see how it is the ultimate EC. All the things said about Marching Band can be said about several other ECs that I know of…many sports teams and theater, to name just a few. </p>
<p>First, I totally agree that you should pick ECs due to a strong interest in it, not what “looks good for college.” The idea of picking ECs for college never occurred to me until I found CC 8 years ago. 
My kids have been in heavily committed ECs over the years that they began when quite young and the idea of college admissions never entered into their choices. They really loved their ECs and would do them even if they never were going to college eventually, and also continued with these interests in college. </p>
<p>That said, I think too much emphasis here is on WHAT the EC is and I believe colleges don’t care as much about WHAT the EC is but rather the student’s level of involvement (over a number of years and also a significant amount of time devoted to it weekly), their contributions to the endeavor, their achievements in that activity, and the role they played (leadership is a plus). You can sub a myriad of ECs into these parameters. </p>
<p>By the way, my kids’ high school did not have marching band (nor football or cheerleaders). It did have concert band and jazz band (which my kids were in). At our high school, many of the top students are involved in the music program.</p>
<p>(when I was in ninth grade, I was a pom pom girl who performed routines with the marching band)</p>
<p>
I’d argue there is some truth to it. Marching band along with a couple of other major sport activites is one of the known time-consuming ECs (15-20 hrs/wk). When you put that on your application, the Adcom automatically figures 15-20 hours into your ECs. Other ECs such as volunteering can be as short as one hour per week and can be as long as you can make it. When the adcom evaluates a student’s academic achievement, they need to know the circumstances including how much time the student spend on ECs. Marching band is one of ultimate ECs to the adcom because they know how much time students spend on it.</p>
<p>^^That is true of marching band but it is also true with several other ECs that I know of, that my own kids also did such as sports, theater, dance. Huge time commitments.</p>
<p>EC’s & their committment varies wildly from school to school. At our school theatre is the biggest committment. There is a fall play performed in our black box theatre. Auditions are in August. Performance is the first weekend in November. Auditions for the spring musical are the first week of Dec., perfromances are the second & third weekends of March. Students not only practice on stage but help the production team in building of elaborate sets with a typical budget of $20,000 to $30,000. Both of my D’s went through the program. It is typical for the students to be at school until 9:15 PM during the week (14 hour days). For the three weekends leading up to the show and Feb break they were there from 9 AM to 9 PM. A lot of pressure from a demanding director & upholding a regional reputation can really take a toll on some kids (especially leads). However at a neighboring school being in the theatre program isn’t anywhere near the committment, but adcoms can’t know this.</p>
<p>
I have no doubt about what you said, but theater and dance are not as standard competitive activities as marching band. While students at your school may spend 20 hrs/wk on theater, other schools may spend only 5. The same cannot be said about marching band, 15-20 hrs/wk is the standard.</p>
<p>I think adcoms are brighter than we think when it comes to things as these. Certain high schools are known for certain high quality ECs and just like schools have profiles, I am sure there are logs of schools that offer impressive programs from Football to Cross Country to Fine Arts.</p>
<p>
They might be brighter, but when you have to read 100 applications a day, no matter how bright you are, your mind gets dimmer and you want some assurance.</p>
<p>Marching band is a fall activity in the schools in this area. While it is time consuming in the fall…when football season ends so does marching band. The wind ensemble at our school is for the whole school year…if you add up the hours, it probably is more. Youth orchestra is also a huge commitment. The school play consumes huge hours of time. Sports do to when you include practices and the games or meets. </p>
<p>I thought the ultimate EC was doing research for a nobel prize winning scientist:)</p>
<p>Many of my friends would be happy to hear this.</p>