<p>MIT sounds like the place to go to hang with the biggest science geeks in the country, but this drum major/saxophone player doesn't want to give up her band geek roots. What are the ensembles like at MIT? Are they near to conservatory caliber? What fraction of the ensembles is non-music majors? What's the marching band like? Time commitment? Is the jazz ensemble more "real" jazz, or Glenn Miller-type big band crowd-pleaser charts? </p>
<p>(I'm a junior, 36 ACT, 3rd in class, 4.0 unweighted, APs up the wazoo, band geek extraordinaire, if you'd like to know.)</p>
<p>I like science geeks. That's why I actually considered applying to MIT. Imaging telling your interviewer that you think people at MIT are very attractive.</p>
<p>A few quick answers:
1. Almost all of the ensembles are made up of non-music majors, since there are somewhere on the order of 20 music majors in this entire school (5 SB's in music were awarded last year, so 5 per year*4 years = 20).</p>
<ol>
<li>A list of musical ensembles, with links to the relevant pages, can be found here: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/life/category/arts.html#links%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/life/category/arts.html#links</a></li>
</ol>
<p>mollieb, thanks for the info and the link. Now for more questions: How many of your friends are in some sort of music ensemble? Does it seem like it takes up a ton of their time? Also, what do /you/ think of the ensembles? Would/do you go to concerts?</p>
<p>Well, I don't know too many people in instrumental ensembles (which is probably more of a function of the people I happen to know rather than the overall distribution on campus). I do know one girl who does both MITSO (symphony orchestra) and cheerleading, so it can't be too much of a time sink. </p>
<p>Actually, few extracurriculars at MIT are really and truly time sinks. School is important to all of us, or else why would we be paying godawful amounts of money to come here...</p>
<p>I don't personally go to any of the instrumental ensemble concerts, but I'm more of a vocal music fan than instrumental... :)</p>
<p>Thanks mollieb, that's the kind of personal experience answer I was looking for. =)</p>