I’m not sure if we’re done with tests. Her superscore SAT is in line with her GPA, but I may ask her to sit once more, just to see if she can raise math just a little bit. On the other hand, why waste a weekend mornings?
Not sure if we’re looking to add any more colleges to the list. Since the Spring of 2015, we’ve toured 13 U’s in 5 states:
Stevenson U - MD (too small & it has 2 campuses – 1 older & 1 modern – located 6 miles apart)
Appalachian State U - Boone (regional U in the mountains)
East Carolina U - Greenville
OH U - Athens (college town)
Christopher Newport U (regional U near the ocean)
George Mason U (Pep, but no MB)
James Madison U (regional U near a ski resort)
Longwood U (no MB)
U of Mary Washington (no MB)
Old Dominion U (concerned about surrounding neighborhood of Norfolk)
VA Commonwealth U (Pep, but no MB)
VA Tech (reach/dream)
WV U - Morgantown (also has 2 campuses)
We haven’t visited the following … does anyone have comments (pros or cons) pertaining to these U’s and/or cities?
Towson U - MD (used to be considered a commuter college, but the label has now changed to residential college)
U of AL - Tuscaloosa (very popular on this website)
U of RI - Kingston (almost 1/2 the students are OOS)
U of Dayton - OH (Jesuit)
Ball State - IN
U of NH - Durham (1/2 the students are OOS)
@MomStudent2017 that’s a lot of touring! UA is very popular on this site to be sure. I’ve been to Dayton, for work briefly but can’t really remember a thing about and likely drove through Muncie (Ball State) but the same would apply. Ohio U is on our list as well, primary for program reasons but also merit. I would love any input on it as we are unlikely to tour before applying, if he applies.
@eandesmom S17’s band director doesn’t particularly like Parade. He’s all about field shows, concert band, and Jazz band. The only time they parade is at Disneyland, so far they have done that 2/3 years. (Only a day trip here, so it’s not a huge big deal.) There are HUGE competitions around our area, although some teams travel as far as 2 hours away for comps. Some groups have 200+ members and are very very impressive. DS went to Jazz camp for a few summer in junior high. But HS band director basically told DS he would need to switch instruments if he took Jazz, and he wasn’t interested. Jazz is done in the spring and takes up the time slot for Marching.
Towson may have had a number of commuters, but has always had a high percentage on students living on campus too. My brother lived on campus and we lived less than 10 miles away (I drove by campus on my way to work every day, and my brothers’ high school was just down the street so certainly in our commuting area). Towson has a number of sports that compete at a high level. It is close to Goucher, Hopkins, Loyola and has a real college campus feel to it.
U Dayton is a lovely school.
@curiositycat333 that is interesting that Jazz takes up the time slot for MB. Do they have different directors? For us, MB and Pep are required for sophomores and above if they are in any of the concert bands (freshman, symphonic and WE which is tryout based). Jazz is only allowed if you participate in a concert band and is also audition based, we have 2, a Stage Band and then Jazz. It is zero period, before school so does not conflict with any other classes other than zero period PE. They have many more kids try out for Jazz than they can place in either band. I am kind of bummed as I don’t think S19 will make it into Jazz this year (he is in Stage Band) and he didn’t make the cut for WE either. I was hoping they’d be in one band together for Sr. year but it doesn’t seem likely. We will see though, Jazz tryouts aren’t until fall.
Bummer he would have to switch instruments to do Jazz but if he loves MB it sounds like it is for the best anyway. We did DL S17’s Freshman year. Shortest parade ever! Fun though. They melted in their full wool kilts though. I hope S19 will get to do it, not sure if it’s officially in the parade trip rotation or not. I think some elements of our band (bagpipes and highland dancers) simply lend themselves better to parades and from a time commitment standpoint, that’s ok with me!
@eandesmom Didn’t explain that well. MarchingBand is fall, when marching band is over Jazz takes over that time slot. (winter/spring) They don’t run the same time of the year. For us it’s the reverse to be in Marching Band or Jazz band you must be in concert band. Marching band counts for PE credit, and so if you do it all four years you never have to take a PE class. (We only require 2 years of H.S. PE.) They get a lot more exercise in marching band then they do in many of the PE class so I don’t have a problem with it.
You can be just in concert band. There are multiple levels of concert band, and these count as a UC ‘academic’ class where marching band/jazz band don’t. (Concert band helps DS’s grade as they are easy A’s for him.) If you take marching band it takes up 2 periods of the day. You can’t take MB and a fall sport because they are also the same time slot, but can take a winter/spring one. We had a major schedule change 2 years ago that affects this and the only way to be in marching band, concert band plus 5 academic classes you have to take “zero” period at 7am. 
He didn’t HAVE to switch instruments to do Jazz. Band directory just discourages playing his instrument in the jazz band because it gets overpowered and doesn’t have an interesting line. Instead band directory recommends adding a 2nd instrument. It’s OK… S17 had made his peace with it.
@curiositycat333 @eandesmom … so interesting to hear about the different music programs offered elsewhere. At our public HS, marching band (open to all grades) runs from August - November. Jazz band auditions are held in December & rehearsals take place January - May on a weekly basis for an hour before the start of the school day in preparation for the spring concert. S17 plays the baritone for symphonic band (audition only & a class), & marching band, but plays the trombone for jazz band. Same director for all music ensembles.
I forgot to mention yes it is one teacher in charge of it all. But he often has a student teacher and boosters help pay for a few part time assistants. Those assistants do various things from lead the pit & drum line, flag team and to help with a freshman jazz band. Very similar to the sports programs, who usually have a head coach who is a teacher and part time assistant coaches.
@twoinanddone thanks for the positive info on Towson & U of Dayton. Towson is a short detour from family, so hopefully we can take a tour soon. U of Dayton isn’t on the way to anything, so not sure about visiting.
@eandesmom Yes, definitely a lot of touring, but all campus tours were on the drive to/from visits to family, the beach, or along the same route as others we planned to visit.
Our visit to Ohio U-Athens was a while ago. Unfortunately I messed up & scheduled an “admitted” vs “prospective” info session, but the tour of the campus was worth it. I’ve only been to OH once (Cincinnati), so I wasn’t sure what to expect of Athens. It’s definitely a college town–about the same # of students as citizens. OU said they have about 200K alumni. There is a nice area with restaurants/bar/shops within walking distance of the campus–this is also the area that I believe gives the U is party reputation–something about Halloween. We stayed in a hotel about 3 miles away where you can find other restaurants, CVS, Walmart, Lowes, etc. Not sure what else is in the area once you leave Athens (other than the river, trails, etc.). The campus appeared to be safe (blue poles & OH police). There is an honors program if your S is interested/eligible. OU has a 7 story (?) library that was very impressive, in addition to the rec ctr w/rock wall, gym, courts, jogging, pool. They play Division 1 sports & football is huge! There’s also a hospital adjacent to the campus.The campus has 4 “greens” with some closer to academic buildings than others, but all very walk-able & students are required to live on campus 2 years. Surprisingly only 8 students from our school have applied & 1 actually attended, but I could definitely see my S17 fitting in if the price is right.
@eandesmom we toured Ohio U last year, though we were mostly interested in the theater program. The town was cute and everywhere we went we met alumni who all raved about their time in Athens. The campus seemed safe and pretty. I thought the dorms were pretty run down, and there were rumors about some building (maybe the President’s house?) being shut down due to a bat infestation. The theater program seemed very Ohio-centric in that every internship and job they talked about students/graduates getting were in Ohio. I’m not sure this helps much, but my D removed it from her list pretty quickly, so I don’t remember too much more about it.
@MomStudent2017, @curiositycat333 wow, so sounds like neither of you have jazz as a full year option, it shares the year with MB. So then I assume if your kid doesn’t do Jazz, they do a different elective? I had assumed our Jazz, full year, zero period (7am start) would count as a UC g course but maybe not? @curiositycat333 you have sports that are a time slot? Wow! We definitely do not have that. All sports are after school, MB practice is evenings as is Pep. As I mentioned they are required and non attendance will reflect in your concert band (which ever one you are in) grade big time. Kids can be waived from the MB or Pep requirements (or conflicting events). for fall or winter sports, flags, cheer, and our highland dance team but not for drama.
For us, if a kid does all 4 years of music, any music, it fulfills their Occupational credit for graduation, as well as their Fine Arts one. The only way to get a PE waiver is to do sports. S17 received one for doing JV Swim one year and JV Tennis another. S19 should be golden as he’ll have 4 years of XC and Track but still will only yet 1 year waived. Both will still have to take one semester of PE.
@MomStudent2017 and @Reckless thank you for the Ohio U info! It is on the list only because it has a great sounding renewable energy engineering program, meets the music and theater requirements and appears to have great merit opportunity. However it is a bit outside of the geographical target range and the program is so new it is not yet ABET accredited which makes it risky, although I do think less so given their other programs are accredited and this is an offshoot of one of those. It “should” become accredited prior to S graduating but it is still a risk. We will see if it makes it into the apply pool or not, I hope S knows more after his class this week from a direction standpoint as the list is rather schizophrenic trying to have engineering and non engineering options available.
@eandesmom I can’t say if your Jazz class is a UC eligible class. That’s just how it’s done at DS’s school. As we are a CA school, the school makes it very clear which classes count towards an academic GPA (i.e. UC approved) or not. Sports do count as PE credit in our school. Classes that count for PE credit are not standard across my district, and other local H.S.'s don’t count marching band doesn’t count as PE.
@Reckless Bats? Yikes! I will say the dorm we were shown @ OU wasn’t as nice as some of the others we’ve seen; maybe due to the age of campus??
@eandesmom … my head was spinning reading your post of required classes/electives 
This type of discussion pertaining to HS requirements surprised me once I became active on CC. I attended a public HS & have always lived in the DC/MD/VA area, so maybe the school district requirements are similar compared to elsewhere in the US. My DH attended a private HS, so I always assumed our different experiences were public vs private rather than his home state vs. mine. Once I began researching U’s outside of our state, I was also surprised by some of the minimal requirements to apply. Our district requires 4 yrs each of Eng/Math/Hist/Sci, 3 yrs FL, 2 yrs PE (sports don’t count), 1 CTE, 1 FA (MB doesn’t count), 3 EC (26 total). Don’t get me started on how differently GPA/AP/Honors are calculated. We were told by 1 U we visited that students in that state receive 2 extra points for AP – which finally made me realize why the higher 50% GPA range didn’t seem to correlate with the lower SAT/ACT scores.
@eandesmom you can look up to see if specific classes at your high school are CSU/UC approved here: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution
He will have 8 fine arts/music semesters so I’m not worried whether Jazz counts or not lol. I would just be a bit surprised if it didn’t so will look ok but he is fine for UC/Cal state stuff either way. He’d be short on English and Sciencr for Cal Poly at the recommended level but since he’s not applying there we are good!
** Bands **
Our school has no marching band, except that the concert band starts “marching” around the parking lot after NYSSMA Majors are done in May. This is a requirement for all concert band members so that they can march in the village Memorial Day and town festival parades, as a service to the community. They learn three songs, if I remember right: a salute to the armed forces, the national anthem, and Instant Concert by Harold Walters which I always enjoy hearing.
We do have a strong jazz tradition (Gold with Distinction on a Level 6 last year!) and that’s considered the premiere instrumental group in our school. There’s an introductory high school jazz band and the upper level one, and they’re both credit courses that are held during a school period. Concert band is the same. The upper level one is held every other day, opposite concert band, to try to reduce conflicts.
For football and basketball, we have a pep band which is non-credit and just for fun. Along with the students, they have teachers, alumni, and parents playing too which really is great for community spirit. I’ve thought of joining them but haven’t yet!
My head is spinning at your required grad credits. Ours is lame in my It is interesting to see the differences.
English 4 yrs
Science/Math 3 (4 recc)
History/SS 3
Foreign Language 1 (2 min recc)
Occupational 1
PE 1.5
Health .5
Fine arts 1
As for the PE waiver, the only way you can actually get it is if you did dual music (zero period) and a foreign language all 3 years. So technically sports do not count for a PE credit but it if you do them and have filled your schedule with music and language your chances for 1 year to be waived is good. I am grateful for it as it will allow S17 to have one true elective fun class for all of HS. And if that “lack of rigor” choice for Sr year hurts him (versus an extra science) so be it
@mdcmom I feel like an idiot but what is Gold with Distinction level 6?
Pep band is a bit of a pain. They split the band so it’s only half the basketball games but it is both boys and girls so a lot of games. S is always having to trade games with folks who play the same instrument as it conflicts with a lot of theater tech work he is asked to do in the winter. He doesn’t enjoy pep at all which is funny as S19 loves it. Sadly they are different instruments so he can’t trade with his brother! Grade ding if you don’t make your required number of games.
@curiositycat333 what instrument does he play that doesn’t have an interesting line in Jazz?
General requirements for H.S. Graduation…
4 English,
3 Social Studies
2 math
2 Science (0.5 bio, 0.5 physical science)
0.5 Health
2 PE
1 of Language or Fine Arts (includes performance)
He plays the clarinet. And while it makes a great jazz instrument on it’s own or in a small group our H.S. jazz bands are large and dominated by the brass & saxiphones. Band director told him clarinets plays the trumpet line. It wouldn’t be to learn to play stretch play a Sax for Jazz, but S17 didn’t want to and I let him make up him own mind on this. It was between him & his band teacher.