Quitting band?

Applying to College
1

Hello,

I will start with a little bit of backstory:

Currently I am a sophomore in high school and I am in band, first I will tell you that at my school, we have 8 classes but we are on a block schedule, which means that band takes up 2 class periods out of 8, also it is mandatory that I do marching band and concert band, and I live in Texas which is basically the most competitive state for marching band and takes up 8 hours of my week during the season not including competitions and such. It is extraordinarily time consuming.

Second I will tell you that band literally makes me depressed. I am convinced my band directors hate me. During summer band camp we have 8-5 days and even after that I would stay after school and practice marching and such, I would help out aways stands and help freshman with their marching, I participated in everything and never so much as got acknowledged for it. I constantly get called out when were learning drill and the way I get called out makes me feel awful, no one in my entire life has made me feel so awful about myself as my band directors do. Seriously ever since I’ve joined this program I’ve cried almost every single day, and if not at least once a week, concert band is extremely stressful for me too because I am in the second highest band but due to schedule conflicts I can’t be in that period so I have to learn all of the difficult music by myself on top of learning solo music and music for a quartet. I also have to have morning and after school sectionals (all we do is test over the music not actually learn it). It has also had a physical toll on me, I can never get enough sleep and just end up eating processed foods and such.

On top of that I really don’t have a lot of friends in band. My ex best friend is in band and for a while she found some other friends who were all upper class men while I was friends with most of the sopmores, but since all of her friends are graduating and I’m not in the band period with them she has become friends with all of them! Despite that I often feel like they talk about me behind my back, heck they even created a group chat right Infront of me and didn’t even include me. Often this past season I would find myself hanging out by myself. (My lack of friends in band mostly has to do with the fact that my middle schools zones changed so half of us went to one school and half the other so I got split from all of my friends, so I had to make all new friends but I’m very shy and bad experiences with bad friends in the past have made it very hard for me to be friends with a lot of people). Yeah so basically I have no friends in the program either except for like 2 or 3.

So now for my actual problem,
As you can see band literally makes me miserable and is extremely time consuming, I’ve heard that quitting band looks really bad on your college applications so I was just wondering if someone could tell me if that is true or not, if I should quit or not etc. For extra reference I am currently not in any other extra curriculars because band takes up so much time. I was in piano lessons before I joined high school band but I had to quit because it was so much stress. I would be more than happy to resume those, especially if it will make up for quitting band, I would also have fun volunteering at my local library as I also used to do that. For in school things I was and still am very interested in joining key club and buisness professionals of America , but because I had band rehearsal after school I was unable to attend the meetings and therefore unable to join the clubs.

As for the classes I am taking next year, I am definitely taking:

AP Physics I (have to take physics to graduate)
AP English III
AP US History
Pre AP PreCal
AP Seminar
Finance 1

If I do not take band I would add 2 of these classes idk which though please help me choose if you can:

AP chemistry
French III
Computer Science AP

For reference I don’t know what I want to be when I get older but I am currently interested in computer science, pharmacy, auditing/stock management or some other form of business

Also for reference I have made all As this year, the only exception was in chemistry when I got an 89 (first 9 weeks grade, second 9 weeks I got an 94 , currently in the third 9 weeks with a 97, first semester average was a 92)because I fell sick for a couple of days but because of band rehearsal I was unable to catch up on what I missed, the second lowest grade I received in any class for the first semester was a 94.

I am also thinking of taking some classes at my local community college over the summer to buff up my resume but if I take band I’m not sure that I would be able to handle that because band camp starts in July.

I’m sorry this was so long but please understand I am extremely stressed right now and need to tell my counselor what I am going to do before 2 weeks is up im sorry for the grammar mistakes but I typed this whole thing on my phone and my thumbs hurt really bad and well yeah thanks I really appreciate it.

2

I am also considering taking journalism 1 but my parents think journalism is too much of an unstable job, they only way they would allow it is if I took the class and was able to prove myself but my schedule did not allow for me to take the class

3

Band is making you unhappy. Quit. Don’t do things that make you unhappy.

4

Agree with Lindagaf! In terms of college admissions, doing what you love works out best in the end. No need to spend hundreds and hundreds of hours in misery so that a handful of admission officers can see you stuck with band for 4 years. Most importantly, though, this is your youth. Spend it doing things you love, or might love. If something doesn’t work for you, that’s okay and normal. Try something else. Meet people, explore different opportunities, have fun, and take time to learn about yourself. That is much more important than having certain ECs on a college application.

Please also know that a lot of what you are feeling puts you in the majority of students your age. Transitioning from childhood to adulthood is a big endeavor. The college process can make students feel pressured (though there are many great schools, and you will go to one). Developmentally, people your age naturally feel very concerned what others think about them–and that’s hard. It’s a process and, like all things, try to make the best of it, and learn from it. Trust that things will work out.

It appears that you are a great, hardworking student. Feel proud of that. Keep up the hard work AND let yourself enjoy the gift of youth. Good luck!

5

Quit band if you hate it.

No one cares on your college applications. Go find something you love and do it. D applied to 7 colleges, was accepted to all (most with some merit) and not one admissions officer has called to ask “why did you quit orchestra?”

D quit orchestra. There was a huge dramatic issue with the directors and they ALL left. She was faced with an uncertain junior year with unknown directors and she had already grown to resent it.

She formed a business, did volunteer work with her true passion, entered competitions and got a small part-time job. Those looked WAY better on her apps than “orchestra, participant x 4 years.”

Taking journalism in school doesn’t mean you are going to major in it. You weren’t going to major in band, were you? School is a time for exploration–take the journalism class. It could be the foundation for all sorts of careers.

6

@Blahskofh, I would only be concerned if you had no interest in doing anything else, but you do! Your’e a very solid student, which is the main thing. Embrace the new you, the one you can be joyful in :slight_smile: This time in your life is important as a time in your life …not just a phase to get you from one place to another. It’s kind of ironic…colleges want to see ECs, to know something of who you really are, but if the ECs don’t REALLY reflect who you are ( but what you think they want) life becomes a weird house of mirrors that doesn’t serve any good purpose. There are many great ways to be human…so find yours! :slight_smile:

Having said that, as you’re thinking about honestly presenting your life to colleges, you could consider using this decision-making process in a college essay. Business clubs, library work and other volunteering, journalism, piano and French are all respectable things. In fact, if band would mean not taking a third year of a foreign language, that could hurt you, as most strong college want to see at least three years of a language. Taking journalism can make you a stronger writer…an essential college skill…and also a better evaluator/consumer of media. Piano is awesome, and taking lessons in that shows the continuity of your music interest. You could also continue lessons in your band instrument if you happen to like it at all apart from school band…(in my town there is a noncompetitive community orchestra and a jazz group of mixed adults/teens of differing skill levels that practice and perform in the community just for fun.)

If you like anything about band and feel compelled to explore the idea of continuing it, maybe you could meet with one of your band directors to discuss your thoughts and feelings … then if you cannot resolve it with the director, you will know that quitting is the right decision. However, it sounds as if you objections to band are multi-faceted, and you will feel very relieved to let it go and let some other wonderful things take its place.

7

I have no idea what you mean by “prove myself”, but in any event your parents are confused. Taking a HS journalism class does not make you a journalist, nor does it constrain you to enter that field. It is an interesting elective that will help develop your writing skills. It is as useful for a future engineer as it is for someone aiming at a career in journalism or PR.

8

I felt a twinge of sympathy for you. I’ll point out what others already have, and offer something in the same vein: this just shows how absurd a toll the threat of college admissions has come to exact in recent years on strong, smart students such as yourself. Band is making you miserable! Anyone else would quit, but you are trying to rationalize staying because of what you think admissions officers will see.

Enjoy what you have left of high school. Do things you like; get involved in things that don’t despirit you emotionally and hurt you physically.

9

Quit band if it’s making you miserable and depressed, and don’t base your decisions on how it’ll reflect on college applications! You already have other extracurriculars and classes to take in mind - and these could look better on your apps than being in band for four years.

For some reference, my friend was head drum major her junior year, and quit band for the senior year season. Band was far too time consuming, the director hated her, and she struggled to get good grades. She later joined the district board of a well known nonprofit, and the work she’s done definitely looks better on her app than drum major for another year. She also loves what she does now. Plus, you’re only a sophomore. You’re incredibly smart and hardworking, and will surely succeed in the activities you enjoy.

10

My son was in band (jazz, wind ensemble, and marching) through sophomore year. He was successful, in one band he was first chair. He did not continue beyond that year for a couple of reasons—scheduling (he was also taking a college course that conflicted with one of the bands and his sports practices interfered with marching practices), and he was not enjoying the band director. He had no trouble getting into the colleges of his choice. His sister was a choir girl and participated in several of them through junior year. She did not get on well with the new choir director, so junior year was not fun. She quit choir (against the advice of the GRT, who wanted her to stay the course for senior year). Fortunately, like her brother, she was a top athlete, a top student and besides that into drama. The lack of choir in her senior year was a non-issue. She too got into great schools. My youngest had chronic scheduling issues. She changed her fine arts courses each year–one year it was photography, the next drama, and then culinary arts because the art classes conflicted with the AP courses she needed and she could not get courses to line up. She was a top athlete as well, so the lack of a consistent fine arts background didn’t matter. I say quit band and focus on what you like. Life is too short.

11

Agree with the others. Don’t make yourself miserable for another 2 years. If you don’t like band then spend your time on things you will enjoy doing.

12

This isn’t even a question. Quit band immediately. There’s so many reasons I can come up with to quit but I don’t really want to write all of them. So here’s the answer: quit band and spend your extra time doing other extra curriculars you enjoy

13

Definitely quit. Trust me, you don’t want to spend your last couple years of high school hating what you’re doing. I was in a similar boat as you towards the end of my sophomore year/beginning of junior year, but I ended up sticking where I was even though it was making me unhappy. Now, almost two years later, I wish I had just stuck to my instincts and quit the thing that was making me so unhappy. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

14

I was just like you a couple months ago, doing things for school that literally made me depressed but didn’t stop because of what college admission officers might think of my future applications. Trust me, life is just too short to be miserable, definitely in high school:after all, they are supposed to be the best years of your life.

15

I find it surprising that anyone would think HS is the best years of life.

16

Quit. The break will do you well, mentally and physically. Perhaps you’ll join a band or combo when in college, just for fun.

17

Do you notice that nobody is telling you to stay in band?