Hi everybody! I am a rising junior who has been a part of orchestra (alternating first and second violin) for 7 years now. I really enjoy playing my instrument, and I currently take private lessons. Recently, I have been inducted into my school’s music honor society. Although I am not the best or first chair in orchestra, I do consider myself fairly good. (I have not won any awards or participated in competitions of that nature, by the way.)
The problem is that I am behind in math; and in order to accelerate, I am planning to double up in Algebra 2 honors and Pre-calculus honors next year. By doing this, I will be in AP Calc by senior year (something in which the top universities like to see because it is an advanced course). However, if I do this, there will be no room in my schedule for orchestra. I cannot drop any other of my classes being that they are all core classes and imperative.
Would it be a poor idea to drop out of orchestra and in turn be kicked out of my music honor society? I would also cancel my private lessons because there would be no use in practicing a non-existing orchestra piece if I am not in the actual ensemble. Is advancing in math worth the sacrifice of not being a part of orchestra? (I am interested in pursuing the STEM field, by the way, so I believe that math is pretty significant). Would it also look bad to colleges because they are seeing that I am quitting in the middle of my high school years? It would not make me as well-rounded as I was… I am very torn!
Would u consider dropping ur lunch period? I did it for junior year along with some of my friends. Our physics teacher let us eat lunch in her class so try seeing if u can get a teacher to let u have lunch during class.
@2016senior Unfortunately I don’t have a lunch period already. I asked if I could drop out of gym junior year and take it every day senior year, but my guidance counselor wouldn’t let me!
@2016senior Nope, my orchestra class is only offered every day. I can’t drop any other classes, either. I may just be forced to drop orchestra for junior year and start it back up senior year
Can you do PE online? My daughter did all of her PE requirements and health through BYU so that she could stay in band and double up, one year in foreign language, and one year in science. BYU independent study high school courses are reasonably priced and quite rigorous.
@NorthernMom61 That’s a good idea. However, when I talked to my guidance counselor and asked if I could take gym everyday senior year rather than half a year junior year, she said I couldn’t. She also explained that I can’t take gym over the summer if I did not fail the class because it is apparently the law in my state that a student needs to have physical education each school year. I could ask about online PE but I doubt that it would be allowed if I wasn’t able to take it over the summer!
Can you drop out of one of the two sciences? Alternatively, is there a placement test you could take at the end of Algebra II to skip out of precalculus? The two courses are very similar, and you could either take an online precalc course concurrently or self-study the extra material.
@kcln12 Sorry to hear that your school is so inflexible. Placing out of Algebra 2 by taking a placement test is also a great suggestion by @topaz1116. Even if you can’t stay in your school orchestra, you might want to continue lessons because you love the instrument and you could work on material that interests you and continue to develop skills. Is there a community band or orchestra that you could participate in outside of school? Or could you work on your school orchestra music outside of school and play as a volunteer for concerts? My daughter was not able to take band class as a senior, but she worked on the music on her own and played with the band for concerts.
Sometimes you have to push your school to let you do things in a flexible way, you may need your parents to help you push. It wasn’t easy at my daughter’s school but they did let her do these alternatives with some level of insistence. Good luck.
Thank you @topaz1116 for that idea! I’ll definitely ask to see if I could do that.
@NorthernMom61 Yeah, I am going to see if I can push my guidance counselor or orchestra director into letting me practice the concert music outside of the actual classroom and volunteer to play at concerts. I’d rather do something than nothing! I’ll ask if they can let me take gym online, also, so it doesn’t have to be as much of a hassle. Thank you for the response!!
^ Also (although this can be expensive), many areas have youth symphonies that you can try joining. However, I’m not sure if the auditions for the one in your area is already over.
One last thing you could try: you could take precalculus concurrently at the community college.