<p>I think smart kids with no social skills could also be a dime a dozen. We raising people - not little bots that can take test well. Sports, the arts and music make the world beautiful. Kids should work hard at whatever they do. This is a hard decision to make. And the right one is unknown until the kids is graduated and it is too late. </p>
<p>
Band programs have responded to the tendency of parents and students to pad resumes with hollow activities by making participation policies more rigid. That’s why, when you see a student who has managed to effectively balance a full raft of activities and still achieve a top position in the class, admissions committees are more interested.</p>
<p>@JustOneDad: That sounds plausible. Still, 25-30 hours a week (on top of classroom time and pesky things like homework and studying) for one EC seems a bit over the top, especially when you consider some of the players in the scenario are 14 years old.
S16 is managing-- he’s given up on sleep, mostly-- but for our band kids, dropping the AP and dual enrollment classes in favor of regular ones is more the norm.</p>
1 Like
<p>My kids’ (marching) band demand peaked at about 20 hrs a week a couple weeks prior to the school year, then dropped back to 5 hrs of class, 5 hrs of drill and the games each week during football and basketball. Plus individual practice, of course. Less in Spring. Over the year, it might average out to 12-13 hrs/week. Band kids do no fundraising. That’s the job of the band booster club. Kids time is too valuable. :-)</p>
<p>That’s why I say that Band is not an insignificant EC anymore and that admissions committees know it.</p>
<p>When I was in school, Honor Society and Band had a lot of members in common. I think that has probably changed.</p>
1 Like
<p>If the student is aiming for a Virginia (and Texas to a lesser extent) state school, higher class rank all the way: Virginia state schools are notorious for taking weighted GPA into account, rather than UW.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if the student is aiming for a California state school, or, really, any other school that do not take 9th grade into account, the student should keep band for 9th grade (but that would have to delay the choice by an extra year)</p>