<p>OSU marching band will more than likely cover nearly all your costs. You’ll probably have to buy your own band shoes (do NOT skimp on these, you can’t even imagine the miles you will log in them!). You’ll rent your uniform for the season, but there won’t be a charge unless you damage it. You’ll get lunch provided every game day. When you go on trips you’ll get meal stipends, and your hotel room comped. During band camp all your meals and housing will be provided for you. For bowl games you’ll fly charter planes (tons of fun!!) and won’t have to pay for that either. You’ll find very little out of pocket costs associated with a big marching band like OSU, they’ve got lots of money ;)</p>
<p>OP, my fellow posters make good points, not all who join the band are music majors and many big programs are little or no cost to the members. My S’s marching band doesn’t charge for anything and even pays a stipend to play out of town and in the pep band in the spring.</p>
<p>I knew the mom of an OSU tuba player (dotted the I a couple of times, big deal). I do think that a majority of band members are music majors from what she said as least they were a couple of years ago. It sounds like you are doing drum and bugle corp so you know the drill and know what goes on. Only you can decide if its worth it. Personally I would try out and see if you like the people.</p>
<p>Yeah, my parents were so happy they didn’t have to fundraise anymore since the university provided just about everything we needed. Heck on occasion we even got our sunglasses comped, since they are part of the uniform. Also, at least at USC, there were opportunities to make money in the band. We’d be hired for weddings, events and the occasional film/tv/commercial shoot. At many of those smaller gigs the people who did them got a little cash.</p>
<p>And yes a bunch of us did drum corp in the summer or one of the Disney bands. It was tougher for us given USC’s marching style is decidedly not corp.</p>
<p>As for music majors, we had most of the Music Ed majors, no woodwinds/strings/vocal but some brass and composition. The reason? USC Band offered scholarships so the School of Music would put up with some of their brass joining the TMB so they could afford to go to 'SC.</p>
<p>Good article on most MB issues.</p>
<p>[Engineering</a> students find harmony between music and math, INFINITY newspaper for parents, families and future engineers, Winter 2008, UW-Madison Engineering](<a href=“http://www.engr.wisc.edu/alumni/perspective/34.2/articleI03musicians.html]Engineering”>http://www.engr.wisc.edu/alumni/perspective/34.2/articleI03musicians.html)</p>
<p>Deb922, many are music education majors but virtually none are music performance majors. As noted in many above posts, if you want to teach high school band in the Midwest or say Texas, you really NEED marching band experience on your resume as the high schools all have marching bands.</p>
<p>If this OP really coaches drum lines, and is good at doing so, he might be giving up some substantial earnings by doing marching band.</p>
<p>Still, I agree with others. Marching in a Big 10 (or similar) band is really a great experience!</p>
<p>^so true!! S’s Big 10 marching band is 60% engineers.</p>
<p>Nah you don’t get paid to tech high schools. That’d be mostly for fun, and I’d get a separate job to pay for other things (general life/corps/etc). </p>
<p>About being a band director - if I do end up going into music Ed, I have more than enough marching band experience to draw on, I’m not worried about that. </p>
<p>To answer your question - I kinda go back and forth. I get really intense about it occasionally, but I try to accept that not all groups go for that level of achievement. That is the other thing I’m unsure about… OSU has a very different style of marching than anything I’ve done, and I’m not entirely a fan of it. I could deal with it, though.</p>
<p>I was in the Michigan Marching Band in college, but did not try it until sophomore year. Honestly, I would say go for it freshman year if you are going to do it at all. It is very time consuming… and we sometimes had commitments on weekends when there was NOT a home game, so it isn’t just home game weekends that can be taken up. I only did it one year, but know people who were in all four years and loved it – they made tons of friends in it, and had a great time. You can always work after football season is over and in the summer.</p>
<p>Honestly, coming from someone who is not even a marching band fan…the opportunity to march in The Ohio State University Marching Band just seems too AWESOME a chance to pass up. I think that you will find that the more time you fill up during school, the more that time becomes precious, and the more you get done. Strange but true.
Do it.
:)</p>
<p>Sorry thumper1 you are right. I debated on how to phrase things but didn’t quite get it right.</p>
<p>I had to jump in on this conversation. My son’s college choices were based on the school having a marching band as well as an excellent engineering school. He also didn’t want it too big or too much snow. I have to say it really helped create a short list of schools to apply to.</p>
<p>Op,
I don’t have much band experience but this is the advice that i would give my kid when she was considering time-consuming ECs for frosh year. I would suggest signing up for time-consuming EC n soph yr rather than frosh yr.
1.There are so many changes when you start in college, that you have to learn to balance and manage your time.
2. You will be able to meet many people in the dorms
3. 4 years can be a tiresome committment. 3 or 2 years is less tiresome.</p>
<p>Of course, D didn’t listen to me, and is having a great time. So maybe my theories do not pan out, but it is something to consider.</p>