I am a rising senior who has been in band since 5th grade. I’ve spent a lot of my time in middle school and high school on clarinet lessons and playing in concert band and marching band. However, I am not feeling the same way I used to about band. I dread going to rehearsals, the directors treat the students horribly, and many if my friends from band have graduated. I want to enjoy my last year, but in terms of college admissions is it important that I stay in band? I am not going to be a music major or anything, but do I need it to complete my ECs? I’m heavily involved in a few clubs and I have a part time job.
If you don’t enjoy it, quit. 3 years vs. 4 years will not be the deciding factor in your application.
There is no such thing as “complete my ECs”. Colleges that care a lot about ECs build balanced classes out of kids that have specific interests. You don’t need to take part in everything, and in fact “member of this and that” is not competitive in terms of ECs at that level anyway. As Stanford says
Furthermore most colleges give only some or little weight to ECs compared to things such as grades and schedule difficulty. You can find out for the schools you are considering by looking at their Common Data Set.
Seriously – let yourself off the hook. “C’ya!”
Agree, if you dread it there is no reason to do it. Doing orchestra three or four years won’t be a deciding factor. If you still enjoy playing clarinet maybe you can find another outlet to continue (ex. community orchestra, pit band for a play at school, etc.).