<p>They are real slow at announcing stuff like that. Last year it started just a few days before official move-in, they put the band students up in the Marriot that they stayed at for the USC Band Clinic a couple months ago. They will be given just a couple of hours that first morning to move their stuff into their dorm rooms, then they will have to stay in the Marriot so he needs to remember to pack his stuff for bandcamp seperate from his stuff going into his dorm.</p>
<p>Most of the band camp will be during “move in week”, they will get a few hours off from band for the summer reading project thingy. I believe they will be fed by the band program that first few days at no cost (they are fairly good about doing that).</p>
<p>Ugh - we’re from Florida and helping him move in, so he’ll have his car and we will have ours packed with his stuff. Allowing just a couple hours concerns me, sounds like it will be a “dump and run” where he will have to sort it all out later. Also since he’s put in for the music dorm which is 3 levels and no elevator, it should be fun! And I wish they would give us the dates a couple months in advance, it’s going to be a real challenge to plan this last minute given other children, pets, jobs and hotel reservations needed</p>
<p>ya, for marching band students that sounds about right. The others will have all day to deal with their stuff. The nice thing is that in the music community dorm his roommate(s) are fairly likely to have the same issue. </p>
<p>We didn’t even go with him on rookie marching band move in day. What you might want to do is to have the stuff that goes into his dorm in your car and the stuff that needs to go to the hotel in his car.</p>
<p>He will be able to communicate with his roommate(s) a good while in advance so he can work out the detail of what to bring then. Other than books, instruments, and cloths, there’s not that much needed. I believe each bedroom has a tv cable outlet so a small tv would be handy. Also a keyboard for music theory and some instruments. you can probably look on the studio website page and see what will be needed as far as instruments and books.</p>
<p>And if you don’t want t shop for bed linens and towels and whatnot, you will soon be getting lots of solicitations for that stuff in the mail. Note that the beds in Thornwell are extra long and regular sheets won’t fit. And don’t buy the egg crate foam matrice things that will come in some of the bundles (from the mail solicitation), they are way to thin and worthless. </p>
<p>There’s a Walmart less than 10 miles away that has the largest selection of USC stuff that I have ever seen but marching band students music majors won’t really have time to make more than one trip before classes begin.</p>
<p>Great insights Image, I see visits to WalMart and Tar-get in my near future, but I think I will let his mom handle the bedding decisions, etc. And I know my kid will want nothing to do with us once he hits campus and others are around, he’ll basically want us out of there as soon as possible. Assuming he gets Thornwell, we have no idea if he will be moving in all alone due to marching band early arrival or will have roomies…by the way, did your son pre-select his roommate in advance?</p>
<p>So my son is a freshman music major and loving it…he made the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and the people have been amazing. Just got back from parents weekend and had a great time doing the Sand Storm! The only challenge is the time commitment for marching band, as he is so many other music programs and ensembles. As much fun as it is, this will be his first and only year in the Mighty Sound of the Southeast…</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that he is loving it. I was wondering about that.</p>
<p>The football games are amazing and Sand Storm is a lot of fun. Marching band does take up a crazy amount of time, but I believe that there is some performance value in playing to huge crowds and it builds a lot of endurance having to play for 4 hours straight at the games, plus all the pregame parading.</p>
<p>My son did summer school at our local community college last summer so that he could take a lighter course load this fall, and it has helped my son a lot. If your son is a music ed major he may be required to do 3 semesters of marching band, so you might want to check on that.</p>
<p>I have some friends who are in marching band. One today was telling me that she was not going to do it after this year. She loves it, but it takes up so much time. She said that she thought it was better for lowerclassmen, rather than upperclassmen.</p>
<p>I have another who did it freshman year and decided to not continue sophomore year and she’s very happy with her decision right now. She said marching band consumed a lot of her time and life and when she finally decided that she wasn’t going to do band any more, she had problems adjusting to ‘regular’ life and making friends.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have a few friends who absolutely love it and want to do it all four years.</p>
<p>I think the time commitment that marching band requires is definitely underplayed. I think it’s hard for incoming students to really imagine just how much work goes into it and how much more college will require of them as well.</p>
<p>Glad your son loves the music school! I’m not a music student, but I LOVE all of the ensembles on campus.</p>
<p>StoneMagic - If he only marches this year, I hope GameDay was a great memory. How long did they have to play…I know my daughter was camping on shoe (and lives there) so she heard a lot of Sandstorm (maybe during the night it was on tape). The band certainly added to a great game atmosphere. Best band we’ve had in years!</p>
<p>I believe call time for marching band was at 7am, my son called me at 1:30 the next morning, he had just got back to his apartment from the game. Sounded like an 18 hr day to me. </p>
<p>They typically practice for an hour or two at the band practice field before a home game, then they will parade, sometimes for hours, on campus and around all of the parking areas of the stadium. They are required to stand up for the duration of the game (usually about 3.5 hours) and they only are allowed to sit if there is an injured player on the field. The band stays in the stadium performing until the last spectator/football player/coach/official leaves. Then they return to the band room, change cloths, put up equipment, and clean up (usually takes about an hour before they are cut loose).</p>
<p>My son switched to Music Performance during second semester last year, as Marching Band was just killing his ability to follow his true passion in symphonic music due to the time commitment. As a sophomore, he’s in the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Trombone Collective, taking 17 credits, and has to practice for all of the above when not in class or performing. Add in a girlfriend, and he couldn’t wait to get out of Marching. That said, I went to the Kentucky & UF games this year, and the band is outstanding!</p>
<p>My DD is a freshman string player in the USC Symphony Orchestra. Her experience has been outstanding so far. Her high school had a top-notch music program and she also played with an incredible youth symphony. She still has found the pace of the USC program challenging enough. Her private lesson class is with a faculty member. Added bonus is she did audition last spring for a music scholarship and was awarded one. That award comes with in-state tuition even though she is a non-music major. Happy campers here with USC Symphony.</p>
<p>Nice to hear GCBMIB…my son is the bass trombone in the symphony orchestra, which he has been since he was a freshman last year. He also has a scholarship but is a music major, and turned down several other schools for SC. He is loving everything about it, already looking in to grad schools and conservatories…</p>
<p>Haven’t heard one way or the other - I’ll ask, but the “low brass” students tend to sort of hang together. I’m more up on Trombones, Tubas and Trumpets…I would like to see the top ensembles (excluding Marching band) travel outside the U.S., or at least the Southeast, this coming year, like they did to China a few years back. My son is now looking into conservatory and graduate programs, would love to hear about any good ones out there for the symphony musician.</p>
Wow can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve been back…flash-forward and my S will be a Senior next year, currently looking at Graduate Music programs and Conservatories. All I can say is, SC has been an incredible experience as my son as played a couple of paid gigs with the Augusta Symphony, recorded a CD on the Naxus label with the orcehstra (last one was in the running for Grammy nomination), and has played on-stage with major orchestral stars as well as had great programs with viisting professors and musicians. I’m not going to speak for all instruments, but the trombone program is incredible and Professor Edwards is an inspiring, incredible teacher. Right decision for us!