Definitely keep the band! You love it, you get excellent experiences from this EC, it’s great! Many colleges respect Marching Band! One less AP is not a big deal! (if you are worried about that, do an AP online this summer). In fact, having one less AP might help you get A grades in all the other AP’s (lower workload). Do not drop band if you love it. You will forever regret that. You can always take more classes; but you can’t get back HS Marching Band!!!
And if the colleges you are applying to have Marching Bands to fill…
Will they rather take the kid who locked himself in his bedroom to rack up more and more AP classes?
Or pick the kid who was involved and engaged in a demanding EC that they also have at their college…
My children go to a prestigious independent school and the college guidance always recommends dropping band to add rigor or add free periods to support high grades. We fought every year to keep our musical sons in the program. I think it comes down to your instrument and your objectives. Staying in band for the sake of listing it isn’t worth it. You could use the time more effectively. In our school the band opened up many possibilities for a select jazz band and ensembles. My sons ended up composing music and earning money through performances. It was all these extras that stood out on an application. My sons will play in college so putting that interest forward made a big difference. All the kids who were just doing band for the participation never got to leadership because those spots were filled by kids with genuine passion and a lot of other related activities. If you can use the slot in your schedule for something meaningful and your counselor justifies It in your letter, then it is ok to move on. if you actually enjoy it, then keep it. If you have no other steady and strong activities, then keep it.
Would love to hear examples of what ECs can just be “joined or expanded on” halfway through high school that would be appreciably more meaningful than being in your high school’s marching band for 4 years and being in a leadership position senior year. I certainly can’t think of any. You can’t just decide at the end of sophomore year to get involved in research and wind up having a meaningful result in Intel or any of the “prestigious” ECs.
I don’t know enough about bands and the national competition stuff to evaluate that per se (sounds impressive to me), but I do remember my freshman hall mate whose high school marching band played at the Peach Bowl. Maybe she had something else impressive on her app but I certainly don’t remember her mentioning anything remotely as impressive as that. Brown has a scramble band that she wouldn’t even consider because it was too sloppy and amateurish for her and her traditional marching band background. She did jazz orchestra or something like that at Brown instead.
@beekeeper22 , OP clearly states that if he/she drops band,it will be to replace it with another AP class. In your kid’s prestigious school, I am wondering if band is simply too mundane to compare to the no doubt extraordinary ECs that kids at prestigious schools have. I am frankly surprised that a counselor at a school like yours would recommend that. Surely they of all people know that being an AP collecting drone is not what colleges want.
@lollypip , two students, two stories, two kids from our suburban HS. Jimmy got into Brown this year. He is a great student, gifted, who has taken 8 APs. He is an amazing musician, plays in band, in the all state band too. Also a great athlete. He did not quit band to take more APs, and clearly had interests outside of school. Bobby got into Harvard this year. Bright kid, but not hyper intelligent like Jimmy, probably did well on SAT, took 6 APs. Class pres, nice guy, lots of community involvement. I am sure he had great recommendations, as every likes him. Again did not rack up APs. I guess Harvard liked him, as he certainly is not a super spectacular student academically, though of course he is no slacker. Should say that our school offers about 16 APs. Neither of these kids gave up things they enjoyed doing just to get into a top school. I suggest you follow their model rather than giving up band to take more APs. Maybe the ever-wise @iwannabe_Brown can elaborate on why Jimmy and Bobby were better candidates for Brown and Harvard than a grade drone.
None of this stuff exists in your life RIGHT NOW.
You have a lot of grand plans, but the only boots on the ground EC that I see is band.
I’ll let someone even more wise than me elaborate why they were better candidates than a grade drone. It sounds like Bobby and Jimmy followed Chris Peterson’s (MIT admissions officer) advice:
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
And I’ll throw this out here to stir the pot some more: the director of my MD/PhD program came up to me at my interview day and told me that they were particularly impressed by one activity on my application: (college) varsity athletics. They told me about the two non-research, non-medical activities in college that particularly catch their eye and are the types of students they aggressively pursue: One is organized athletics (I put it that way because D1 vs. D3 vs. club doesn’t seem to matter to them). Care to guess what the other one was?
(it was music - particularly when done in an organized, collaborative fashion like a band or orchestra.)
@lollypip, I would listen to the advice of skieurope, iwannabebrown, and T26E4. Those people time and again know what they are talking about. As apparently does the MIT admissions officer mentioned above.
I think the “band is a weak EC” crowd are all kids and probably based their opinions on reading posts from a bunch of other kids. Academic ECs are great, but holistic admissions wants to see non-academic ECs too. I’ve never worked in admissions, but I’ve worked with folks in that department for years and had many conversations about holistic admissions (we’re a non-Ivy, top 20 school). Adcoms absolutely know the time commitments involved in band, particularly a successful program – it is weighed similarly to athletic accomplishments for that reason. Both show that you can manage time (assuming strong grades), work hard, work as a team, and are dedicated. Many top schools have bands and smaller ensembles and may very well consider band experience a plus. A number of schools that have supplemental essays ask questions like “why __” or “what will you bring to the _ community?” A continuing desire to play music on campus is a pretty good topic. If you play tuba and the band needs tubas, band can actually be a hook (but that’s usually impossible to predict).
On the AP side of things, keep in mind that many high schools have prerequisites for APs and don’t offer them until Junior year. Adcoms are not expecting students to have huge numbers of APs – “most rigorous schedule” is something your guidance counselor certifies, it’s not who has the most APs. At my son’s school, only a handful of kids have ever graduated with 8 APs and we send kids to selective institutions all the time. An application that shows a kid taking a huge number of APs, but dropping ECs, is not going to make the best impression.
Have your parents talk to the college counselors, they can explain how holistic admissions works and why dropping activities in order to overload academics is counterproductive.
Med schools don’t care about high school ECs; they care mostly about MCAT, undergrad GPA, interviews, etc. From a purely college-pursuit perspective ECs are most important at highly selective colleges. If you have other interests you’re pursuing and dropping band would let you further those interests then it might make sense. With that said, however, if you’re aiming for very selective schools music can be a good way to stand out. Many colleges offer “Arts Supplements” where you can send in recordings (as well as sometimes a resume, letter of rec, etc.) to the school. These supplements can help with admissions. Even without a supplement the EC will still look “impressive.”
Why give up on leadership so soon? If you don’t want to be a section leader that’s understandable, but there are other ways of taking on leadership roles in a band. I would advise you to not give up that idea too soon.
Finally, don’t waste your time doing something you don’t like just to look good for colleges. They can usually tell and it makes much more sense to do things you love.
OP. Throughout my daughter’s high school years, the valedictorian or salutatorian of the class has been a band kid. The last several NMF students have been band kids. The students on track to be val/sal after she graduates are band kids. For those who are passionate about it, there are many skills both academic and social skills that come from band.
These skills include: Spatial, the ability to see and recognize pattern. Comes in handy in STEM related fields. The merging of practical with emotional. (Musicality involves reading and playing the notes correctly and yet infusing those notes with emotion). Learn and speak a foreign language, music facilitates that capability The ability to get along with all types of people. Band draws kids from different groups most who are passionate about music. Persistence and perseverance particularly for marching band students from states with four seasons. Commitment and commitment to excellence, it sounds as if your band is one of the best. Competitive drive-Bands compete against other bands. Discipline-much is made of the discipline of athletes, early morning workouts, weight training etc. Band members match that discipline, sure football players do two-a days but would they survive one day of band camp?
I haven’t read all the posts, but some students who think, I’ll never be section leader as freshman or sophomores really do grow into section leader, field commander role by their senior year.
Awards and honors. Bands win awards and medals. These can be be listed college and scholarship applications
There are several articles on the importance of band in college admissions particularly at highly selective colleges. I saw several links as I skimmed the post. Our band boosters have posted some on their Facebook page and I will post the links here later in the day, you may find them helpful as you talk with your parents. I echo higheredrocks. Have you parents talk to college counselors or college admission officers about band. I assure you they have a deep understanding about band and what it takes to balance band and academics. Your parents may learn that their reason for pressuring you to drop band, is the very reason you should stay in band. Good luck.