Tough Decision this Week on Senior Schedule

College Majors Music Major
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<p>My son, a pianist/comp senior who plans on applying as a music major to various Ivies and upper tier schools such as Yale, Harvard, UCLA & USC, has to make a tough schedule decision this week. Although he's in jazz band and has been for 4 years, he initally wanted to add wind ensemble to his schedule for his senior year. The school's music teacher was thrilled. However, on the day of class assignments, we found out that there was a schedule conflict between wind ensemble and his academic classes. The music teacher was really upset and talked to my son on Friday, saying that one class wouldn't make a difference and that he should drop his fourth year of Spanish. Other classes he is signed up for are AP Government, AP Statistics, AP English, and Physics. </p>

<p>Do you think it would hurt him to drop the fourth year of a language for wind ensemble when it comes to Ivy League admissions, knowing that he is going to be a music major?</p>

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<p>First, keep in mind that a pure Music Major is available at some Ivies- Yale does not have an undergrad music major and Harvard has the dual degree arrangement with NEC, etc.
It comes as no real surprise that the music teacher would tell your son to drop Spanish 4 in favor of Wind Ensemble- he’s talented and would be an asset to the group- but I do believe it’s the wrong choice. A school would look more favorably upon the completion of a full language track,especially if it’s an academically oriented school as opposed to a conservatory, which seems to be where your son is looking. His audition will play the biggest factor in admission to a music program.
I’d stick with the language, find out of school performance opportunities and do careful research on schools/programs your son is interested in so that he is fully aware of requirements. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Keep the language and drop the ensemble, IMO.</p>

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<p>I don’t discount what Mezzo’sMama said. But I also agree with your music teacher that one class is not going to make a difference. (In my mind, Since your son wants to be a music major, there are positives to broadening his music experience. Too often, we try to guess what someone will consider when making a decision. Why don’t you call the UCLA, USC, and Harvard music departments tomorrow morning and get their opinions.</p>

<p>Here’s what Harvard has to say about making admissions decisions.</p>

<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Freshman Application Process](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/tips/decisions.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/tips/decisions.html)</p>

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<p>Can he get the same music experience in an ensemble outside school? I am one that tends toward keeping the academics up even for music majors. So many school look favorably on 4 years of language.</p>

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<p>MM, did you mean that a pure music major is <em>not</em> available at some Ivies?</p>

<p>For the ivies, that last language year is probably important, but for a BM at USC, particularly if your child is at Ivy-level academically otherwise, it is not that important - the audition will make or break him.</p>

<p>As for UCLA, things for portfolio and audition-based programs work unusually: if the student is selected on the basis of their audition, then they need only the “minimum” requirements for UC admittance. For California residents, this is about 3.0 (and the minimum course requirements). It was hard for us to believe, but we confirmed over and over that this is the case. Artists and musicians have a different academic standard for UCLA.</p>

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<p>One of my kids is a music major at Harvard (BA). She dropped back both a year and a level in math, in order to take music theory, and did not take any science in senior year either, due to scheduling problems. I think Harvard admissions honored her commitment to music, and in some ways, her course choices helped rather than hindered. But really, who knows…</p>

<p>Harvard is quite “holistic” in their admissions, as are some of the other schools you mention.</p>

<p>Guidance did write a note on their recommendation that she made these choices due to scheduling problems.</p>

<p>I would add though, that she did not limit her musical activities to school. We were slow to see the need for this, to be honest. (Your school is probably much better than ours for music, ours is terrible.) So for the last two years of high school she took theory and music history at a nearby conservatory, and took private lessons in her instrument with a teacher in our area. But honestly, if she had not taken that first theory class at school, none of that would have happened.</p>

<p>At some point, we did pay for an online class (AP U.S. History) but that was because she was interested in it, and the teacher at the school was subpar. That said, an online French course is always a possibility for your son, or a community college or other college course.</p>

<p>Because of some of my daughter’s activities outside of school, the guidance office also asked me to write a note that they put in with their own note in the recommendation.</p>

<p>Many kids at Harvard and elsewhere take a year of foreign language in Freshman year and enjoy it. So doing another year at college is no big deal, and the style of teaching was more fun than a high school class.</p>

<p>There will be no audition at Harvard or Yale, but submitting a CD with cues for the best 3 minutes for them to listen to will help a lot, whether for piano or composition or both.</p>

<p>Yale does have a music major. Neither Harvard nor Yale has a performance major though, and so the double degree route is available for those who would like to get a BA/MM (or in the case of Tufts, Oberlin, and Bard, a BA/BM).</p>

<p>Finally, what does your son want to do? Will the wind ensemble be important to him, or contribute in important ways to his decisions about the future?</p>

<p>I second the concern about the teacher’s need for a quality player in the school ensemble. If you feel really uncertain,. I’m sure someone in admissions would be glad to talk to you or your son about this.</p>

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<p>First of all, let me say to everyone how phenomenal this forum has been for the past several years as we made our way on our musical journey. The advice and info is amazing.</p>

<p>Our main dilemma is whether losing the fourth year of foreign language would hurt his chances at Yale, Harvard, etc. or would the fact that he’s a music major taking a music class make up for the loss of the 5th academic class.</p>

<p>Wind ensemble at my son’s school would basically be a free class for him. He would be a percussion player, and there would honestly be very little musical value to him other than enjoying another hour of group musicianship instead of struggling through Spanish honors. I do think the music teacher would probably find some vehicle to showcase his piano talent but maybe for one grand finale concert at the end of the year. Other than than, he’s probably going to be playing the bells.</p>

<p>As for other ensemble opportunities outside of school, he has performed concertos with a nice quality local philharmonic which has been a wonderful experience and is auditioning to do so again this year.</p>

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<p>“Our main dilemma is whether losing the fourth year of foreign language would hurt his chances at Yale, Harvard, etc. or would the fact that he’s a music major taking a music class make up for the loss of the 5th academic class.”</p>

<p>Like I said. Call and ask.</p>

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<p>If he is playing bells and the ensemble is not contributing a whole lot to his musical education and experience, then the French sounds like a good choice. Unless, having less academic work frees him up to do more music outside of school, which is something that can also be explained to schools in a note by guidance.</p>

<p>What does your son think? Is he considering the wind ensemble so that he has less work to do, so that he can do more music? Or is he excited about the wind ensemble? Or is he feeling pressured by the music teacher?</p>

<p>Also meant to ask about the composing. Does he have a composition teacher? Does he play his own compositions or does he have access to musicians to play them? Having a portfolio (for conservatories) or a piece or two (for colleges) that he has composed, that has been played well, can also be an important part of applications. Has he studied any theory, alone or along with piano?</p>

<p>About the language class, I still don’t think it will make that much difference, but a geo has said, it doesn’t hurt at all to call and ask. You’ll feel better one way or the other.</p>

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<p>If being in the ensemble allows his compositions to be played it may be beneficial. At our HS they would play the serious student compositions in the concerts and record them. If he is just marking time and having fun without any progress, I still vote for the language.</p>

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<p>@jazz/shreddermom- Thanks for figuring out what I MEANT to say! That’s what I get for trying to type something more complicated than a text message on my phone!</p>

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<p>Something that concerns me in your post: if your son would prefer playing in an extra ensemble as an inconsequential member to taking another academic course, you may want him to rethink his idea that he wants to attend an Ivy League level school - where music will be an academic pursuit much more than a performance one, let alone all his other courses and their demands upon him and his time. He might be happier in a program like UCLA that you mention, or pursuing a BM in music where his non-music academic course load might be lighter. Anyway, just something to think about - it’s a good time for him to define for himself what he really is looking for in college.</p>

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<p>Many students at my son’s school have faced this dilemma in their senior year. They have usually chosen to skip the ensemble and take the academic class. The music director has often allowed for some flexibility with the advanced students, however. For example, some have been able to sit in occasionally, although have to sit in the back of the section.</p>

<p>Another option might be taking the language class at a local college. If the music director/school want him in the band that badly, maybe they would pay for dual enrollment at a local college, if this is something your son would like.</p>

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<p>Well, we made our decision today. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful advice. There’s probably no right or wrong answer. We decided that there was some measure of risk involved in taking only four academic classes if he wants to apply to Ivy League and upper tier schools, and he ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk. He considered taking the language class at a local community college but the drive time would be a huge hindrance to practice time and homework. It certainly would have been a luxury to have only four academic classes and another hour of music, but we didn’t want to always wonder if it was the right thing to do. The music teacher was disappointed, of course.</p>