I apologize but I don’t even really know how to phrase these questions.
S23 is only a freshman but as we all know, high school course and activity selection is somewhat important when it comes to college choice and acceptance.
He is the kid who wants to do it all and I know that realistically is not possible. Currently he participates in football, ski racing, school musical, track, band and choir. I don’t see him quitting any of those in high school. He plays the flute and is quite good. He enjoys learning a bit of guitar as well. He is a solid singer but I wouldn’t say amazing (he could use some voice lessons). He’s in his 5th year of doing the school musical and 3 of those years he had either a major or starring role so he holds his own.
As of right now, he’s thinking he would like to play at a D3/NAIA college for football but also be able to do something with music. He would prefer to double major with something business/engineering or something. He thinks he would like music production or being in the music business perhaps. I could see him doing local theater or something to continue to grow that interest versus doing theater in college.
He plans on continuing with band and choir throughout high school which gives him very few other elective options. He plans on taking the only AP music class in our school which is AP music theory for 1 semester. He is auditioning soon so he will see if he is moved up a level in band or choir (2 levels for boys in choir, 3 levels for band-hes level 1 now in both as a freshman which is typical for our school).
The mom in me wants to guide him and be sure hes realistic in his plans. Im guessing it will be impossible to do football and music in college right? Are there schools that are great with a double major with something like business/music or something? Sorry this is all over the place but I’m the more science person and am pretty clueless to the arts options in college.
Two I can quickly mention are Amherst College, known as “The Singing College.” We know an athlete there that turned down an Ivy so they could sing and be an athlete. Wesleyan also comes to mind for those with strong interest in the arts which is Lin Manuel Miranda’s alma mater.
Over the course of high school, many of our kids focus in on one or two main interests. At this point his interests can evolve naturally but also, when he is really interested in something, then, if you can, help provide ways to develop in that area.
You might want to read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top, about different ways to study music.
It can be hard to combine music and a sport, yes, but careful choice of schools might make it possible.
All of my three kids were taking two fine/performing arts early in high school. Two were also in plays and musicals. They also took full loads of college prep classes. None were also athletes but as high school progressed and compromises became necessary, they began to choose what was most important to them. We kept the all the doors open as long as we could but they can’t really keep doing everything. One of my three auditioned into college on voice and cello and is only now in his freshman year acknowledging that he can’t double major in two instruments! He made other compromises to keep that going as long as he has. Some of them were academic. He took less foreign language and dropped some AP classes. There were online classes, a community college class, summer school. The other kids made different compromises, but kept one arts course all four years. But they all had to choose.
As far as studying music and continuing sports in college, a liberal arts college (Like Amherst, but there’s others)) might make that possible. Or many schools have intramural sports or club sports that might fit in with music studies. There’s more likely possibilities to double major (leaving out sports) but it often takes more than four years to finish.
My daughters both narrowed it down in High School. My older D did crew freshman year but then gave it up because it interfered with her music. She did do the musical 3 of 4 years. Younger D never did any sports. She did the musical freshman year only because she did it that one year with older D. After that she opted not to do the musical other than assisting the musical director. It took too much time away from her music. Over the years they both narrowed down their focus. D2 also dropped violin before senior year because she needed to focus on preparing for her auditions,
So I guess my answer would be that your son needs to figure out the things he feels most passionate about that he wants to focus on. My guess is it will become clearer as he moves through high school.
With my kids, unfortunately, having to decide which path to go began in middle school given how our school district sets up curriculum. By the time high school freshman year was done for my two musician children, it became clear to them that they couldn’t continue their respective sports in the level that they had been used to if they wanted to continue with music because of time constraints and because of demands teachers and coaches were making on them. It really becomes untenable after awhile despite their strong desire to continue with everything, especially at a high level. For one Saturday, it worked out the a wrestling tournament and jazz performance happened at the same time at the same place, so my S21 had to get out of his singlet after his match, put on his tux to play in another part of the school, then switch back to singlet for his next round, etc. He was the best dressed wrestler, still wearing his tux, on that medal podium at the end of the tournament! That was a rare, lucky day that allowed him to participate in both. Most of the time, it’s just not possible.
Your S has even wider interests than mine, but in the end, some decisions might be made for him because of competing demands. By the end of his sophomore year, he may have a more narrowed focus to assist with your college search. For us, it was a matter of guiding them to determine what they really loved and wanted to pursue further and making sure that they weren’t spreading themselves too thinly.
Oh, and keep in mind that even when you think they’ve narrowed their choices, they may widen it again. That’s the beauty of being young and still having so many opportunities ahead of them (at the expense of their exasperated parents, speaking for myself). Good luck.