Taking Orchestra all 4 years of HS

[Anonymous]

Anyone's kid take Orchestra all 4 years of high school? DS isn't planning to major in music but enjoys his Orchestra class. It is a bit like down time. He likes his instrument and is involved in Youth Orchestra outside of school. I am just curious if it's a waste of an entire class period (x3) to be taking it every year after the required 1 year for fine arts. Makes me wonder how colleges sees this if the student is not planning to minor in music in college.

[Anonymous]

My kids did and they loved it. They had plenty of rigor and graduated with 11-12 AP’s each so one period of music was great. And it was not a blow off course. The conductor had high standards and the orchestra had auditions.

[Anonymous]

Let him do what he enjoys and have a little downtime in the day, a well rounded, self-directed, less stressed kid really is more important

[Anonymous]

Wow. I’m not sure how the dedication to orchestra, the fun he has and the teamwork lessons he’ll glean from it could ever be a bad thing. I really hope you aren’t this negative about everything in his life. I was in orchestra all 4 years, made amazing friends, had a blast and would not have wanted it any other way.

[Anonymous]

Mine absolutely would if they weren’t in an IB program that doesn’t leave any free slots for electives in 11th and 12th.

[Anonymous]

This is ancient history, but in my own college applications, I used band and orchestra as extra curriculars. Technically some of it clearly was (all city orchestra, for instance). But even without that, in my mind it is more than a class (marching band, pep band, etc. go beyond school day).

The idea of the extra curricular list is to get to know you as a student, and so I think it fits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine absolutely would if they weren’t in an IB program that doesn’t leave any free slots for electives in 11th and 12th.

This is one reason (along with commute and other reasons) my current 9th grader decided against an IB program and also the CAP program. Band is important to them, and those programs were too constrained in their requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone's kid take Orchestra all 4 years of high school? DS isn't planning to major in music but enjoys his Orchestra class. It is a bit like down time. He likes his instrument and is involved in Youth Orchestra outside of school. I am just curious if it's a waste of an entire class period (x3) to be taking it every year after the required 1 year for fine arts. Makes me wonder how colleges sees this if the student is not planning to minor in music in college.

I feel sorry for your kid that he has a parent who thinks playing music beyond the requirement is a waste of time. I still play music as an adult.

[Anonymous]

I’m certainly no expert but I would think that orchestra would indicate the type of well-rounded students I thought they were looking for, and that taking it for four years at school as well as extracurricular would indicate his level of passion (which I thought was another desirable trait) and his potential contribution to musical ensembles on campus.

I know this goes against prevalent DCUM thinking, but I think the college search should be more like a matchmaking service than a competition. As long as his academics are reasonably solid, let him do what he loves. He’ll probably be happier in a college that will value what he values. If he has to make himself miserable and sacrifice what he loves to be considered by a college, would he really be happy going there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I’m not sure how the dedication to orchestra, the fun he has and the teamwork lessons he’ll glean from it could ever be a bad thing. I really hope you aren’t this negative about everything in his life. I was in orchestra all 4 years, made amazing friends, had a blast and would not have wanted it any other way.

+100 My DD has been in band all 4 years and it's been a great thing for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine absolutely would if they weren’t in an IB program that doesn’t leave any free slots for electives in 11th and 12th.

This is one reason (along with commute and other reasons) my current 9th grader decided against an IB program and also the CAP program. Band is important to them, and those programs were too constrained in their requirements.

My IB kid took summer school classes to open up elective slots to allow for orchestra all 4 years. Not a prodigy by any means, but it brings him joy and I am here for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine absolutely would if they weren’t in an IB program that doesn’t leave any free slots for electives in 11th and 12th.

This is one reason (along with commute and other reasons) my current 9th grader decided against an IB program and also the CAP program. Band is important to them, and those programs were too constrained in their requirements.

My IB kid took summer school classes to open up elective slots to allow for orchestra all 4 years. Not a prodigy by any means, but it brings him joy and I am here for that.

This is what we plan to do. Child will start summer classes before entering 9th for credit in summer so they can do more electives.

[Anonymous]

My kid took orchestra all 4 years in high school, to qualify for all state orchestras.

[Anonymous]

It looks good to colleges when the kid continues for all 4 years. Shows they aren’t a quitter and have some grit and perseverance . Many musicians continue to play as adults despite not majoring in music. Just look at the NIH orchestra!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks good to colleges when the kid continues for all 4 years. Shows they aren’t a quitter and have some grit and perseverance . Many musicians continue to play as adults despite not majoring in music. Just look at the NIH orchestra!

Given how DCUM seems to think Asian-Americans put themselves into a hole by being in Orchestra, would it make a difference if instead of taking 4 years of orchestra that the student also pursue other classes of interest?