Music versus APs?

[Anonymous]

What kinds of schools is she targeting OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior is doing four years of orchestra and four years of art, and will graduate with “only” 10 APs. Orchestra and art make her happy. I can’t imagine denying that to a kid just to stack up a bunch of APs. I’m glad to have a balanced happy kid and I know she’ll do well wherever she gets in to college.

What were her exam scores in those AP's? If they're 5's she is laughing, if they are 3's or less they are meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kinds of schools is she targeting OP?

Top choices are UMD, W&M, and GWU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kinds of schools is she targeting OP?

Top choices are UMD, W&M, and GWU.

For humanities, she should be fine with those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior is doing four years of orchestra and four years of art, and will graduate with “only” 10 APs. Orchestra and art make her happy. I can’t imagine denying that to a kid just to stack up a bunch of APs. I’m glad to have a balanced happy kid and I know she’ll do well wherever she gets in to college.

What were her exam scores in those AP's? If they're 5's she is laughing, if they are 3's or less they are meaningless.

So far, a 4 and a 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That this thread needs to exist is clear evidence that our college admissions process is beyond broken. All good comments, but we should not have to agonize over music and analyze how to justify it or wonder if it somehow hurts us.

Really! If our kids can't explore music and art when they are young, when will they?

[Anonymous]

Many of the kids who were in philharmonic orchestra alongside DS were also varsity athletes, excelled in other competitve ECs, were among the school's NMSF group and admits to top 10 to 20 universities, etc. I have no idea how many APs they took but assume it was a sufficient number to make them strong candidates for selective schools. (My kid took 6 and ended up majoring in music, but he was not very academic or particularly interested in any core subjects)

I remember the HS band and orchestra teachers making an appearance at a curriculum night for rising freshman, begging students to continue with music even if it meant having a non-weighted class on their transcript. I imagine some parents simply disallow it and force their kids to do piano or violin competitions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It may benefit her on the condition she writes about her love of band in one of the essays. But she can't just say nothing about it, OP. Otherwise it makes no sense to pick an "easy" class 4 times in a row.

I find this hard to believe. You make it sound as if someone needs to apologize or provide some explanation for the aberration of having chosen music for four years. Does an art student need to explain their mistake of choosing art for four years in a row because it's "easy "?

Taking music or arts alongside other classes is the sign of being a well-rounded person. People used to understand this.

PP you replied to. My daughter is taking philharmonic orchestra 4 years in a row, mainly to get into All-State (kids in public school are required to participate in music class at their school to be eligible for All-State). She will probably be in All-State all 4 years. Also she'll have 14 APs. I didn't want to include that in my first post, but that was the context I wrote it in. OP's daughter needs to write a killer essay about her love of music.

You are sort of proving my point. It should be enough that she loves music. She shouldn't need to be a gunner who is going for All-state. This post is illustrative of the toxic atmosphere surrounding the activities that kids used to just enjoy.

No, someone's kid doesn't need to do orchestra simply because it's the vehicle for getting into Allstate. Someone's kid can stake music because they love it and they are good enough.

Children should not need to justify their selection of music on the basis of their excellence at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior is doing four years of orchestra and four years of art, and will graduate with “only” 10 APs. Orchestra and art make her happy. I can’t imagine denying that to a kid just to stack up a bunch of APs. I’m glad to have a balanced happy kid and I know she’ll do well wherever she gets in to college.

This. Every single time.

[Anonymous]

Same for my DD, but she’s in Chorus. I think the admissions officers will understand fewer APs, especially since she will have a leadership role. I think she will end up with 9 APs.

Where would the world be without music?

[Anonymous]

we came full circle from "grades are not enough, you need ECs" to "why are you taking music in school, load up on APs". the kids now can't take music in school because they need "highest rigor" but, at the same time, must take it/or something like it outside of school to show they have ECs, that they are leaders and making valuable contributions to society.

it's a twisted system but people here keep defending it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD had to make some hard choices to forgo stacking up APs in favor of taking four years of band. If she’d skipped music, she would have graduated with 12 instead of 8 APs. Now she’s wondering if that was a good idea from a college acceptance perspective. Any musicians out there who did well with selective colleges and fewer APs? She’s not planning to major in music but would like to play in a college ensemble for fun.

The most successful kids as far as college apps take music/band AND max APs, by giving up the 7th study hall/free period and having six core courses (math/eng/history/sci/FL plus a second sci or history or FL). In schools where this is possible, your D has limited their options somewhat. In schools where there are only 6 courses total, 5 plus music will not make much of a difference over 6 core, because 6 core

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It may benefit her on the condition she writes about her love of band in one of the essays. But she can't just say nothing about it, OP. Otherwise it makes no sense to pick an "easy" class 4 times in a row.

She didn’t pick music because it was “easy” but it was a nice break in her day, and being part of the band was an important way for her to engage with her school. She mentioned playing her instrument in college in the “why us” essays and included her extracurricular musical training among her activities.

Some musicians take health and languages during the summer to make room for more APs, but she as otherwise inclined.

How so? Did she say she’s interested in playing in an ensemble at the school, or did she do research on the different options at each school so she could be more specific? (I assume all schools offer EC opportunities to play an instrument, right?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that only parents on places like DCUM and CC think that the raw numbers of APs matter. I would not worry about. I’ve explicitly heard AOs at places like Chicago say the number, in itself, isn’t what matters. It’s challenging yourself. If your school offers 20 APs no one expects you to take them all.

+1 This is very wrong thinking. In no world is 8 APs a sign of an inferior student not worthy of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that only parents on places like DCUM and CC think that the raw numbers of APs matter. I would not worry about. I’ve explicitly heard AOs at places like Chicago say the number, in itself, isn’t what matters. It’s challenging yourself. If your school offers 20 APs no one expects you to take them all.

+1 This is very wrong thinking. In no world is 8 APs a sign of an inferior student not worthy of college.

Agreed. Some folks seems think students should treat APs like Pokemon. Gotta catch em all…