And my final transcript question, I think: too many Music credits?

[learners4life]

On dd transcript, under Fine Arts, we currently have 4 piano/music credits - one for each year.  I have them listed as Music Performance and Theory I, Music Performance and Theory II, AP Music Theory, and Music Performance and Pedagogy.  These are all very legit, BUT I wonder whether some of them would be considered activity list items.  I know many academically oriented kids who are taking band, marching band, choir, jazz ensemble, beginning piano, and guitar, to name a few.  On the other hand, I know many students who take more traditional coursework for electives, and take the music lessons outside of school, and, therefore, do not have that listed on their transcript.  Wondering what people here have done.

[Luckymama]

What does she have for activities?

[Pistachio mom]

I am also including the music lessons as actual classes. Some colleges will not count in unless you name it as including theory also. I am including the recitals, musicals, and volunteer performances as activities. But the music lessons with practice time does have an instructional component, as well as legit hours.

 

I like the way you have named the credits.

[learners4life]

What does she have for activities?

 

Music related activities are Music Teachers of California Certificate of Merit program all years of high school and having reached highest level, youth orchestra all years of high school, keyboardist in pit orchestra for local high school musical all years of high school, leading music (playing piano, leading choir, leading other instruments) for Catholic Mass for last year, paid accompanist for recitals and adjudications, started teaching piano this summer, participant and now counselor at summer music camps, probably something else I'm forgetting.

[Janice in NJ]

DS is a performance major in college (organ).

 

In high school, he played organ, piano, and violin (including youth orchestra); he sang in a choir and played in a handbell choir. He practiced 4+ hours per day. His last year of high school, he played two full-length recitals on his primary instrument (one in the fall and a second in the spring). He worked as an accompanist and as a church organist; he went to summer music camps. He attended a prestigious Saturday music program in NYC. On and on and on...

 

None of that made it onto the academic transcript. 

 

As a performance major in college, he continues to do a ton of music-related things for which he receives no academic credit. Yes, his music lessons for his primary instrument now earn him a full academic credit (his school is on a 4-credit/semester system); however, it's quite normal that his transcript doesn't really give him "credit" for all the things he does. His non-transcript related activities take up FAR more time than his transcript-related ones (if we discount his primary practice from either side of the equation).

 

Proving that you can handle BOTH well is part of the assurance you are offering the music-admissions committee. I would list the music theory on the transcript; I wouldn't list the music performance.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Janice in NJ

[EKS]

If music is a passion, I'd list them as activities with the exception of the AP course (I'm assuming that your student took the AP exam and did well).

[Arcadia]

My academically oriented neighbors has AP Music Theory with exam in their public/private high school transcript. Orchestra and other music related stuff went on the activities as well as school sports teams. They got into premed and engineering at low acceptance rate UC and private U.

[learners4life]

Thank you, ladies.  I felt putting them on there was not the thing to do, but I needed that affirmation/confirmation from the voices of experience.  I will keep it to the AP Music Theory class (EKS - she did get a 5), and the other items will remain exclusively in the activities section.  

 

"Proving that you can handle BOTH well is part of the assurance you are offering the music-admissions committee"  Thank you for that. Important reminder! Especially applicable to my dd because she wants to double major in animal biology and music.

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by learners4life

[Dmmetler]

FWIW, I graduated high school with 9 credits of music classes at the high school, ( all but one theory class were ensembles), 8 ensemble credits from the college. and a ton of music activities. It really is fairly common for large ensembles (and sometimes small ones as well) to be graded classes. A lot of the entering music majors, when I was in a position to see transcripts, also have similar numbers if they live in a college town. In my experience, if it's not graded (and it doesn't involve a ball), it is unlikely that funds will be present to provide it. So band and orchestra are usually graded. At the university level, same thing-if a faculty member directs it, it will usually be a 1 credit class with tuition paid, even if it's a non-majors level elective with no tryouts.

 

This can actually be detrimental to a strong academic student's GPA and class rank, at schools which weight practically everything but PE, fine arts, and lunch, and more than whatever the required number of fine arts credits are usually omitted from unweighted GPA calculations at colleges that recalculate GPA.

 

All that is to say, I wouldn't worry about having too many music classes, because a lot of kids who are in PS full time will have a ton of extra credits in music. It's pretty well understood that they are taken for love of the subject, not to fluff up the transcript. It really comes down to the simple fact that music kids tend to do music wherever they have a chance, and between the transcript and the activities list, that's usually apparent.

Edited September 22, 2016 by dmmetler

[learners4life]

Thanks, dmmetler, for your insight.  I hear everything you are saying.  One of my considerations was that in her youth orchestra, for example, the students are mostly public schooled.  Orchestra is not an activity that will be reflected in their transcripts, but in their activities list.  I don't want my daughter's transcript to look watered down, rigor-wise, because she included this in the transcript instead of the activities.  My dd, like many of your dc, is quite involved in outside music activities, so I had to ask just what I was including in that "Piano and Music Theory" class that wasn't being listed as an activity.  Well, it amounted to her piano lessons, her practice for solo piano work related to her piano lessons, and the theory work she did. The theory work will be elsewhere in her application under the accomplishment of reaching the MTAC CM Level 10.  So, that leaves me with piano lessons and practice.  Again, public school kids are taking music lessons, and practicing, and it isn't on their transcript.  

 

Now there are, of course, exceptions to this.  One of our highly regarded local public schools has a beginning piano class, a beginning guitar, and an intermediate guitar. These would obviously be on the transcript.  So, what to do?  I think we have to all figure that out according to what we are putting on our child's overall application.  

 

FWIW, this morning I spoke to a counselor at a very prestigious private school.  He is a friend of a friend.  When we talked about this briefly, he thought that I should omit all of the music things from the transcript except the AP Music Theory.

[Arcadia]

One of our highly regarded local public schools has a beginning piano class, a beginning guitar, and an intermediate guitar. These would obviously be on the transcript.

These are for the a-g fine arts requirements for my local public high school, for kids that aren't interested in taking music theory class in their high school as the fine arts (Music) requirement. Same as the intro to photography class that my local public high school has for people like my kids who don't like art class as a high school subject. The students would pick one full year course or two half year courses for a-g requirements.

[NotSoObvious]

I had 2-3 music credits every year of high school.

 

 

[learners4life]

These are for the a-g fine arts requirements for my local public high school, for kids that aren't interested in taking music theory class in their high school as the fine arts (Music) requirement. Same as the intro to photography class that my local public high school has for people like my kids who don't like art class as a high school subject. The students would pick one full year course or two half year courses for a-g requirements.

 

Yes, exactly.  If you have to fulfill a-g requirements, then you're going to need something from fine arts.  Photography, Music Theory, Dance, whatever.  And I know lots of kids have band on their transcript, but most of them are at schools that use block scheduling so they are getting plenty of their "academic" credits.  There's something to be said for pursuing your passion, and have that reflected on your transcript. It's that fine balancing act.  I will say that we are just getting to the portion of the application that includes activities, and I am thinking dd has more music activities than we will be able to list, and I want them somewhere!  Grrr!

Edited September 23, 2016 by learners4life