common room furnishings: be brutally honest - Page 3

~~~ · 09-18-2009, 08:50 AM

Is a member of the concert band or the jazz band like a recruited athlete? Need to be a music major?

stringkeymom · 09-18-2009, 11:01 AM

Hunt, that sounds terrific. DS has Directed Studies and so will wait to take Composition, but he'll keep composing in his (ha) spare time. Apparently, most of the ensembles premiere student compositions regularly so it's a composer's dreamworld. I'm sure our son's paths will cross soon (if they haven't already, does your son by any chance play trumpet?)

~~~ You do not have to be a music major; just audition!

Hunt · 09-18-2009, 11:03 AM

No, they're not like recruited athletes. For the undergraduate ensembles, including the Orchestra, Band, and Jazz Ensemble, they have auditions at the beginning of the school year. I don't think there is any preference for music majors, and my recollection is that music majors are "encouraged" but not required to participate in some kind of musical ensemble.
Playing an instrument well may help with admissions--and music supplements can be sent in--but I don't think it would result in somebody being "recruited" unless they were extremely unusual.

stringkeymom, my son's a clarinet player, although he's really more interested in piano and guitar. It's a lot harder to get into the Jazz Ensemble than the Concert Band, though.

amciw · 09-21-2009, 04:21 AM

I've talked to so many fellow students taking five credits and can't help but think "Why?" I'm quite content with taking four, and couldn't envision giving myself another course. Not only does it let you adapt to the workload of college, but it helps you adapt to the nature of college schedules/classes, as well as residential life. It's really weak, to be honest, how the deans and frocos tell you "Go light", and then so willingly sign off on five credit schedules. (On the other hand, it's funny when I can relax because I have no reading or problem sets due, and they have to worry about all the work they have to do or have procrastinated on doing.)

Hunt · 09-21-2009, 01:28 PM

Here's how my son got to 5.5 credits, if anybody's interested. I think it shows how particular circumstances can drive decisions.
First, he wants to be a music major, and he wants to compose. As a result, he strongly wanted to get into the composition seminar as soon as possible. That's 1.
Also, he didn't place out of all of his music theory requirements, so he'll have to take music theory (1 credit) and musicianship (.5) for his major--plus they'll be helpful for the composition seminar. So he wanted to take them this year.
French--he wanted to take his one semester of required French as soon as possible, so he didn't forget it.
English--he wanted to take a writing course as soon as possible to get prep in writing college essays.
Finally, he's taking Statistics for three reasons: 1. he thinks it might help him with other subjects, 2. It satisfies QR requirement, and 3. The Dean probably would not have approved a 4.5 credit schedule that was 2.5 credits of music. If he had dropped anything, it would have been one of the music classes, which he really didn't want to do.
I think it would be a nutty schedule if there were a lab science in there, or more intensive writing. Hopefully, it will work out for him.

stringkeymom · 09-22-2009, 10:14 PM

Hunt, it sounds as though your son and mine faced similar challenges in their schedules.

In my son's case, because he is in Directed Studies (3 credits) which he loves and wouldn't not do, and because he intends to major in music and has as his main focus, violin performance, he had to take violin for an additional credit. He already has postponed taking music history and composition courses for DS.

Because of the requirements that freshmen must take one credit in each of two skills areas and Directed studies only fills WR, he has to take at least one more credit of either QR or FL, either in the fall or the spring. He could wait until spring, but in the spring there is a course in music theory he really wants to have the option of taking.

The Dean let him sign up for 5.5 credits (much to my amazement) but I think that is because one of the credits is "only" violin performance. I believe that there is a perception that taking an instrument for credit is less demanding than an academic course. It does depend on how much time is put into the instrument, though, in terms of hours of practice.

I agree with amciw and i wish my son could just do DS and violin. It seems to me that there is so much that is wonderful to absorb at Yale (the ECs, the lectures, the conversations, the concerts, the performances) and I would rather see him just focus on DS and his music. As a prof, I've noticed over the years that students with lighter loads (obviously) have more time to put into their courses and get more out of them.

For the record, however, he is thinking about dropping Russian (although he really enjoys it) as the work load has gotten heavier in the last two weeks. [I wish there was not a requirement to take one credit in each of two skills areas, or that it could be waived for DS students]. He asked his residential college "big sister" for advice and she had very wise words to say about not taking so many credits freshman year. I see this thread has gone way off topic!

amciw · 09-23-2009, 03:13 AM

What L of Russian is he in? If it's L1, he is getting slammed with work (which I'd presume is difficult). Seeing my entryway-mates' experiences with introductory languages has all but convinced me to relearn Spanish over the summer to place into L5 as a sophomore. I'm impressed that your son has handled DS, and language, and the practice requirements of violin at all - he must actually have good time management skills. I've noticed that the majority of fellow students are still hindered by the terrible habits of high school, and are forced use late nights and all-nighters to finish their work, most of whom are in merely 4 or 4.5 credits. With that said, I would encourage him to drop something, and Russian seems like a logical choice. The big siblings (or really any upperclassmen) tend to have sage advice worth following - I'd argue it's the intelligent thing to do.

memake · 09-23-2009, 03:39 AM

Hmmm. Mom of a 5-credit freshman here. I don't think she's dropping anything, and she would be taking 6 credits if she could. Also complaining bitterly about how hard it all is (which I'm sure is true - 1.5 of the credits are for Freshman Organic, and she is not a natural at that stuff).

Look, everyone's different. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be taking 5 credits if I were a freshman at Yale, but I'm not...so anyway, I think she will learn from the experience (although what she learns might be that she can handle 5 credits, but it takes a toll on how much fun you can have, and you end up with a lot of stress.) Well, I wish all our freshmen lots of luck as they start taking their first exams/working on their first big papers etc.

wjb · 09-23-2009, 03:29 PM

I don't think anyone's a natural when it comes to Orgo!

amciw · 09-23-2009, 03:49 PM

Someone I know is in DS and Freshman Orgo. I think that takes the cake for sub-5 credit course difficulty.

wjb · 09-23-2009, 04:23 PM

^^Sounds grim, or heroic, or both. Son says he knows someone taking DS and Math 230.

amciw · 09-23-2009, 04:51 PM

Oh, lovely. I'd still give the nudge to Orgo, though, because of its notoriety for difficult grading, and because the requisite lab is a massive time-sink that Math 230 can't match.

stringkeymom · 09-29-2009, 06:36 PM

amciw, thanks for your kind words about time management. It's a major challenge for any college student (particularly freshmen who are making many adjustments) and also i think, especially for Elis who seem to thrive on ECs. My son is in L3 Russian, but there is still a significant amount of homework and language lab type work that is hugely time consuming. so over the weekend, after much soul searching, he took the decision to drop Russian for now. He had the option of taking L5 Latin this fall, so he'll probably do that in the spring semester or take a QR course to meet the skills requirement. i think his big sib's advice was excellent and in the end, carried the day. She argued that Directed Studies is only for freshman year and he should make the most of it.

memake--i cannot imagine Orgo + Directed Studies. my hat's off to your daughter!

(p.s. when i looked at my son's schedule for the week without the Russian classes and homework, it was still completely packed out and i have no idea how the Russian ever fit in)

memake · 09-30-2009, 09:19 AM

"memake--i cannot imagine Orgo + Directed Studies. my hat's off to your daughter!"

No no. She declined the DS option. She's pretty busy, though, with 5 credits + YSO + a couple of other music things (don't want to get too detailed/identifying). Although the organic chemistry takes the most amount of prep time, none of the classes feel like guts to her. She's particularly troubled by her lack of practise time.

stringkeymom · 09-30-2009, 03:39 PM

memake--it's still a heavy load, with or without DS! scheduling the practice time is an ongoing challenge, but i have a feeling your daughter is doing well. are you going up for any of the YSO concerts?