The two activities in question are a program called UB Math and the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra.
I’m currently part of UB Math, a gifted math program where students take their math courses at a local university. I’m currently enrolled and have been since 7th grade, and it’s generally considered an extremely powerful element of college applications for students in Western New York. It also allows me to avoid taking math classes in school, freeing up my schedule.
On the other hand, there is GBYO. A Youth Orchestra that I was a part of in 8th grade, and it was the most fun I’ve had playing music. Unfortunately, when I began high school, UB math conflicted with it and I was forced to drop it. I have a passion for playing music, and while my high school’s music department is awesome, it doesn’t quite fulfill the gap in my heart.
At the end of the day, despite my passion for playing music, I dream of attending a top college somewhere and it seems like having such a prestigious academic extracurricular would be more beneficial to a college application. I do, however, have friends who were involved in both that went to top universities, which leads me to believe that it really doesn’t make a difference as long as I excel in whatever I end up doing.
I don’t think anyone here should answer this for you. They both seem like great programs where you could excel. What do YOU want?
Consider:
– If you drop the math program now would there be appropriately challenging courses to take in your HS or elsewhere?
–Is there another musical outlet that won’t be a conflict?
–If you take college admissions out of the equation, do you have a strong preference?
You appear to be quite talented and it sounds like both options can lead to good outcomes. The decision should be based on your personal interests, talents, etc. Maybe someone else will chime in, but IMO nobody here knows you to opine on this.
Math in school would be a shift, but my reasoning is almost every other student in the country that went to the schools I’d like to took math in school and did just fine. The thing is, Calc BC covers college Calc I and II. UB Math, on the other hand, by the time I graduate will cover I, II, III, and linear algebra. I do not know enough about math courses to know how much more education that is, but I can imagine would immensely useful once I get to college.
There are other musical opportunities outside of school, but to spare you the details, they don’t compare to what GBYO would bring me.
Without college applications in mind, I’d choose GBYO 10 times out of 10.
I don’t plan to go into math nor music. As a sophomore right now, I really don’t have a clue, but radiology and law school both look interesting to me. All I can tell you is that GBYO will probably only be useful as an element of the college application that boosts the mental side of my application (shows dedication, passion for an instrument, and of course skill level). UB Math is probably more practical for the field I choose, whatever that may be.
There is also a slim chance that I major in music but I don’t think I will.
Neither pre-med nor pre-law requires a specific major, and the math required for pre-med is generally not beyond single variable calculus plus some statistics (unless your major requires more math).
In my opinion, yes. Many HS age students with passion and talent in multiple areas come to a point where they need to decide which has a priority at a given time. I always told my kids to keep as many doors open as possible while working hard and doing what gives them joy.
Math may be more practical, but again the path you take can change directions many times over the next few years.
My youngest is at a top music conservatory. He has had several classmates transition to med school and law school after graduating with their music degree.
My daughter was in a similar boat, but hers was a decision about a HS course and the youth orchestra AND wind ensemble at a precollege program.
In her case, she really wanted to take an anatomy and physiology/EMT course which would have led to her being EMT B certified (assuming she passed the tests) upon completion. BUT the practicals were on the weekends, and the youth orchestra and wind ensemble both met on Sundays.
She had to make the hard choice. She chose the wind ensemble and youth orchestra (she was first chair on her instruments and continued to take lessons and play in college).
Music was an important diversion from her very challenging STEM courses in college. She continues to play these instruments now, and she has been out of high school since 2006.
I’m a high school teacher in Texas. I have witnessed math and music going hand-in-hand in many students. I would recommend BGYO over the gifted math program if there’s no way to do both. It is certain that you will meet others like you (talented in both music and math) in BGYO. While there, you should talk to people 1-2 years ahead of you and learn from their experiences (in music, in school, in college application, etc.). Also students practice working together in the orchestra, very similar to those in team sports. The growth is not only in music.
Calculus BC during senior year of high school is very good and is ahead of what you really need. Top universities can teach you calculus, regardless of whether you start at 1 or 2 or 3 in university, and can also teach you linear algebra. I can see some advantage to have calculus 1 in high school so that you can finish calculus 3 by the end of freshman year of university, but I do not think that this is needed unless you are a math or engineering or physics major, and it sounds like you will be ahead of this either way.
I was a math major in university (bachelor’s of science in mathematics). For someone majoring in math or engineering or physics I would be more concerned that whenever they take it, they understand calculus very well because they are eventually going to use it a lot. Linear algebra is also used quite a bit in some fields, but again is something that pretty much any decent university can teach you.
If you can get to calc AB by Senior year on the normal schedule, do orchestra.
You’ll never have another chance. Math will always be there and you don’t need beyond AN for top schools. Some don’t even have that. It’s why all colleges have Calc 1.
Nothing you do will assure an admission to specific colleges.
Orchestra!!! This is your love, and you can’t replicate any part of this experience on your own.
You can, otoh, still achieve a relatively high level of math without the gifted program – through your school, perhaps from an online class, a DE class, etc. And you can cover anything you missed in college.
Students can get into the most selective colleges with just Calculus by senior year, although I would recommend BC, if it is available, rather than AB. I do see some slight benefit with one additional level beyond that, such as MVC by senior year.
To put things into perspective, the two students from our local high school who recently attended CalTech had only finished Calculus in high school, and both thrived there, despite that being the most difficult undergraduate curriculum. While MIT’s curriculum is easier by comparison, it is a more difficult admit, and most of the students my child knows there mostly had an additional year of math. All of these students had the intelligence to learn Calc much earlier, but there was no need.
Instead, the most talented math students demonstrated their math aptitude through math contests such as the AMC 10/12, followed by AIME.
Do the orchestra! Not only because this is what your passion is, but assuming you are reasonably good, it is also the most likely element that will get you a college scholarship. If you are very good, it may also help you to get into a top school like an Ivy.
I also have a music/math gifted kid who ended up going the music route. He was fortunate to attend a gifted public school that offered him two years of math after calculus. But when he didn’t have a right-level math options (in middle school), he did classes through the Art of Problem Solving. I’m not sure that is exactly what you are looking for, but there are other ways to take online college-level math classes that are equally rigorous.
I think this student should do orchestra also, because they clearly want to do it.
But hoping for a scholarship isn’t the reason they should do it. My kid plays two “endangered” instruments. She received free instrument lessons and a $250 per quarter performance award as long as she played in the college orchestra…which she did.
Maybe other colleges award more money to those who are not music majors. I didn’t read that this student intended to be a music major, and at most colleges, that is where the scholarship money goes.
This student said…that they would choose music over math…if college applications weren’t in the picture. My free advice…take college applications out of the picture.
Yes, my daughter got $1000/year and free piano lessons if she played in the jazz band. It was OK, but her high school band was much better than the college one! Her band won the state competition when she was a HS senior.
I’m glad she continued with piano. It’s a great release for her. She writes music and improvises beautifully. She played a couple of her pieces at the Steinway store in Warsaw recently and people clapped for her.
