Should I take orchestra in high school even if I don't have high achievements in it?

Hi @pyre!

It's important to remember that AP classes and extracurriculars serve different purposes in admissions. AP classes tell admissions officers that you're challenging yourself academically and can handle rigorous coursework. Extracurriculars show admissions officers what you're interested in outside the classroom, and they demonstrate the kind of passion you'll bring to future careers.

You can't substitute one for the other; you need both. A college is unlikely to accept you if they don't think you will succeed academically at their school, and many are even less likely to accept you if you don't have any compelling extracurriculars. Even a perfect SAT score or transcript won't be enough.

So, to answer your question, it depends on where you stand in each category. But since you haven't even started high school yet, I would recommend sticking with orchestra — as long as you enjoy it. Extracurriculars take a lot longer to develop (you can't just start senior year), so it's better to keep those you enjoy at your disposal. It'll be a lot easier to cut orchestra junior year if you need to make time for APs, then it would be to cut your APs and build a compelling extracurriuclar resume from scratch.

Lastly, I'd like to note that it's too early to judge how good you are at orchestra, at least in terms of whether it's worth continuing. Just do your best for now and keep your eye out for other extracurriuclars you may enjoy. If you find something else you'd rather spend time doing, go for it, but the important thing is to build an extracurricular foundation that will serve you the rest of high school.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Do you enjoy cello? If you do, keep doing it. Maybe you'll even become good enough to get those achievements.

Hi @pyre,

Thanks for asking this question. I think it is a good one because many students are confused about where to spend their extra time after school is out.

I will be attending Columbia this fall as an incoming Freshman. Like all Ivies, Columbia wants to have a variety of interesting, kind, high achieving, and engaging students on campus. Certainly, if you continued with Cello during HS that would make you a better player and perhaps good enough to play for one of Columbia's orchestras or chamber groups.

But the decision has to be yours. Case in point. I played Clarinet for 3 years prior to HS but when I entered HS, I didn't feel my playing was joyful and didn't like how the mouthpiece feeling was, so I conferred with my dad, and he thought that it would be better to focus on things that I truly was interested in.

Instead of playing Clarinet in band and orchestra, I ran for Student leadership and joined the water polo team. I found my voice in serving in school government and also started volunteering more in other community service organizations around town. This gave me the confidence to apply to Board positions for various City functions, like the Public Library and the Parks and Recs Advisory Board, and the School District DEI Advisory Board. And water polo gave me a mental release from all the day-to-day school pressures. Being in the pool where I had to focus on not being deliberately drowned by other players and trying to score goals kept my mind off peer pressure and stressing about homework and tests.

Now for fun as an incoming freshman, I play around with a bass guitar. There is no pressure for me to play, so it's more fun than when I had to practice these set pieces over and over. I found out through the process of eliminating things that didn't give me joy, that my talents are creative writing, leadership, activism, and storytelling.

One of my HS friends is going to Vassar this fall. She plays the French Horn and is excellent at it. And she will continue playing it in college as well. I think if you love your instrument and it is an extension of your personality and gives you joy, you should continue playing. If playing the Cello doesn't provide that uplifting happy feeling for you, you should focus on things that lift your spirits, something you are self-motivated to get better at regardless of the professional instruction available.

My last point is that AP CS is not the same thing as having a spike EC or playing an instrument. AP courses are just harder classes and college admissions readers do not compare your APs to your ECs. If you want to be successful at getting admitted to a school like Columbia you are going to need both lots of compelling APs with high AP test scores and lots of impressive ECs with their corresponding leadership roles, awards and honors. It's not either. It's both.

But remember, where you go to college is not as important as being the best version of yourself. 1/2 the people that get into Ivies are lucky they are there, it's not an entirely fair meritocratic process so just make sure you have a good long list of schools to apply to where you see yourself being a happy person to attend. So aim for Columbia if you want, but seriously look at the other 50 schools that will give you just as good of an undergraduate education when you apply.

Good luck okay?

I am currently a junior in orchestra. I live in Texas, and at my school, we are given both weighted and unweighted GPAs. There is a course offered here called Advanced Music which gives students the opportunity to perform at a much more difficult level (i.e concert critiques, solo performances) in order for orchestra to be considered a 5.0 weighted class rather than 4.0. Therefore, my first tip would be to reach out to your academic counselor to see if any similar courses are offered at your school. If not, then it is purely a choice of what interests you. Don't quit your passion just to put another AP on your transcript. Colleges will appreciate your willingness and ability to thrive in a wide range of circumstances, including academic and fine arts environments. It will also give you more to write your college essays about. In the end, do some research, and keep orchestra in mind; do what you truly love.