Band Co.

TexasSailor

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Jan 14, 2015
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I was in the band for a year in high school, which shows up on my transcript and resume, but I don't have any desire to be in a college band because I'd rather spend that time playing sports and studying. I've read some stories of kids getting forced into Band Company because they had previous band experience. I really don't want to be in Band co. because I'd rather do other things. Does anyone know if they still force people in? If you are forced in, is there anyway to get out?
 
There is no Force in the Band. You can’t be in with Force nor out with Force, with the Band. The Band and Force are not one and the same, but neither are Force and the Band mutually exclusive. Anyone who talks about Force and the Band has obviously never been around the Band or Force. Maybe they thought there was Force in the Band, but I guarantee it was not actual Force in the Band, only a perceived Force related to the Band.

Just to clarify it is not true that Force = Band or Band = Force
 
Huh? Is there a scientific notation related to this theory? Is this Newton's 5th law?:p
 
I think KP engineer is making a joke about the famed band leader, Captain Keith Force but I don't quite get it.
 
My son had been in orchestra for two or three years in high school and did not have to be in band. He played on the KP rugby team for four years. From what I hear they will try to recruit you for it on the first day of Indoc. And at least for this year's class there was at least one recruited athlete who somehow got put in Band Co.


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I think KP engineer is making a joke about the famed band leader, Captain Keith Force but I don't quite get it.
ding ding ding ... The last sentence struck me as humorous about being "forced" into the band so i just felt like using Force and Band together as much as possible. I was curious how many people would catch on.

I was always told not to say anything if you play an instrument because you will end up in Band but I think that was more urban legend than truth. Even if you are in Band Co., they can't force you to play in the Band. I knew several people who were able to leave the Band.
 
Our DS was a recruited athlete who was told the worst thing for an athlete was to be in Band Co. At Indoc he finds out he has been placed in Band Co. and his worst fear came true. He does not play any instrument but is a very accomplished singer. If your application shows you have some sort of musical skill there is a good chance you will end up in band Co. If you do not play an instrument they assign you to drums and you simply march and pretend to play.

We were concerned, so we talked to the athletic director about getting him out of Band Co. and were told that all of the horror stories you hear about Band Co. are not true and for us to just wait and see what happens. So we waited and it turns out he loves Band Co. He has told us he does not want to switch and thinks Band Co. is they best place to be. It gets you off campus more than the other companys, because it excelled academically they get more priveledges than the other Companys. As far as band versus athletics, if there is a conflict with an athletic event, the athletic event takes priority over a band event. There are several recruited athletes in Band Co. Our DS is also very active at the waterfront, in addition to his sport, and being in Band Co. has not impacted his participation there. Do not believe everything you hear about Band Co. it is not as bad as everyone says.
 
Our DS was a recruited athlete who was told the worst thing for an athlete was to be in Band Co. At Indoc he finds out he has been placed in Band Co. and his worst fear came true. He does not play any instrument but is a very accomplished singer. If your application shows you have some sort of musical skill there is a good chance you will end up in band Co. If you do not play an instrument they assign you to drums and you simply march and pretend to play.

We were concerned, so we talked to the athletic director about getting him out of Band Co. and were told that all of the horror stories you hear about Band Co. are not true and for us to just wait and see what happens. So we waited and it turns out he loves Band Co. He has told us he does not want to switch and thinks Band Co. is they best place to be. It gets you off campus more than the other companys, because it excelled academically they get more priveledges than the other Companys. As far as band versus athletics, if there is a conflict with an athletic event, the athletic event takes priority over a band event. There are several recruited athletes in Band Co. Our DS is also very active at the waterfront, in addition to his sport, and being in Band Co. has not impacted his participation there. Do not believe everything you hear about Band Co. it is not as bad as everyone says.
Our DS was a recruited athlete who was told the worst thing for an athlete was to be in Band Co. At Indoc he finds out he has been placed in Band Co. and his worst fear came true. He does not play any instrument but is a very accomplished singer. If your application shows you have some sort of musical skill there is a good chance you will end up in band Co. If you do not play an instrument they assign you to drums and you simply march and pretend to play.

We were concerned, so we talked to the athletic director about getting him out of Band Co. and were told that all of the horror stories you hear about Band Co. are not true and for us to just wait and see what happens. So we waited and it turns out he loves Band Co. He has told us he does not want to switch and thinks Band Co. is they best place to be. It gets you off campus more than the other companys, because it excelled academically they get more priveledges than the other Companys. As far as band versus athletics, if there is a conflict with an athletic event, the athletic event takes priority over a band event. There are several recruited athletes in Band Co. Our DS is also very active at the waterfront, in addition to his sport, and being in Band Co. has not impacted his participation there. Do not believe everything you hear about Band Co. it is not as bad as everyone says.

It's so nice to hear some positive news regarding Band Company. My son's application is currently in a "Hold" status. He is a recruited athlete, and is also an All State Vocalist, and plays 3 instruments. He hopes to gain an appointment to USMMA, and he would love to be assigned to Band Company to still be involved with music. We are hoping it all works out, but it was nice to see a positive post regarding Band Company.
 
DS played piano for 10 years and did not breathe a word about it on I-Day or during INDOC. They hit you up in first hour as you in-process. Being in Band is not the same as being in Band Company (was chuckling at KPEngineer's post). Band is voluntary; Band Co is an assignment. DS joined drill team and color guard and teams are both competing at Tulane late Feb. For him, it is great. He thought marching with a piano would be too much for him to carry his plebe year.
 
TexasSailor and Gofish - never mind, it's not letting me send you PMs.

But - my son was a recruited athlete, 4 year starter on his team, and was in Band Co. He loved it all.
 
So happy to hear that's it's possible to be in Band company and on a sports team. Thanks for your message.
 
DS was Band Company at KP. Four years of HS Band showed on his transcript, and his application also showed four years of Drama Club. He knew he was doomed.:p He also wanted to do track and field, and when he did his overnight visit before he was accepted he was paired with a Mid in Band Co who also ran track. Yes, it is possible. DS ran cross country in the fall, indoor T&F in the winter, and outdoor T&F in the spring. There was one time his plebe year when a cross country meet conflicted with a band performance - cross country won out. (Not without objection from Capt. Force....) DS had a fantastic sports experience, including two Landmark Conference first place medals and he's part of three school records for relays. And as for band? He wouldn't have traded Band Co for another company. He made some fantastic friends that stay in touch - even though DS is in the Navy in Japan (two have visited him when they were in port).
 
Same here. DS was warned about Band Co before he reported for Indoc in 2008. He played trumpet in HS. When he got to the band table during inprocessing he told the staff that he did not want to play trumpet. He was promptly told he was in Band Co and would play percussion. He taught himself to play the snare drum. He also played on the ice hockey team. I will echo what everyone else has stated. If you want a higher GPA, want the opportunity to travel for your sport and get off campus and make great friends just go with it!
 
I'm going to go somewhat against the recent postings here and say this relative to my experience as a parent of a mid who graduated in 2012 (vice my own as a 1982 alumnus).

- my direct answer to the question originally asked about "will my DS be forced to be in Band Co as he plays an instrument" is I don't know - the practice was stopped for at least a while by RADM Greene, I have no idea of RADM Hellis or the current Commandant's position on it. However as noted being in Band Co vs being in the Band are indeed two different things. Just as recruited athletes cannot be made to stay on any team, those assigned to Band Co don't have to stay in the band. That said it's very hard for a plebe living in Band Co that was assigned there because they may have indicated they could play an instrument to resist both the peer and other pressure that comes when virtually everyone of the other people in the dorm you live in has their life's schedule driven by the schedule of the band.

- While as the noted examples indicate often if not usually in the event of a conflict, athletics can and will win out (after all the Class of 1993's Steadman Award Winner was a member of the band), one of the things for parents and students that are coming into USMMA is that you need to be careful and make sure you understand how to prioritize the first and foremost thing you need to take care of is the academics squeezing four years into three isn't easy - no matter how smart or gifted you are. Be careful not to oversubscribe is all I'm saying and then I say this priorities are 1) Academics, 2) Academics 3) Staying Sane so that usually means athletics or extra-curricular and 4) Regimental Duties (and my view is by the end of Indoc that's okay as the Regimental stuff is the most easily mastered).

- Another thing to understand is as long as you aren't totally underwater with your academics then the statistics say that mids on Varsity teams generally have and attain better GPA's while their sport is in season than when they are not - lots of logical reasons for this when you think it's through.

- Last two tidbits - 1) if you don't want to be in Band and there's no indication of it on your application, to be safe I'd answer any question during reporting in that pertained to my musical talents with - nope, I'm tone deaf according to my Mom and siblings. 2) If you had something on your app about it, then I'd answer consistently with that and as above not sweat it, there are ways to get out of Band if you hate it and as noted it's better than the horror stories especially if you like music.
 
I was in the band for a year in high school, which shows up on my transcript and resume, but I don't have any desire to be in a college band because I'd rather spend that time playing sports and studying. I've read some stories of kids getting forced into Band Company because they had previous band experience. I really don't want to be in Band co. because I'd rather do other things. Does anyone know if they still force people in? If you are forced in, is there anyway to get out?
My DS didn't care to be put in Band Co when he started KP and guess what, he was placed in Band. IF you have band in your high school transcript then welcome to Band Co. Shrug it off, it will be okay... ((It ended up being a blessing... Band Co has the highest gpa's, most tutors, least about of set backs, and is a very very tight group of students.))
 
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DS played piano for 10 years and did not breathe a word about it on I-Day or during INDOC. They hit you up in first hour as you in-process. Being in Band is not the same as being in Band Company (was chuckling at KPEngineer's post). Band is voluntary; Band Co is an assignment. DS joined drill team and color guard and teams are both competing at Tulane late Feb. For him, it is great. He thought marching with a piano would be too much for him to carry his plebe year.
bearhubnter66 - it doesn't work like that any more... they've already decided companys way before Day 0 begins. Not breathing a word of it on Day 0 (not called I-Day at KP) or during INDOC doesn't prove anything. Also-before you talk about "band is voluntary, Band Co is an assignment" understand that the USMMA is the ONLY Academy to have Band as part of the regiment. The so-called pep bands that alumni do at the other Academies is a FAR CRY from Band co at the USMMA. Happy to hear your DS joined the drill team and color guard and hope is is doing well. Also glad that he isn't marching with his piano- lol.

:thumb: And BTW, ALL KP parents should be PROUD of the Band Co kids. This stigma of band co that some adults here are talking about is pretty sad. The fact is, half of the kids in Band co didn't want to be placed there.. but they made the best of it. So while everyone else only deals with daily life of a KP student, the Band co kid has practices and performances ON TOP OF "everything else" (and MANY are athletes or do Waterfront sports or drill team (etc) as well as Band obligations). Interestingly enough, Band Co remains to have the highest GPA and has the most amount of tutors and the least set backs of all of the companies. Bravo Band Co.
 
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