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Hi all
I am in a little situation here, and i'm hearing all sorts of different things so why not hear the thoughts of teamliquid haha
My current situation is that I am in Music Theory I as a senior in high school. I am considering dropping music theory because I have already taught myself almost everything we are going to learn for the rest of the year and the teacher doesn't like me either. It sucks to be in a class where you know the teacher hates you.
By dropping the class, I would have a study block where I could get more work done and free up time for other things, SC2 and music mostly. It would also ease a big burden off my back because the teacher gives us stupid homework on intervals and transposition. She gives us intervals that are never used and not just like 1 or 2 of them to know we are doing it right, but 20 of them and that just takes up too much time for me to do that. Then she gave us a ton of instruments to transpose, then said that it wouldn't be on the test and that she just wanted to make sure we knew how to do it. Regardless, I don't agree with her teaching methods
The only downside of dropping this class is that I don't know how it will affect my chances of getting into college, specifically a college I really like. I am going to major in biology and maybe minor in music theory.
So there are both sides of the argument, should i drop it or no drop it?
Poll: Drop music theory?no (30) 73% yes (11) 27% 41 total votes Your vote: Drop music theory? (Vote): yes
(Vote): no
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I'm currently procrastinating heavily for my finals, but you shouldn't.
It's just two weeks of hard work, and after that you'll have all the time you want for yourself and, bonus, a free mind !
NVM, misunderstood your point.
Yes, you should drop it in this case.
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Are there not "makeup" classes the college provides if you don't meet the prerequisites for a course? If you are majoring in biology then you aren't going to need the music class for entrance, right? Then you can take their version of that music course for the prerequisite instead and continue to minor in music theory? That's how it works at my college anyway. I would just talk to a representative at the college and ask, because you really make it sound like this class is going to be terrible.
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Keep with the class. You may as well.
If you've already applied to schools (which you should have done already) then they already have your transcript up to now. They won't necessarily know you dropped the class for the spring until your spring grades are submitted. Some schools will care enough to check up on this, some won't. Students drop classes all the time, so as long as you have an uncontested A I don't think it will matter to an admissions person.
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On December 11 2011 01:32 Servius_Fulvius wrote:
Keep with the class. You may as well.
If you've already applied to schools (which you should have done already) then they already have your transcript up to now. They won't necessarily know you dropped the class for the spring until your spring grades are submitted. Some schools will care enough to check up on this, some won't. Students drop classes all the time, so as long as you have an uncontested A I don't think it will matter to an admissions person.
I don't have an uncontested A. That is part of my problem. To get a good grade, I have to spend tedious amounts of time to go over every note and make sure it's right which easily takes 30 minutes to an hour every time. I did it last quarter so I know how much work it takes and that we will only get more work as the year progresses
On December 11 2011 01:29 Grobyc wrote:
Are there not "makeup" classes the college provides if you don't meet the prerequisites for a course? If you are majoring in biology then you aren't going to need the music class for entrance, right? Then you can take their version of that music course for the prerequisite instead and continue to minor in music theory? That's how it works at my college anyway. I would just talk to a representative at the college and ask, because you really make it sound like this class is going to be terrible.
thx for the advice. I will ask on monday when their offices open.
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High school? Don't drop the class, especially if you don't replace it with something else that a college can see.
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I was hoviering over 'yes' til I saw that you wanted to study music in college. Save yourself the cash on the college courses by taking as much as u can in high school
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your worried a college is going to think less of you because you dropped a music theory class in your senior year..? lol?
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I think you should talk to your teacher. Approach her calmly, logically, and reasonably, and open a dialogue with her with regards to her teaching style. Be careful to be polite, respectful, and non-confrontational. I don't think you should drop the class until you try to reason with her.
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If you don't know the real downsides of your decision, how are we supposed to?
Do your research before making any decisions.
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On December 11 2011 01:51 gogogadgetflow wrote:
I was hoviering over 'yes' til I saw that you wanted to study music in college. Save yourself the cash on the college courses by taking as much as u can in high school
i don't get credit for the course
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If you're dropping it so you can spend more on SC2, that's just foolish and lazy. Stick with it and let this be a lesson for you in college and in life. You're going to have to take many courses you don't like, that aren't enjoyable, are incredibly tedious, and your relationship with the professor (or boss) may be poor. Better get used to it now rather than quitting. Not to mention, if you work hard and pull off an A, think of the reward. Despite the teacher not liking you, you still earned an A in a subjective course.
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On December 11 2011 01:46 GigaFlop wrote:
High school? Don't drop the class, especially if you don't replace it with something else that a college can see.
We have ourselves a winner here. *ding ding ding*
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Drop that shit like it's hot.
I took a design course in Gr. 10 and 11, loved it. Then dropped it in Gr. 12, and hung out with my friends everyday instead. Once you get into post-secondary you'll realize that pretty much nothing you did in High School actually matters. Besides, life's too short not to enjoy.
Edit: Obviously you should find out if you need it for College first. If you need it, it's a no-brainer, you have to take it. If you don't, then yeah I would drop it.
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I took AP theory in high school too. I wish I had dropped it.I had to work my ass off just to pass (ended up not anyway), and nearly failed biology because i was devoting so much time to it. If youre doing well in the class than just keep at it, especially if it's ap. AP credit is the greatest thing in college. However, if your are doing really bad, than gtfo like I should have. Seems like you and your teachers thinking is very dissonant lolol
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Dropping a class in HS. Not worth it.
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not worth it. theyr will be teachers that are worst then that. trust me
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Do it dude, I had some free time my senior year in HS and it made me much happier. I also had a remedial class that I was in and got out of it. Worth it
And I still got into a pretty good school. So as long as everything else is in order I wouldn't sweat it too much.
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On December 11 2011 02:02 CCalms wrote:
your worried a college is going to think less of you because you dropped a music theory class in your senior year..? lol?
Exactly what I was thinking. Slightly less lol if it's AP music theory, but still. The rest of you guys are nuts.
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Sorry, but it sounds like you aren't as good at theory as you're telling us. For one, all intervals are used. To say otherwise shows ignorance, which could be rectified by either speaking to your teacher or potentially by finishing the class.
Edit: Also if you're planning on minoring in MT, it would be a good idea to knock out as many of those classes as you can asap. You can always teach yourself everything you want to know (yay internet and libraries), but it's going to be easier having someone else (the prof.) do the research and summaries for you. I suggest sticking with the class so you have a better chance at finishing college without hating yourself.
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United States335 Posts
It's not mentioned explicitly, so I have to assume you are on a semester system and are nearing the end of fall semester. In that case I would strongly advise you to at least finish the semester. Colleges and universities will notice if you drop a course late in your fall semester of senior year. Really if you're that close to the end of the semester anyways, there is no good reason not to see it through.
If that's not the case, or you're considering not taking it next semester or whatever, I would still encourage you to stick with it, for a few reasons.
First, to be frank it sounds as though you aren't nearly as good at music theory as you think you are. 20 intervals should take at most 5 minutes to identify, even if they're all crazy ones like triply augmented 10ths or whatever. If it's taking you significantly more than that then you clearly are nowhere near proficient in them. Transposition is also important to know, even if it's not on your final, and also shouldn't take much time to do. I assume those assignments sound "stupid" to you because you see them as unnecessary, but if you truly had little or nothing left to learn from them, then they would take you so little time that they would not be a "burden" at all. You may think you've learned most of the curriculum for the full year, but based on your stated examples, I think you would learn a lot by leaving your ego at the door and taking the class more seriously.
Second, you might be able to get out of a semester or two of college theory, either directly if it's AP theory or by testing out, if you have a firm grasp of the basics (probably up through basic four part harmonies). That would be well worth it.
Lastly, your teacher hating you is unfortunately not a compelling reason. The occasional lousy teacher/professor is inevitable, and while it sucks, it's usually not worth dropping a course over. I've found that when teachers dislike me, if I make a concerted effort to always be polite, humble, and completely on top of homework and tests in their class, they notice fairly quickly and become much less unpleasant. I would try that and see if she doesn't become much easier to deal with.
Best of luck.
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If you're comfortable with material and you think you can get the score you want on your own, then drop the class and take the AP test in May. That's all that really matters from a credit standpoint.
I don't think colleges will really care too much if you dropped the class and passed the test with flying colors. If you're really ambitious you could learn beyond the first level class; some colleges will have additional placement tests to let you bypass intermediate theory courses.
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Ok let me clarify some things.
The teacher - A lot of people said dropping a class isn't a compelling enough reason to drop the class in itself. I am aware of that and that was not my reasoning either. I can live with bad teachers and do their stupid shit. I already do that in a couple of my other classes and i'm not going to drop them just because I have a bad teacher.
The class - I am taking IB music theory, a year round course. In order to recieve IB credit, I have to take IB music theory II, which I won't be able to take because its a year long course and I am a senior so I can't take it next year because ill be in college.
I never said I was a genius at music theory or anything, but compared to everyone else in the class I am. We just took our unit test today and it was on simple intervals and identifying P1, m2, M2, m3, M3, and P8 intervals ( i know not even all of them wtf). We were given 45 minutes to complete the first half of the test in class and I finished in 5 minutes. Then i took another 5 minutes to go over the whole test and do every problem again to double check my work.
What I dislike about the class is that it isn't as "rigorous" as I would like it to be. The content is too easy and the pace is too slow and if I dropped it, I would be able to learn at a preferably faster pace then continuing on with the class.
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EPT
