Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2019 17:31:45 GMT -5
Well, recruiting is relative. I think our staff is always recruiting high schoolers by doing competitions and such. However, what if there is an instance when a kid truly wants to attend A&T but, lands a scholarship from NSU...what happens, 90% of the time NSU will win that kid. So, let's not ignore the obvious. All we can hope for in recruiting is a kid really wants to come to A&T and they or their parents have the resources to get them there. Otherwise, we lose! The only reason we lose is if our staff actually believes this. Other bands are giving money, but not full rides. We offer in state tuition vs out of state for other schools. We're the number one producer of black engineers. Our campus is incredible. Our band is great. We offer academic scholarships. We use lack of band scholarships as an excuse to not try, and that's what's hurting us in the end. Other people have talked about our sound concept. There's nothing wrong with it - our band at its best is just as good as it's ever been. Our song selection could use some work - we don't showcase our power nearly as much as we could, and that takes away from the awe factor that we used to have. But that's a pretty easy fix - it's just up to the staff to highlight our strengths. I for one LOVE our ballads.
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919aggie
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Post by 919aggie on Aug 13, 2019 17:53:30 GMT -5
We produce the BEST field shows hands down..I just assumed with the new instruments and uniforms (which are very expensive) that the administration kicked out some extra funds to the band. We grew in 2017 and slightly grew in 2018 so I thought the trend would continue. The only time our band is put to the test is when were up against a SWAC school and Norfolk. Song selection (during the 5th qtr/ band battle) and lack of brass(power)is really our only downfall IMO.
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KidHeartless
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AGGIE FRIGGIN PRIDE!
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Post by KidHeartless on Aug 13, 2019 18:18:07 GMT -5
NSU will be a waiting on us.....swole af
dont know about SCSU yet.....
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tony
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Post by tony on Aug 13, 2019 18:50:40 GMT -5
We produce the BEST field shows hands down..I just assumed with the new instruments and uniforms (which are very expensive) that the administration kicked out some extra funds to the band. We grew in 2017 and slightly grew in 2018 so I thought the trend would continue. The only time our band is put to the test is when were up against a SWAC school and Norfolk. Song selection (during the 5th qtr/ band battle) and lack of brass(power)is really our only downfall IMO. Everything you just said is true. Administration has been kicking out funds, but scholarships are VERY expensive. A new Sousaphone can run $8000. That's about one semester's worth of in state scholarship. Out of state is even higher. The sousaphone lasts for years, the scholarship needs to be funded twice a year. That's why an endowment is so important - once it's funded the interest can provide for us every year. I love our ballads too. I wish I could say the same about our power songs.
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Post by ohsixrain on Aug 13, 2019 20:48:58 GMT -5
We produce the BEST field shows hands down..I just assumed with the new instruments and uniforms (which are very expensive) that the administration kicked out some extra funds to the band. We grew in 2017 and slightly grew in 2018 so I thought the trend would continue. The only time our band is put to the test is when were up against a SWAC school and Norfolk. Song selection (during the 5th qtr/ band battle) and lack of brass(power)is really our only downfall IMO. Everything you just said is true. Administration has been kicking out funds, but scholarships are VERY expensive. A new Sousaphone can run $8000. That's about one semester's worth of in state scholarship. Out of state is even higher. The sousaphone lasts for years, the scholarship needs to be funded twice a year. That's why an endowment is so important - once it's funded the interest can provide for us every year. I love our ballads too. I wish I could say the same about our power songs. Look, I'm being honest with you, I have a child at A&T and it's expensive. To have another school offer scholarship funds to offset the cost of tuition is a deciding factor all day every day. The o e thing I will say the band staff could do better at and that is retention of the upperclassmen. Every year the band is about 70% freshmen. If we could keep retention around 50% through their senior year then then numbers would stay up. But, again it's about resources...if you cannot work and March in the band then, you've sliced a big portion of upperclassmen. Some students have to work to help offset some of the costs for school. So, we can act like resources don't matter but, I'm not buying that.
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tony
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Post by tony on Aug 14, 2019 7:13:56 GMT -5
In state tuition is about $18k/year at A&T, $20k at NSU. Out of state is around 32k at both schools. Most schools aren't offering enough scholarship money to make up the in state / out of state difference. We may lose out of state students that choose to stay in their home state for college, but we should be competitive with every other group. Academic scholarships play a role too. And so does quality of education and job placement, and we're among the best in both categories. Focusing on our strengths can help us a lot with recruiting.
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Post by ohsixrain on Aug 14, 2019 9:51:35 GMT -5
In state tuition is about $18k/year at A&T, $20k at NSU. Out of state is around 32k at both schools. Most schools aren't offering enough scholarship money to make up the in state / out of state difference. We may lose out of state students that choose to stay in their home state for college, but we should be competitive with every other group. Academic scholarships play a role too. And so does quality of education and job placement, and we're among the best in both categories. Focusing on our strengths can help us a lot with recruiting. Those things you point out are true. Sounds like they need you on the recruiting staff for the band. But, as the classes become more demanding the upperclassmen cannot neglect their studies for band and again some HAVE to work to offset costs for school. So, in the end, you are fighting an uphill battle in that regard. And to tell them to just suck it up and be in the band anyway will not get it done. Certain things in life have to be practical and that's not practical.
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Post by marchingband1969 on Aug 14, 2019 10:01:00 GMT -5
BGMM Recruiting Notice: Come Join The Band And Get...
- Late night practices most weekdays - Little or no financial assistance - No opportunity to work an after hour job - All day band commitments on most Saturdays - Substandard practice facilities - Long overnight bus trips - Practices outside in the mud, rain, snow, and heat - Reduced free time to study for exams and classes - No employment value of your marching band experience
I believe it takes a special student to join our band considering all these issues above. And I think we should provide all of them some financial assistance. Scholarships will not fix all our recruiting issues but it sure as heck makes it a little better.
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Post by AggiePride on Aug 14, 2019 11:18:40 GMT -5
My GPA was always higher during Football/band season. In the spring i had too much time on my hands. LOL
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Post by marchingband1969 on Aug 14, 2019 12:33:59 GMT -5
My GPA was always higher during Football/band season. In the spring i had too much time on my hands. LOL I've heard this from many band students. Of Course it probably took you several semesters to figure that out. Thank you for investing your time to perform in the BGMM.
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JayBee
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Post by JayBee on Aug 14, 2019 13:00:19 GMT -5
Just spoke with one of the band assistants. He assured me that the numbers are the same as last year. In fact, he said they have 40 trumpets.
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Post by ohsixrain on Aug 14, 2019 14:01:25 GMT -5
Just spoke with one of the band assistants. He assured me that the numbers are the same as last year. In fact, he said they have 40 trumpets. They must've went and bought some since this past Sunday...
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Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Aug 14, 2019 15:15:01 GMT -5
BGMM Recruiting Notice: Come Join The Band And Get...- Late night practices most weekdays - Little or no financial assistance - No opportunity to work an after hour job - All day band commitments on most Saturdays - Substandard practice facilities - Long overnight bus trips - Practices outside in the mud, rain, snow, and heat - Reduced free time to study for exams and classes - No employment value of your marching band experience Got my Engineering degree and marched with EVERY DAMN ONE of those conditions existing and my dumb azz enjoyed every moment. I didn't realize it until you listed them out, BUT it's a different era now.
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tony
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Post by tony on Aug 15, 2019 7:56:56 GMT -5
In state tuition is about $18k/year at A&T, $20k at NSU. Out of state is around 32k at both schools. Most schools aren't offering enough scholarship money to make up the in state / out of state difference. We may lose out of state students that choose to stay in their home state for college, but we should be competitive with every other group. Academic scholarships play a role too. And so does quality of education and job placement, and we're among the best in both categories. Focusing on our strengths can help us a lot with recruiting. Those things you point out are true. Sounds like they need you on the recruiting staff for the band. But, as the classes become more demanding the upperclassmen cannot neglect their studies for band and again some HAVE to work to offset costs for school. So, in the end, you are fighting an uphill battle in that regard. And to tell them to just suck it up and be in the band anyway will not get it done. Certain things in life have to be practical and that's not practical. The way our school works we all need to be recruiters. We just need to get as much real info out there as we can. Retention always has been a problem, and I can't think of any easy solutions. Best I can come up with is recruit better so we start with a bigger pool, and maybe work to enhance middle / high school bands. But that's an entirely different conversation. Just spoke with one of the band assistants. He assured me that the numbers are the same as last year. In fact, he said they have 40 trumpets. You mean us alumni got all worked up over nothing? Who would have thought! BGMM Recruiting Notice: Come Join The Band And Get...- Late night practices most weekdays - Little or no financial assistance - No opportunity to work an after hour job - All day band commitments on most Saturdays - Substandard practice facilities - Long overnight bus trips - Practices outside in the mud, rain, snow, and heat - Reduced free time to study for exams and classes - No employment value of your marching band experience Got my Engineering degree and marched with EVERY DAMN ONE of those conditions existing and my dumb azz enjoyed every moment. I didn't realize it until you listed them out, BUT it's a different era now. I'm not so sure it's different now. They've got better facilities than we had and maybe don't practice as long, but other than that it's pretty much the same. And they're consistently bigger than we were in the 80s/90s/early 2000s. I don't think we ever got over 150 when I was in school. Not that we needed it lol.
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Post by ohsixrain on Aug 15, 2019 8:26:07 GMT -5
My point is...in this day and age, it's hard to remain competitive without resources. It's just like anything else, sports or what have you. We can look back on our band rah-rah days all we want but, it's about resources. Students want to come to A&T no doubt but, they also want resources and if another school can offer more resources than we can, guess what...we lose that student. Plain and simple. Talladega College barely has 3,000 students and no football team with a big azz band, I wonder why...? I will tell you...$$$!
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