My daughter (sophomore) is exploring this option and wondered if anyone here has any experience/advice? I previously posted on the Music subforum on this. She is possibly interested in a math, chemistry or physics major, along with NEC string/double bass performance.
My niece attempted a music performance major along with a premed biochemistry degree a few years ago. The demands of a performance major were just too much for her and she dropped back to the pre-med degree only. That is not to say that is is not possible but the performance major demands a lot of time that might encroach on the needs of the other possible majors. Good luck to her…
HI Scubaski1, I have responded previously on the music forum. We know several students who have done the Harvard/NEC double degree program. It is more difficult with a science concentration at Harvard, due to labs, but the double degree is mainly at Harvard in the first years.
There are other ways to accomplish the same goals. For instance, math or science at Harvard along with private study at NEC or elsewhere. Harvard now gives credit for lessons and performance in orchestra and various ensembles. Groups like the Brattle Street Players and the Bach Society Orchestra can be excellent performance opportunities. (Some players in these are in the double degree program, but certainly not all.)
I would also think about whether your son is sure he wants a double degree rather than a sequential BA then MM. Sometimes an argument can be made for quality of experience, rather than trying to do too much, and also for that extra year in the MM for development. The double degree isn’t a shortcut, it is rigorous, but it is compressed in time.
But yes, students do do this. I also know one student who did the double degree, then grad work in anthropology and now a doctorate related to music. I know students who were extremely talented who did humanities at Harvard with private lessons and continued touring, who went right to a doctorate in music. I know a student who did VP then Medieval Studies in the UK and continues on the academic path. I know a student who did BA in music who is now doing PhD in a conservatory at a university.
Point is, this decision is not make or break and there are many many paths. If a student really wants to do the double degree, it can be wonderful and many do it successfully. Your son should sit down and plot out requirements for hypothetical concentrations along with what NEC would require in each year and see what it will be like. He should factor in time for transportation 
Good luck!
Thanks everyone for the great feedback!
ps I think it is always a good idea to apply to all options and then decide in late April of senior year… Better to be in a position to say no than to be in a position where you are wishing you had applied.
I have a cousin who is doing this at Rochester/Eastman. This is just her second year, however, so it’s a little early to tell if she will really see both degrees through, and what she will do with them later.
Also Bard might be a good choice, or Oberlin, or Lawrence.
I know several students doing the Harvard/NEC program currently and @compmom’s advice is spot on. It is definitely challenging (remember you are effectively taking an extra class or two every semester, made worse by travelling there and back, etc.) and my friends pursuing this option don’t always have time to pursue all the activities/organisations they want to at Harvard, so that trade-off is another thing she might want to consider.
It is likely made more challenging if your daughter is considering concentrating in the sciences due to the weekly problem sets (which are often a collaborative effort at specific, odd hours of the day due to Office Hours and such) and definitely if she is going to take any classes with labs (which are often 3+ hours or longer - I have heard of a class with 8 hour labs - as she will need to find a way to fit her musical commitments around her schedule) - but I do know two students doing so, and are thoroughly enjoying the experience, if a little exhausted some weeks.
My violinist son was seriously considering the Harvard/NEC dual degree program when he was just about your daughter’s grade (sophomore, I believe, from your Music forum?). By the time of college application, though, he pretty much came to the conclusion that, while he still wanted to pursue music with no less passion, he didn’t want to pursue it as a career. This realization made a huge difference in our lives. For one, we didn’t have to stress about auditioning to several conservatories, the financing and the logistics, etc. Another, his college search became a whole lot simple.
The point here isn’t to discourage you and your daughter from considering the dual degree program. Rather, you might want to give your daughter some time to allow her to think on her own about what she wants to do. I think it’s a terrible idea to just jump into the dual degree program simply because one doesn’t know which direction to go. After all, just going for a single undergrad degree in, say, STEM field does not prevent one from going for an MM degree should the person has a change of mind.
I think the Harvard/NEC program is really for those who are more seriously leaning towards a career in music with a non-music related BA or BS as a backup or as an intellectual and academic fulfillment. While admittedly I don’t know everyone who went through the dual degree program, all the folks that I do know of that went through the program have gone on to a career in music. Going through the dual degree program successfully only to drop music for a career in non-music related field would be a bit too much investment of time, money and effort to only maintain music as a side passion, I’d think.
For applicants who aren’t sure which direction to go, there are programs out there that allow them to explore different possibilities while an undergrad without having to commit to a dual degree program. I’d recommend researching into all different options and see, in the meantime, which direction your daughter might be leaning. You and your daughter have two more years, if she’s currently a sophomore, and things can change and they often do.
For anyone reading this, there is an essay on the music major forum entitled “The Double Degree Dilemma” by David Lane, former admissions director at Peabody, which covers all the ways to study music using specific hypothetical individuals to illustrate. I imagine Scubaski has read it
I think Tigger Dad makes an excellent point about double degree students generally going on in music, and if that is not the plan, then it might be good to rethink the double degree path. The double degree life is a little different from the high school life of academics plus music, however intense either might be in high school years.
I also think Tigger Dad makes some good points about the kids who do thrive in a double degree program. I think he is right that often they are the ones who are passionate about music, but also have genuine academic/intellectual interests and a desire to have a broad education. Indecision or inability to choose between, say, music and science is probably not the best reason to do a double degree, as he says.
Good news is that life is flexible and continued hard work and study in music, even without the double degree, may make a master’s possible if that is what a student wants later on.