<p>"The Pre-Med Concentration in Music is designed to take its place within Columbia College’s liberal arts program and at the same time to be compatible with the high demands of the Pre-Medical Program. Its purpose is to give the student the experience of doing sustained and advanced work within the field of music. The Pre-Med Concentration in Music demands fewer than half the points of credit required by the Major, but still provides a structured program stipulating a core of required study and offering a range of options beyond that core. </p>
<p>A student must elect the Pre-Med Concentration by at latest the College’s declaration period (usually late March-early April) of the sophomore year; However, it is essential to plan well in advance of that, since the prerequisites must all be completed by the end of the first term as a pre-med concentrator. In fact, it may be advantageous to complete them by the end of the freshman year. It is therefore advisable to talk with the Department of Music’s Representative to the College early in your time at Columbia by the first semester of the sophomore year at the latest."</p>
<p>tuba269, one thing to consider and take into account is that differences in degree requirements for the BA vs BS, or the BA vs BM or BFA can be drastic in terms of a time and credit requirement.</p>
<p>Even within an institution that is completely supportive of a double degree, a BS/BM is usually the most time and credit intensive. A BA in an academic/BM(us) or BS in an academic/BA music is a bit more do-able.</p>
<p>And, yes there are some that can handle it all.</p>
<p>DD is at Rice in the BM program, voice. She has taken 20 credit hours per semester for 3 years. Just letting up some now. Her friend who did not take as many credits early on is staying an extra semester to finish up. DD has done her distributions but does not have time for much else. You need to check on the labs and timing. At Rice, many of the labs are in the afternoon at the same time as the mandatory ensembles. An impossible scheduling conflict.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, majoring in voice and in pre-med seems well nigh impossible at Northwestern unless you take 5 years. But of course, you don’t have to major in pre-med to apply to med school.</p>
<p>Many years ago I completed a B.Music in Flute performance and a BA in chemistry at the Hartt School/University of Hartford. I think I was the first person to do it and then others followed. I wanted the conservatory experience but did not want to be totally immersed. The dual degree took 4.5 years and 3 summers. If I had wanted the BS in chemistry, I would have needed another semester. The dual degree was exhausting but it was exactly what I wanted to do. I also got great merit award as a chemistry major in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Hartford. </p>
<p>Keep looking and visit the schools to get a sense of the strength of the music programs. Don’t rule out schools like Williams or Vassar just because they don’t have a performance major - the music is strong at both LAC’s. You would get strong sciences also.</p>
<p>OP, I would encourage you to do some serious research to find schools with both fine horn professors and chemistry departments, and soon! I hate to be discouraging, but by this time it would have been best to have visited many schools, had lessons with professors, and narrowed down your list–it is almost getting too late (if you are a senior). You’ll need to determine which schools require an audition, and then prepare for those auditions. The audition months are difficult and stressful, but go better when you’ve prepared. My S also is pursuing a double major, and so geared his search towards schools that offered both fields at a high level. He had his first audition in November already. So…the sooner the better for you in looking at schools. If you’re interested in the academically most challenging as well, don’t discount the schools that don’t have a performance major. I’d disagree with Sophieangeline’s posting–Yale does have a fine undergraduate music program, just not a performance major. However, there are conservatory quality music ensembles to join, private lessons available, chamber groups to join–all providing the performance experience needed to prepare you for grad school. There are a good number of students at Yale who actually turned down conservatory acceptances for the Yale experience–which makes the level of music-making high. So, good luck to you–you have high scores, but you also need good extracurriculars, good letters of references, good essays, good auditions–it’s a crazy game.</p>