<p>Hi, i am an international who is going to apply for 14 fall semester. I am going to major in music for sure and also intend to recieve a broad education such as getting dual degrees, so BA degrees are my choices. </p>
<p>Until recently when i was browsing CC did i find out about Belmont Univeristy offering a great commercial music program. And i am that type of student who sings pop songs in most of the times and never received formal training on classical voice.</p>
<p>However, i have done so many research on entering those schools of music affiliated to big universities and already made a plan. I would take an undeclared major at first two years and have a bunch of training to get into the music college. i think this is the most feasible way. and my top choice universities are Penn State UP and U of Minnesota. both have excellent programs, not in commercial music though.</p>
<p>so this issue came, which college should i choose were i offered their acceptance? Belmont or Penn State. I wonder in terms of life after college and how much will i gain through the programs, which univeristy is more a fit for me.</p>
<p>plus, i would probably double major in music and management to enhance my opportunity in getting a job after graduation.</p>
<p>Yuffie, what is your goal? And your existing background?
Based on this comment:
you may not be setting realistic expectations.</p>
<p>At the performance level, or BMUS degree, those students have been working for years to develop their level for acceptance to a program. However, if you’re pursuing a “BA” – an ACADEMIC degree in music, you would not necessarily need to perform, at least at the same level, and would want to be taking musicology and theory etc. during your first two years so that you could take upper level courses later on – you won’t just be able to skip ahead.</p>
<p>So I’m unclear of your plan. Universities in the US are very expensive for International students, and the plan you have to date sounds like it will involve an extra few years at an undergraduate degree level which won’t necessarily net you a strong return on investment.</p>
<p>So before anyone can give you suggestions on your question, we’d need to know a heck of a lot more about your intended goal and background to date.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for “music + management” then you’d be looking at Music Industry degrees, which aren’t to my knowledge offered at either of the Universities you’ve mentioned.</p>
<p>Keep in mind Belmont is a Christian school, so if that’s not your faith tradition, you may have more of a cultural adjustment there than at the other schools you mentioned.</p>
<p>A music major is a full 4 year curriculum that starts with foundational courses the first year (some can place out) and continues in a sequence leading to upper level courses. You might be able to do some of the foundational courses and take lessons and enter the music school at some point, but it sounds like a tough and maybe impossible road.</p>
<p>KMCMom is right in that for a BA degree in music, you may not even have to have any performance skills, though some programs do require performance. Every school is a little different. Are you interested in music theory, history, ethnomusicology, composition,music and technology, or are you interested in performance? What other academic subjects are you interested in?</p>
<p>There are schools with music business, music industry and so on and also courses in entrepreneurial skills in many music programs. You an also gain a lot of skills by interning and volunteering.</p>
<p>Do you want to study classical music? Or popular? Along with Belmont, you could look at Berklee, USC Thornton, maybe Bennington or Sarah Lawrence. There are others. It seems like a pretty basic decision to make before you look at schools seriously.</p>
<p>And yes European schools are more affordable, so some American students are looking abroad!</p>
<p>yeah i know that entering a performance major needs years of training so i just plan to go for a BA on applied emphasis. it does require an audition but the criteria may not be as high as for BM.
my background is years of doing bands, singing and a few of instruments. i can do ear a little training and musicbtheory though i never have attended classical voice lessons .but i learn that it is not too late for me to start learning classical voice at this age. also, since BA degree requires less credits needed to graduate, i think it is doable to graduate in four years.
and for the dual degree part, i am not sure so far which other fields i would be interested in, not if i start my college courses.</p>
<p>my goal is to learn music, no matter classical or popular. i find that those courses in classical music also interest me.
and i wonder what a music industry major’s courses has to offer. will those students also attend music classes? are they all basics such as theories, literatures and history?</p>
<p>YuffieEvans - please don’t confuse a double major with a double degree. Compmom posted a wonderful link explaining the difference. For a double degree, you would be getting two separate degrees, with entirely separate requirements - usually in two different colleges within the university setting - for instance a BM and BA, or a BS and BA. You will start taking required courses from the first day for both degrees and it is usually impossible to finish in only four years without many extra courses over the summer, or a lot of credits coming in. A double major is much easier, and you needn’t know what you’ll be majoring in until going into your junior year. For a double major you end up with one BA - in two subjects, music and something else - rather than two separate degrees. If you don’t know what fields you’re interested in asides from music - you’ll want to look at double majoring - rather than pursuing a double degree.</p>
<p>but what exactly is the difference between dual degrees and double majors in class taking and job seeking? i both have to fulfill the class requirement to get the degree/ to graduate, right? so how is it even harder to have a double degrees?</p>
<p>Please please read the Peabody article that Compmom posted the link to. It clearly tells you the difference between a double degree and a double major. There are different requirements for the two degrees and they don’t cross over. It usually takes an extra year to fulfill all the requirements. But for two majors (as opposed to degrees) the same general requirements are in place for your one degree, and only the elective courses for the two majors change and can usually be fulfilled within four years.</p>
<p>As for job prospects from the degrees - I can’t help you there. Not much of anything guarantees a job these days.</p>