<p>Many many college students live at home and do fine. They may not be on this forum as much as those who go to residential 4 year colleges. Most do this for financial reasons, but independence is not as highly valued by everyone.
Then again, living in a dorm is not the only measure of independence: some kids who live at home may actually be more mature than those who go away. </p>
<p>@Momof2violinists, I have an acquaintance who graduated from a State school who is going to be making her Lincoln Center debut this December. While connections can help, you have to do the work no matter where you go. </p>
<p>@Irishmomof2, I agree (and never said otherwise) - my husband and I both got music degrees from state schools, my husband in performance (for both BM and MM), so I am well aware of the “work” that needs needs to be done. With that hard work, my husband has had a very successful free-lance career in NYC. My point was that the students in top tier conservatories might have somewhat of an advantage in getting gigs around town (and perhaps even big orchestra gigs, if their teacher is in a major symphony) because of their connections with their teachers and their fellow students. As I said in my post, I know (through my husband) quite a few players “making it” in NYC who did not go to Julliard, MSM, Eastman, Curtis, NEC, etc. (although of course many did). It is a combination of hard work, connections, and oftentimes just plain luck. </p>
<p>Luck is definitely a part of it, and luck favors the prepared!</p>
<p>For sure!!</p>
<p>It is going to take hard work, no matter your path, there is no doubt about it. The biggest piece of advice with musical careers is not all that much different than with any career, a lot of it is about networking and also gaining a reputation for being someone others want to work with, can be depended on.</p>
<p>The other thing to be very careful about is using what happened in the past as an indication of the future, because music has changed and continues to change, the level of competition is much, much higher then it was 30 years ago, so someone might have come out of a second tier program back then, let’s say, and gotten into a relatively high level orchestra, where today that is even more unlikely then it was then. Likewise, the freelance gigs, substituting in orchestras, pit orchestras, and so forth, are even more competitive, and the kids coming out of the top level conservatories, who a generation ago would not be looking at that kind of work, now are doing that, too. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a graduate of one of X schools, or study with Z teachers, it just simply means that be careful about using the past as an indicator of what can happen today, two very different worlds. It reminds me when people say you don’t have to study music in college to be successful, and point out that Yo Yo Ma and Gil Shaham didn’t study music in college, but it leaves off that both of them were already playing professionally at that point…</p>
<p>So, I had one more question, perhaps @musicprnt @compmom knows the answer?? But, here’s my question.Lets say I got accepted into UCLA as a music major, meaning, I chose music as my ONLY major on my app, does that mean I can’t take academic classes at UCLA? Meaning, can I later on decided that I want to double major in , for example, biology, and take biology major related classes at UCLA, even though I was admitted to UCLA because I had signed up as a music major?</p>
<p>I hope this question makes sense…</p>
<p>The music major for performance is in a separate college at UCLA (Arts and Architecture), but you will definitely takes classes in the College of Letters and Sciences, and in fact will be required to. (I’m sure you can find the curriculum requirements on the website.) Years ago when my son was considering UCLA double majors were discouraged, but I do believe they may be possible. (One can also major in music in the College of Letters and Science as an academic major in ethnomusicology, theory, analysis, history - and not the pre-professional performance track in the School of Music. That major does not need to be declared ahead of time, nor is there an audition.)</p>
<p>@spiritmanager okay, that seems to make sense. So, if I were to add , say biology , as a major, later on, after my acceptance into UCLA, I can take classes according to that major, or do the classes have to be in the College of Letters and Sciences? This is so confusing!!!</p>
<p>Even in the College of Letters and Sciences, music and biology would both be intense subjects with a sequence of courses to follow, so look on the website, add up the courses’ credits for each subject, and see if it fits. Double majors can be hard to fit in, with certain subjects, but you might be able to do a major and a minor more easily.</p>
<p>If you are doing a BM in UCLA’s performance program and want to do a BS in biology in the College of Letters and Sciences, that would be a double degree, not a double major. I haven’t looked at the website myself- does UCLA offer a double degree? </p>
<p>Or you could do the BM and take some biology classes if they fit in your schedule, which will include distribution requirements along with music: have you checked the website to see what distribution requirements there are?</p>
<p>You can also do biology as a major in the College of Letters and Sciences and try to continue music in some way, wth private lessons and extracurricular ensembles.</p>
<p>Overall: Some people combine interests in undergrad years with double major or double degree, but it can be hard. For some, the transition to college involves tough decisions between different interests and a need to newly focus on one. It would be nice if you could explore once on campus and decide then, but if you are in a conservatory or music schools for a BM it is probable that you have decided to focus on performance.</p>
<p>Check the websites and don’t be shy about calling colleges either!</p>
<p>Okay, I didn’t want to be sloppy so just before going out the door I checked the UCLA website myself. The performance degree at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music is a BA, not a BM. Go here and then click on the “blueprint”.
<a href=“http://www.music.ucla.edu/performance-concentration-undergraduate”>http://www.music.ucla.edu/performance-concentration-undergraduate</a></p>
<p>There are a number of “general education” courses that are most likely required to cover different subject areas. You can check further.about what room there might be for biology, but the schedule looks pretty full. Ask also about a double degree. I"ll check the School of Arts and Sciences later, have to go but wanted to correct myself!</p>
<p>From the UCLA website <a href=“http://www.schoolofmusic.ucla.edu:”>http://www.schoolofmusic.ucla.edu:</a>
<a href=“http://www.musicology.ucla.edu/the-major-and-minor-in-music-history”>http://www.musicology.ucla.edu/the-major-and-minor-in-music-history</a></p>
<p>The undergraduate major in Music History was established soon after the Department became part of the College, and it now has about 48 students. This major is designed to provide training in the study of music for liberal arts students who do not wish to pursue a degree in performance. In 1994, the Department instituted a Music History minor, which currently has about 54 students. Given the new areas of popular music studies, film scores, and music criticism offered by the current musicology faculty, the undergraduate major is being tailored to satisfy the needs of students who wish to study music in popular culture, as well as those concerned with classical music.
Our undergraduate major in Music History is open to all students in the College of Letters & Science; it does not require a separate audition. The goals of the Music History major are grounded firmly in the humanistic study of music, and we interpret Music History in the broadest possible sense: there is no built-in bias toward art music, Western music, or music of the past.</p>
<p>It is also possible to minor in Music History at UCLA. The Music History minor is designed for students who seek to combine the humanistic study of music with a major concentration in another area. The minor is a sequence of seven academic courses, of which two must be lower division or GE courses in Music History, two must be upper division courses in Music History, and three more can be chosen from selected upper division offerings in Ethnomusicology, Music, and Musicology. There is no performance requirement for the Music History minor.</p>
<p>But there is nothing specific about double majoring. Why not write to the department and ask them directly?</p>
<p>This is what I can find about double majors at UCLA:</p>
<p>DOUBLE MAJORS
Students may pursue double majors in most programs (with the exception of majors within the School of Theater, Film, and Television), though there are some restrictions depending on the two majors chosen. For more information, see the General Catalog. </p>
<p>And this on the site: <a href=“http://collegecounseling.ucla.edu/double-major.html”>http://collegecounseling.ucla.edu/double-major.html</a></p>
<p>Not sure if you can do one major in the Herb Alpert School and one major in the College of Letters and Science. Ask them by e-mail.</p>
<p>Again, music and biology are both relatively intense majors. Check out that blueprint (linked above) for an idea of how many music classes would be required. I think you might want to choose one and do the other as much as you can without worrying about a double major. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>More information from the UCLA website. This is if you choose to apply to the School of Arts and Architecture for a performance degree. And it must be your primary major - which means to me, you cannot apply to the College of Letters and Science in your original application.</p>
<p>How do I double major? <a href=“UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture”>UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture;
<pre><code>A double major consists of both a primary and secondary major. Your primary major must be in the School of the Arts and Architecture. To apply for a double major, you must complete and submit a petition for Change of Academic Program. The petition must be approved by both departments offering each major and submitted to the Office of Student Services for final consideration. Email students@arts.ucla.edu for more information…
</code></pre>
<p>How do I add a minor?</p>
<pre><code>Consult with the department offering the minor, and complete and submit a petition for Change of Academic Program. The department offering the minor and the Office of Student Services both must approve your request to add a minor.
</code></pre>
<p>What are the GE requirements for the School of the Arts and Architecture?</p>
<pre><code>Students must meet three types of requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree: (1) University requirements, (2) School requirements and (3) Department requirements.
Learn about the general education requirements in the UCLA Catalog - click on School of the Arts and Architecture. For the GE course list, click on Master Course List.
</code></pre>
<p>I would recommend e-mailing UCLA and asking. I would ask them the exact question you asked originally, if you decided to get a performance degree in the Alpert school, and then at some point decided you want to do an academic degree, would it be possible to do so (let’s say switch from performance in the school of art to biology in science). I don’t know if Alpert offers a BM, but given that the school of music seems to be seperate, I think if you wanted to do two majors it would be a dual degree (a BM or BA from Alpert in performance, whatever they offer, and a BA/BS in something else from the other part of the school). Again, the best bet is to contact the admissions department and ask, they have the best information of all. I have heard of kids getting into the school of music, deciding not to do the BM, and tranferring to the school of arts and science for a BA/BS (in large part, they can do this because the school involved requires music students to take the core courses, so if you then want to change tack it is possible, given in Arts and Science schools you don’t have to declare a major until end of Sophomore year), but I don’t know of UCLA. </p>
<p>The Herb Alpert performance degree is a BA, though the course requirement list for the major sure does resemble a BM. I’m going to guess that doing a major in both music and biology will be tough, at least in 4 years.</p>
<p>@compmom @spiritmanager @musicprnt sounds like I should just directly contact UCLA. I’m not going to major in biology, haha, it was just used as an example. My private teacher suggested that if I do end up going to UCLA, that I should major in an academic subject to take advantage of the UCLA campus. I just wasn’t sure if that was possible. But thank you! College seems so difficult as there are so many different rules for different things!! </p>
<p>@jkviolin - there’s no need to major in something other than music in the School of Arts and Architecture at UCLA to take advantage of the academics in the university - you will be able, and will be required, to take classes outside the school of music.</p>
<p>Just look at the blueprint by going to the link I posted. The blueprint shows how many classes would be music, for a music major, how many non-music classes are distribution requirements and how many are electives, meaning freely chosen. If there is a particular academic subject that you end up wanting to focus on, you can certainly continue private violin lessons while studying another subject.</p>
<p>I think you need help interpreting websites. The UCLA website can answer many of your questions, and a call to admissions can answer others.</p>
<p>Interesting that your private teacher suggested a major in another subject other than music.</p>
<p>How do you feel about theory, music history, composition, ethnomusicology and so on? Perhaps you want to play violin but don’t want to do a music major. In that case, as i said, major in something else and continue music as an extracurricular or for credit but not as a major.</p>
<p>@spiritmanager okay, that seems to make sense.
@compmom yes, I did take a look at the blueprint. It helped a lot more, as it set up everything. Maybe it’s not the interpreting that I need help with, I think it’s more of finding things. Like you said, I feel as though the website can answer a lot of my questions, I just can’t seem to find them. I did email them the other day, and I haven’t received an email back however…
I do want to play violin, i’ve never taken a theory class, or music history class, or composition. Ethnomusicology seems like an interesting subject, however, I don’t think I want to study it as a major in college. I mostly just want to major in performance, and perhaps music history. </p>