Different music majors I could do?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello </p>

<p>I am a senior in highschool </p>

<p>I was just about set on majoring in engineering, but then I started hearing about how hard the enginnering major is, and how I won't really have time for anything else except studying. I like math and do all right in it, but don't excel at it. I am like a B+ AP Calc student.</p>

<p>I would really like to do a lot of music in college, whether it be getting a major or minor or just doing extracurricular activities like glee club and joining bands and travel with them to competitions like the ICCA. But it seems if I go into engineering I just won't be able to. </p>

<p>My SAT scores
Math 660 writing 630 reading 570</p>

<p>act scores
Math 31 Reading 32 English 27 SCI 23 and yes I am retaking both.</p>

<p>AP scores
5 AP Chem
4 AP History</p>

<p>GPA 3.884
class rank 17/114</p>

<p>I am a state level singer/piano player/guitar player. (all-state competitions)</p>

<p>So my question is, is there any way I can combine my academic/music skills in college? I've heard of like music business majors and music therapy majors, but after some research they seem boring(and don't make that much money). It's just been burning at my brain. Could I do a double major or something? What kind of majors are open to an all-around math and science and music students?</p>

<p>thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>If you’re interested in technology at all, electrical engineering is often paired with music. But if you’re worried about the workload of ENG alone…you might not be a good fit for a dual degree with the second in music, which at top schools can be quite brutal in terms of time management.
That said, a Bmus in performance is no walk in the park either by the same criteria, so it boils down to you having the passion to pursue your vocation enough to enjoy the workload.</p>

<p>Btw, lots of ENG majors at my son’s school manage to find the time to continue their casual, or even formal, pursuit of music, and it’s a rigorous eng school with top placements (Umich). So it’s more about what you DECIDE to do than what is possible. Anything’s possible if you’re willing to step up. So search your heart and figure out what you WANT, not just what’s easiest!</p>

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<p>Ya, pretty much what kmcmom13 said. </p>

<p>Two majors usually arn’t much of an issue for most majors, but the two potential majors that you picked out are both among the most concentratrated majors requiring fewer than normal electives and no spot in the curriculum for a minor. Either one of those majors plus a “normal” major would be a challenge, but both of those major combined would most likely turn a 4 year degree process into a 7 year degree process (assuming you took summers off and the normal 15-18 credit hours each semester), which would be pretty insane considering that you could have used that extra three years to get an advanced degree (or two).</p>

<p>Aside from that, most colleges will offer music performance opportunities for non-music students. You could always take what few electives you will have as an engineering major and use them for music classes, or you could join some of the ensembles even though the credit hours might not count towards your engineering degree.</p>

<p>The college that my son attends also has a “performance certificate” program which is available to all students regardless of major/minor. The certificate is basically just a piece of paper that states that the college believes that you are an accomplished musician who has the potential to be a professional musician, and your diploma will state that you are graduating with a “distinction in music performance”. It does require getting accepted into the program by audition, and you can be dropped from the program if you are not progressing adequately, but it only requires taking the “performance track level” applied music class (private lesson once a week) for every semester with no requirements for music theory/history/ensembles/etc. The practice requirements will likely vary by instrument and instructor, but can be quite rigorous - my sons applied music professor requires 20 hours a week of practice for full credit. Thats probably more time than you will spend in classes in all of your other classes put together.</p>

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<p>Jellyman, let me understand this correctly.</p>

<p>1) You like math and science. (and music)
2) You want to make a lot of money.
3) You don’t want a difficult college experience, so that you can enjoy some of the more fun aspects of college life.</p>

<p>The engineers that I know worked really hard for 4 years in college then basically walked into jobs that paid a lot of money. And sure maybe they changed jobs a few times during their careers, but for the most part, they never had problems finding a job. </p>

<p>There is no way you could say that about a music performance major, for the vast majority of them, at least as far as walking into a music performance job. My D knows many engineering majors and as long as they manage their time wisely they have been able to participate in at least one fun extracurricular activity or hold a part time job. </p>

<p>Any major that walks you into a high paying job is not going to be easy. Many majors (like music) that DO NOT necessarily walk you into a high paying job, are also not easy. Maybe, for example, you have some experience studying music theory. I’ve said this before but will say it again: Look at the course materials for your friends studying AP Theory. Picture that amount of material squished into 3 weeks. That is the pace of college level music theory. And you study that for 2 years. Some of that stuff makes a circuit board look pretty darn manageable. </p>

<p>I think you should stick with engineering, or as has already been suggested, consider music technology or electrical engineering going on to maybe music tech in grad school. As long as you manage your time wisely you can also do your music on the side. And who knows, depending on your creative side maybe one day you will design the next great electric guitar, or the next great music app. If you still feel that in your heart you must go the music route, do not expect it to be easy or lucrative. </p>

<p>You suggested some alternative music majors. If you thought those jobs sounded boring you probably would find any other ones boring also (music teacher, music librarian, entertainment industry lawyer, lawyer handling intellectual properties, administrative assistant…….) </p>

<p>Maybe BassDad is still lurking out there. He would be a good person to pm on this topic if he doesn’t chime in soon.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Yep, those music majors just sit around all day looking cool. They never spend nights and weekends practicing or studying for their academic classes. And then they waltz into a guaranteed high paying job after they graduate. [/snark]</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Seriously, don’t major in music if even considering the major seems boring. Take a few classes, maybe minor in music, join glee club or an a cappella group or something, and keep your love of music alive.</p>

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<p>thank you CLRN8MOM and everyone else who replied.
I’m sorry that I didn’t state my intentions clearly.</p>

<p>It’s NOT AT ALL that I want my college life to be laid back and relaxed. I do want a difficult and challenging college life that’ll greatly enhance my academic and personal skills. It’s just that even with all the time and efforts that I would put into my major(whether it be engineering or whatever else), I want some time set aside to join an acapella group or some sort of a glee club to sing, and travel with them to competitions. If that would be at all possible with an engineering major. </p>

<p>I’ve been talking to my AP Calc teacher, who majored in electrical engineering. She is recommending engineering to me, but she’s the one who told me that I won’t have any time set aside for extracurricular activities. She told me that all my time would be devoted into studying, if I want good grades. kmcmom13 said that a lot of engineering majors are finding time for extracuricular activities, which is kind of opposite of what my math teacher is saying. Would it just all depend on how naturally smart you are? Like I posted, i’m no math genius. I’m barely above average in my AP calc class. And I know that in college math both the pace AND the difficulty will pick up.</p>

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<p>Quote:
Yep, those music majors just sit around all day looking cool. They never spend nights and weekends practicing or studying for their academic classes. And then they waltz into a guaranteed high paying job after they graduate. [/snark]</p>

<p>Very funny Stradmom, it’s amazing how much work is involved just to get to your college auditions . I heard music majors also get to wear sunglasses 24/7.</p>

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<p>Thank you guys for all your insights.
One quick question. If I were to not to bother with any music classes, and just wanted to be involved in accapella groups and taking vocal lessons, how would that work? Does the vocal lesson have to be a class?</p>

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<p>If music is really important to you ,you will figure out how to work it in. Congratulations on All State! Good luck.</p>

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<p>Why do you want to study engineering? Why not go into college as an undecided, take a few music classes, take some classes in other areas where you feel strong interest and ability (it does not sound like engineering is going to fit that bill), and see where things take you? In the meantime, you can do music extracurriculars.</p>

<p>What subjects do you like? What subjects come easily for you? You did well on your AP’s in chemistry and history. Are you drawn to those subjects at all?</p>

<p>Music is not an easy major: a general MA in music will include theory and ear training, music history, composition, ethnomusicology and technology in music, for example. You may love it, who knows, and college can be a place to try some things out before you commit to a major.</p>

<p>It’s great that you enjoy music and want to continue on way or the other, and I hope you can do that. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Jellyman, my son’s friends who are at the ENG school and who still participate in music do work really long hours and likely sleep less than most, but they really really wanted to study engineering (and music). And one in particular is the kind of guy considered to be a math genius with a proficiency in programming. So maybe a facility with advanced math makes a degree of difference, particularly when it comes to the early weeder classes that include advanced Calc.</p>

<p>But if your teacher feels you’re a good fit for the profession, she must be seeing something in your capability. So you might be more of a natural than you think ;)</p>

<p>However, as comp mom suggests, it doesn’t matter so much what a teacher thinks you’d be good at as what sets YOU ablaze with interest. My son’s writing teacher thought he should be a journalist; another thought he should be in theatre, another thought he should be in design and yet another really wanted him to go further in the sciences (and yes, his
music teacher thought he should be in music, which he is.) He just happened to be good at those things and they saw his curiosity and effort. But if you left him alone in a room at night with nothing to do, 9 times out of 10, he’d write a song or create a sound effect. That was the thing he’d give up sleep to be able to find time to do, and that was the thing he always “made” time to do. </p>

<p>Take a look at your life and think about the thing you’ll always make time to do or go the extra mile to master. That’s a sign of passion, and would be a good area of study. If you spend a lot of time figuring out how things work, if you easily see the way something should go together, then you’d likely enjoy engineering. If you’d rather stay up all night to read books because it’s your favorite hobby, then literary arts might be more rewarding.</p>

<p>And no, at my son’s school vocal classes don’t have to be a class, they can just be a lesson. There are boatloads of glee clubs and acapella groups at Umich as it’s a large school with a lot going on musically. I suspect this will be true at other schools large and diverse enough.</p>

<p>Comp mom (and jelly) – the thing about the ENG sequence is that you normally want to start out in that program to begin with, because it usually requires separate admittance and it’s a long sequence. So it’s better to (if you THINK) you want to study ENG to start out and then drop back to a regular bs than to g the other way, though the latter can be done but may take an extra year.</p>

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<p>“the thing about the ENG sequence is that you normally want to start out in that program to begin with, because it usually requires separate admittance and it’s a long sequence. So it’s better to (if you THINK) you want to study ENG to start out and then drop back to a regular bs than to g the other way, though the latter can be done but may take an extra year”</p>

<p>This is absolutely correct. If one doesn’t start out taking their engineering pre-req’s freshman year (calc, chem, physics), it will add a year. I went to school undeclared and in the school of Liberal Arts, and ended up with 2 degrees and it took 5 years. It’s a little like not taking music theory freshman year. It’s hard to move on without it.</p>

<p>To the OP - a 31 in the math ACT is nothing to sneeze at. It’s an excellent score. Your grade in AP Calc alone doesn’t determine your future. </p>

<p>As an engineering major, I did manage to have fun in college. It was not 24/7 work, though it was more work than many of the students around me. (This was back in the Dark Ages, but I don’t think the level of work has changed much.) You should definitely be able to pursue other interests, and I would say it’s important you do that, whether it be through lessons, ensembles, taking a class in music technology, etc. Depending on the school you attend, you can have a lot of options. Also, engineering programs do have some wiggle room to take classes outside of engineering. It was a requirement at my Alma Mater.</p>

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<p>My son is an engineer so I am aware of the need to start the sequence in the first year. </p>

<p>So the rest of my post depended on the answer to the first question about why the original poster wants to go into engineering.</p>

<p>I was picking up on a certain lack of enthusiasm for the choice.</p>

<p>Ir this impression is wrong, and the original poster has a good reason for going into it, then the rest of my post becomes irrelevant.</p>