Double Degree: Top Academics/Solid Music Program

Leo it doesn’t have to be complicated.

If your child wants an academic major but wants to continue music “on the side”, or if he/she wants a double major, then pick a list of schools based on affordability, location, size, academics and “vibe.” Then look at the music department via website, visits that include concerts and so on.

If your child wants to pursue both music performance and academics equally, then a 5 year double degree would be the best way to go.

In the first case, it does not have to be schools with conservatory/school of music on campus (in fact, in many cases, that should be avoided).

In the second case, obviously, it needs to be a school with a conservatory/school of music or affiliated with one.

Note that an academic music major may or may not have a performance component.

The Double Degree Dilemma essay closer to the top of this forum can be clarifying.

I think the most complicated task is deciphering websites!!

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“The financial aid is distinct between Peabody and Homewood. Like the applications, the Peabody FA is managed separately by different staff. More importantly, it’s a separate pile of money. If/when a student does a Dual Degree, they are considered a Homewood student first, and their financial aid comes from the main JHU (read: bigger) pile of money, not Peabody’s.”

Although it’s a bigger pile of money, it is important to note that the JHU aid is all need-based, whereas Peabody also offers merit-based aid. A friend’s D decided not to register for a dual degree (at least initially) for that reason.

@Twoin18 . . . Very true. At the same time, the need-based financial aid at Peabody is minimal, if any, beyond the standard Federal loans that are available to most everyone. In my son’s case, Peabody’s package did not come close to meeting our full official EFC.

If/when my son decides to do the Peabody/JHU dual degree, I’ll be very curious to see how the total package from JHU Homewood compares to his Peabody merit-based scholarship, particularly since the recent Bloomberg gift is skewed very heavily to undergrads at Homewood with a relatively small portion going to Peabody.