Double Degree Update

College Majors Music Major
1

Hi, everyone. I’ve fielded several questions about double degrees and my D’s journey so I thought I’d give an update now that she’s done. She graduated from U Mich with a BM in Performance (French horn) and a BS in Biomedical Engineering this past weekend. It took 4 years and 192 credits - over 30 hours AP credit, 3 summer classes, and carrying 17-20 hours every semester.

So it can be done in four years, but even my D does not recommend this intensity unless you are absolutely passionate about your two areas of interest. I’ve been asked if she was pressed to finish in four years for financial or other reasons, and the answer is no. She’s completely self-motivated. And yes, she found time for fun. She was in several engineering organizations, served as an officer multiple times, volunteered in a research lab, went to tons of non-required concerts (including off-campus throughout Detroit metro area), did some paid gigs, went to parties, went out with girlfriends, dated regularly and attended several football/basketball/hockey games. She occasionally suffered from too little sleep, but was always way more happy than stressed.

What’s next? She has a summer research fellowship at U Colorado med school cancer center, and then she will pursue a PhD in BME in a joint GaTech/Emory program. It looks like music will take the back seat for the next few years, but we will see. She has already connected with the horn networks in both CO and GA, and the GaTech band director and a community synmphony director want to speak with her. She is also lining up hornists that she wants to take some lessons with in both CO and GA.

Oh, on the engineering forums they often discourage pursuing anything not engineering related. The consensus there seems that hiring managers think you are not committed to engineering if you spend time on other things that could have been spent on more engineering classes. For grad school apps at least, nothing could have been further from the truth. So many BME professors she spoke with had some level of involvement with the arts and thought highly of her music accomplishments and dedication to music as well as science.

I would love to hear more updates from our other recent music grads, and their journeys into paid gigs, grad school, or wherever their paths have led!

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@MomOf2TeenGirls Thanks for sharing your D’s journey. She is quite amazing to be able to complete all that in 4 years! Best of luck to her in grad school.

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Congratulations to your remarkable daughter, you, and the university that enabled this!

As someone who hires, develops, and then makes decisions on whether to promote engineers, I would love to receive a resume from an engineer like this. Most engineers who fail to advance to more senior positions either decline the opportunity because they love engineering or lack soft skills of communication, nuance, sensitivity, and leadership that your daughter has clearly demonstrated.

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Many students would not be able to do this, but can still succeed with more time.

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@compmom - Totally agree. My D had several friends who were also dual degree in music and a STEM area. Most finished/were going to finish within five years, which is wonderful as they achieve their goals in the way that best works for them.

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@philmusic - You are right to acknowledge the role of the university, and also I’d say she would not have succeeded on her timeline if not for an extremely supportive horn professor and some great advisors in both music and engineering. They were very helpful in figuring out optimal course sequencing, whether certain electives could be counted in both degrees, etc. My D is a good self-advocate, but it takes the right university offering and supportive staff to make it all happen!

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@MomOf2TeenGirls It is good that you mentioned the support of the teacher. For dual degree kids, the support of the teacher will be critical. It cannot be assumed that all teachers would be so supportive. So finding a teacher AND institution that supports dual degrees is important for these kids.

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Brava to your daughter. There’s nothing she can’t do, and she’s already proven this to herself.