<p>I was curious if it was at all possible to major in Psychology and Music with a B.M and a B.A or B.S. Has anyone ever done this before? If so, what is it like?</p>
<p>Of course it’s possible - some places easier than others. Two BA’s the easiest path. A BM and a BA or BS will take at least five years. There are many many discussions of this subject, on this forum, although not specifically addressing psychology as the second pursuit.</p>
<p>Please read the Peabody post about the different choices. It’s linked in the thread below.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1343994-good-school-dual-degree-double-major-music-perfrmance-x.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1343994-good-school-dual-degree-double-major-music-perfrmance-x.html</a></p>
<p>You are asking about a double degree program, which is different from a double major. Here is a link to the Peabody Institute’s excellent explanation of these (I forgot to post the link on the thread Spirit Manager posted):</p>
<p>[Peabody</a> Institute - Conservatory Admissions: The Double Degree Dilemma](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree]Peabody”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree)</p>
<p>With that combination, are you interested in music therapy eventually? Or neuroscience? (Actually, I know a music therapist with an M.S. who is doing a PhD in neuroscience now).</p>
<p>sounds like a Music Ed degree might satisfy both interests</p>
<p>Yeah that’s what I’m talking about, a double degree. I wanted to have options really open for graduate school in both areas, but will probably pursue psychology rather than music. I really really want to major in music though.</p>
<p>A BM and a BA would likely take an extra year or more. BM degrees are generally highly concentrated in music with few general education classes and even fewer electives, so there is not a lot of room to overlap or double dip classes between the two programs.</p>
<p>Two BA’s could possibly be done with just a few summer schools because BA’s generally have lots of overlapping general education classes and lots of electives which could be used to double dip curriculum.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Psychology majors are probably the least likely major to find a job in their field, and Music majors are close behind. Both fields are something that you should only study because you love the field, and not so much because you think that you will be able to find a job in that industry. The typical psychology major with just a BA will most likely end up taking an entry level job as an assistant manager trainee in a business, or a clerical/administrative job that could have been obtained with just an associates degree. </p>
<p>I’ve never actually seen a job, outside of teaching, that required a bachelors degree in psychology. Someone with a BA in psychology is not qualified to be a psychologist or a counselor (except in education-grade schools, and even then you would likely have to have a minor in education or have graduated from a special program aimed at preparing one to be a school psychologist) or a psychiatrist. It takes a minimum of a masters degree, and a PhD or MD will typically beat out the candidate who only has a masters in psychology.</p>
<p>Considering the extra time that it takes to get two degrees, there may be better uses of your time and educational budget than two bachelors. Like you could major in one subject and minor in the other. Most BM programs are so intense that minors are not generally part of the curriculum and may still take a summer school or two to be able to complete the program in 4 years. However BA programs often require minors, so it may make more sense to get a BA in psychology with a minor in music than a BM in music with a minor in psychology.</p>
<p>Generally, BM and BS degrees are considered “professional” degrees, and really all that means is that after one recieves one of those degrees that they are generally considered qualified to obtain employment in that field. Most psychology degrees are BA degrees which are considered liberal arts degrees which allow you the lattitude to study a lot of different topics and to get a very well rounded education, but don’t neccesarally qualify you to do any job in particular and only truely qualify you to go to grad school.</p>
<p>That said, there are lots of jobs that require a college degree, but no college degree in particular. That kind of brings me back to the fact that most recent college grads with BA degrees end up becoming an assistant manager trainee or supervisor trainee in a company that is outside of your field (after all, there are actually few companies in the field of psychology). My first job out of college was as an assistant manager trainee at McDonalds, my next job was as a manager of a different fast food joint, my third job was as a production supervisor trainee in a manufacturing plant.</p>
<p>Have you considered a degree in music therapy? You might want to look into that, I don’t know much about it, but it sounds to me like it is a combination of music and psychology, and there are jobs in that field. That way you could get just one degree that leads to a job in both of the fields that you are interested in.</p>
<p>Or, if you went the major/minor route, you could possibly go to grad school for either subject (although it would be more difficult to enroll in a music grad school if you arent an outstanding performer). It would probably be a better use of that extra year or two to get a bachelors and a masters than it would to have two bachelors degrees.</p>
<p>Also, as someone else suggested, you could go the music ed route. Most music ed programs will require several classes in teaching and teaching does require the use of psychology (even if not intently studied). The school that my son goes offers a major in counselor which can lead to becoming a certified school counselor. At his college, there are a couple of overlapping classes between the school counselor minor and his music ed major, so if you took advantage of any double dipping that is allow (double dipping is determined by each colleges individual policy, some don’t allow it, some encourage it), so if you did a BM in music ed, and thus became licensed to become a teacher, and also did the school counselor major, you might have more opportunities open to you in the educational field, and of course you could always take a couple of your scarce BM electives in psychology (my son took psyc 101 his first year as a BM student).</p>
<p>Sorry for writing a small book on this subject, but I just wanted to lay out reality, and a few options for you. By the way, my dad had a PhD in psychology and struggled to find jobs outside of the education field.</p>
<p>You might want to do some research into the employability of both music majors and psychology majors before you make up your mind. It might also help you to choose the right college for you if you researched some of the issues that I brought up, like the availability of minors (some colleges don’t have minors), the schools double dipping policy, if you studied the difference between music and psychology curriculums to determine how much longer that it would take to get the second degree, etc. Some colleges are easier to workout complicated curriculum issues than others.</p>
<p>Yes! Funny you should mention it. My D is doing that very thing at Lawrence University. With her dual-degree program, she will receive a B.M. in Clarinet Performance, and a B.A. in Psychology. It is a 5-year program, and she is in her fourth year. What is your area of music? And what are you hoping to do, if I may ask? My D is doing the music major for love of music, and the Psych degree as a career path. She loves the school, and the program.</p>
<p>At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the School of Music is part of the College of Letters and Sciences. Psychology is also part of the College.</p>
<p>It is possible to get a BM in Music and BS in Psychology. But, it will take more than 4 years. You can get a BA/BS in Music and a BS in Psychology in 4 years.</p>
<p>The BM is designed for Performance majors. BA/BS “does not include some of the more advanced music courses or the music elective credits available in the BM curriculum. However, many of our BS/BA music majors have continued in graduate music studies after completing their undergraduate degree.”</p>
<p>Many years ago I did a B Music degree from the Hartt School and a BA degree in chemistry from the University of Hartford. It took 4.5 years and summer courses to do it. I think you can still do it there. </p>
<p>As an alternative, I second the suggestion of music therapy(not many schools have this).</p>