<p>Hi! I'm going to be a high school senior this fall, and I'm planning on applying to UIUC. I want to do a dual degree in Music Performance (French horn) and Engineering. Where can I get more information about the dual degree program at UIUC? </p>
<p>I've looked on both the School of Engineering page and the School of Music page, and they both say that pursuing a dual degree is an option, but there's not much more information. When I apply to UIUC, how do I declare that I'm seeking a dual degree? Can I only apply for a second degree after I'm admitted? Please help me find more info on this!</p>
<p>This is one for which you are going to have to contact the music department and engineering department to see if it is even feasible. Double degrees are not prohibited and the usual procedure is to apply to one college and major as a freshman and then apply for the second for beginning of junior year while taking any courses needed the first two years in the second major when doing the same for the first major. The problem I am having is that it seems unlikely that anyone could do both a music performance degree and an engineering degree together. If you want into music performance you really need to start it freshman year and go through the audition process as part of getting admitted. But if you start in music it will not be that easy to also complete what is needed for engineering freshman and sophomore year for you to be able to apply and get accepted to engineering third year. A typical engineering program requires 128 to 132 total semester hours to complete (most LAS degrees are 120) and that means averaging more than 15 course hours a semester (the average load of college students is 15 and engineers usually need to exceed that to have a valid chance of graduating in four years), and there are a huge number of required math, science and engineering courses, none of which overlap with any music courses.</p>
<p>Now go to the other side and music performance is virtually equal in being draconian for hours needed, requiring 130 hours. You get some overlap because engineering and music both require some gen ed courses, but there is not any significant overlap of courses that go towards both majors and the music-related courses required for a degree add up to be about 75 hours and you will need to take 9 to 10 of those every semester while you are also somehow completing the math, science and engineering courses.</p>
<p>In other words trying for such a dual degree may not be prohibited but may be impossible to do, including because the university expects you to complete all the courses for both degrees in five years, although you can stretch it another semester.</p>