DUAL degree@ Rochester/Eastman...?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Greetings, </p>

<p>I'm looking at a dual degree in organ/cogsci. My concerns are, </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Time commitment? I have no problem with taking 5 years to finish. However, I plan to be taking an online class outside of school hours, which won't be credited to the school (long story, but I'm sure of this). It will be at least 1 to 2 hr/day.
Taking 4 academic courses (this is the minimum, right?) as well as music studies, can anyone tell me from experience if I simply won't have time in my day to do my online class? </p></li>
<li><p>In my first few semesters I'll want to take a basic physics class, basic chem class, some Latin classes, and basic history class(es). Basically building a "core curriculum" for myself, and taking maybe 1 cogsci class my first year. Is this acceptable or are students expected to take most classes within their major? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you for any insight!</p>

2

<p>1) yes, generally you are expected to take 4 courses/semester. Taking less than 14 credits is called underloading and requires special approval.</p>

<p>[Underloads</a> : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester](<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/college/CCAS/AdviserHandbook/Underloads.html]Underloads”>Underloads : Advising Handbook : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester)</p>

<p>Dual degree students are generally expected to take 16-24 credits each semester in order to graduate in 10 semesters (5 years).</p>

<p>[Dual</a> Degree Program ? Frequently Asked Questions ? Office of Academic Affairs - Eastman School of Music](<a href=“http://www.esm.rochester.edu/academic-affairs/programs/dual-degree-program/dual-degree-faq/]Dual”>http://www.esm.rochester.edu/academic-affairs/programs/dual-degree-program/dual-degree-faq/)</p>

<p>As for whether you will have time to complete your online class–it depends on your time management skills, your work ethic, how many hours of music practice you need. </p>

<p>Don’t forget that performance majors have additional calls on their time for ensemble rehearsals.</p>

<p>2) Are you looking at a BA or a BS in BCS? The BS has more required and co-requisite courses than does the BA.</p>

<p>BS requirements</p>

<p>[BCS</a> Undergraduate Program: Requirements for the B.S. Degree](<a href=“http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/BSrequirements.html]BCS”>http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/BSrequirements.html)</p>

<p>BA requirements</p>

<p>[BCS</a> Undergraduate Program: Requirements for the B.A. Degree](<a href=“http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/BArequirements.html]BCS”>http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/BArequirements.html)</p>

<p>The BA in BCS has a “late start” option that will allow you to back load your major requirements–and only requires 1 BCS class during your freshman year.</p>

<p>You can use physics classes to fulfill your required allied field elective in BCS. You can use history to fill your social science cluster and latin to fulfill your humanities cluster.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for the info! I would probably be going for a B.A. for now at least. </p>

<p>Another thing I don’t understand is the cluster system described on their website. Does this mean that all the courses I take should be in two subject areas? For example, if my clusters were Latin and BCS, how many courses in each of those subjects would I be taking? Would I have room to add a different science course and not have more than 4 academic courses?</p>

<p>Also, do classes at Eastman count as part of the 16 credits necessary per semester? For example, if I took 2 courses in organ, would I only need to take 2 academic courses that semester? </p>

<p>Thanks so much if anyone can help out, I have pretty specific concerns that I can’t find on their website.</p>

4

<p>A cluster is grouping of 3 thematically related classes. They don’t necessarily have to be all in the same dept, but any cluster must be approved by the university. You can’t just randomly taken classes in history or language or public health or whatever….</p>

<p>A cluster search engine is here:</p>

<p>[Clusters</a> : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester](<a href=“Students : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester”>Students : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester)</p>

<p>There is a Latin cluster—2 semesters of Latin language/lit plus 1 semester of Roman history, sociology, architecture or archeology.</p>

<p>There are about a dozen different history clusters each with different focus.</p>

<p>Clusters replace the general education or distribution requirements that other colleges have. Every UR student (except engineering majors) must complete a major, minor or cluster in each of the 3 divisions: natural sciences; social sciences; humanities.</p>

<p>BCS is a natural science, so you would also need to complete clusters/minors in both humanities AND social sciences. Additionally, every UR and Eastman student is required to complete a freshman writing class. (AP credit is not accepted for freshman writing.)</p>

<p>A BA degree in BCS requires 12 courses: 2 foundational courses in BCS; 3 core BCS courses; 1 stats class; 1 lab-based BCS class; 4 upper level BCS electives; senior seminar (which is very time consuming); 1 writing elective in BCS (1 credit but requires 4+ papers, including one “significant” research paper).</p>

<p>The organ performance curriculum is here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.esm.rochester.edu/registrar/policy/bm_eic/BM_AMU_Organ.pdf[/url]”>http://www.esm.rochester.edu/registrar/policy/bm_eic/BM_AMU_Organ.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I believe that Eastman courses will count towards your 16 credits for dual degree students, but I’m not 100% certain–this is probably a question you ought to ask your interviewer.</p>

<p>You do understand that in order to become a dual degree student, you must be independently accepted to both Eastman (which includes an audition) and University of Rochester. You can accepted to both programs; rejected by both programs; or accepted by one but not the other.</p>

<p>~~~~</p>

<p>P.S. when doing your time management, don’t forget to allow for travel time between campuses. There is a shuttle that runs every half hour or hour and travel time is about 15 minutes. (This mean you cannot take a 10 am class at Eastman and make it to River campus in time for 11 am class there.)</p>

5

<p>I would suggest also posting this question on the music forum. Or, at least do a search on that forum for “double degree”. There is often a lot of discussion on this topic. It would be very demanding and would require very good time management skills. And as already mentioned, the travel time between the 2 schools makes it a little bit more difficult logistically. That said, students do it successfully. </p>

<p>Consider what your long term goals are. There are other ways to keep music in your life without committing to the performance degree.</p>

6

<p>Thank you very much.</p>