Is it possible to combine music education and pre med requirements? Like music education (with state certification; preferably NJ) and pre med requirements within four to five years? I’m fine with starting in high school (I’m a rising sophomore and thought that it’d be best if I can start taking courses counting towards this) or taking any postbacc programs in pre med or education? So just to clarify, I’m looking for any strategies to combine music education (w/ certification) and pre med requirements?
If you are okay with taking longer than four years - closer to five - then probably. Education requirements tend to be pretty stringent and include a semester of student teaching (usually your last semester), but pre-med requirements are sequential and also require devoting quite a bit of time to. It would probably take you around five years to finish. I doubt you’d be able to put any significant work towards either in high school, but you could probably get some general education requirements out of the way that might help.
I agree it would likely take around 5 years to do this, but it will depend on the school and on the state’s certification requirements and whether you come in with AP/DE credit that the school will accept toward degree requirements. For example, a school that has few general ed requirements or that will count your pre-med classes toward general ed requirements would make it easier than a school that has a specific group of core gen ed options that doesn’t include your pre med classes. Some music schools will accept AP credit for gen ed classes, some schools accept almost no AP credit at all (public universities are generally more likely to give AP credit than private schools). Music Ed students often take far more than the typical 15 credit hours per semester. A Music Ed degree requires a lot of classes, because you have not only performance type classes on your own instrument, ensembles, music theory, Piano, aural skills, music history etc but for instrumental Music Ed, for example, you often have to learn to play and teach all the various instrument groups plus vocal music, and student teaching also takes up a good part of one semester. At my son’s school the music ed major requires a total of 147 credits over 4 years and that is with minimal general ed requirements. Another issue at many schools is that science classes often have afternoon labs that can conflict with required ensemble rehearsals.
I would talk to each music school you are considering to see how hard it is to complete pre med course work while a music student, ask how common it is to have students doing that, whether labs conflict, etc. Look on the web site for a student handbook for the school of music or Music Ed advising worksheets so you can see the typical course work pattern semester by semester and you can see what pre med classes there might be time for. Look at the general education/core curriculum requirements carefully as well as policies on AP credit or dual enrollment classes if you are likely to have good AP scores and/or DE credit. Ask lots of questions, too. If you have a strong piano background but piano isn’t your main instrument you might place out of a few of the (usually 4) required piano classes, which would help a little. At some schools a strong background in music theory or aural skills can allow a student to place out of a level of two, but many strong music programs will not accept AP Music Theory credit at all and will insist that students take their entire theory sequence.
Since you are just a rising sophomore you have plenty of time to research each program to see how feasible it is, and good luck!
Thanks so much @classicalsaxmom and @julliet ! Yeah I really appreciate it and will use this knowledge!
Look at the requirements for Music Ed as the first endorsement for your teaching certificate, and at Science Ed as your second. There may be an option for general science, but I expect that requirements for a teaching endorsement in Chemistry would include all of the standard pre-med courses. And frankly, that science ed endorsement is what is going to get you a teaching job if the school district is cutting back on the arts.
Many public colleges and universities are generous with accepting CLEP exam scores for credit and/or placement, so check the list of accepted CLEP exams as well as the list of accepted AP exams.