<p>My son, a high school junior, is a better musician than he is a student. He earns a 3.0 in a college-prep curriculum at a competitive suburban public school. On the other hand, he's a strong musician (percussionist). He is interested in majoring in engineering and minoring in music. I am not so sure it will work out that way and can see him switching to a music major. So I am looking for colleges/ universities where music is stronger than academics and where they actually offer engineering. I know this seems like a very specific question, but I sure would like help. </p>
<p>Oh, and I am also wondering if anyone knows of any FL schools (especially state schools) we could target where music is strong.</p>
<p>Is he particularly strong in Math and the Sciences? If he is not able to handle Calculus and the first-year Physics and Chemistry courses used to weed out the freshman class, he might as well not even start in engineering. The 3.0 is going to make it tough and will eliminate scools like University of Florida and University of Miami. It will make Florida State University and the University of Central Florida, both of which have good music departments, a pretty hefty reach. Has he taken the SAT yet? If so, did he do really well on the math part?</p>
<p>I am afraid you are going to have to go out of Florida to find a public school with both engineering and music that has a higher chance of accepting him. You might have a look at Cal State Fullerton, Cleveland State, Idaho State, Portland State, San Francisco State, SUNY Buffalo, Texas Tech, University of Akron, University of Arizona, University of Memphis, University of Missouri (Columbia and Kansas City), University of Nebraska (Lincoln and Omaha), University of New Mexico, University of North Texas (great music program here, but hard to audition into), University of Texas (El Paso), University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Wayne State, West Virginia University, Western Michigan University, and Wichita State.</p>
<p>Cal State Fullerton and SF State could well be reaches for an out of state student, considering the budget cuts in CA. Check out New World School of the Arts in Miami. It is an arts school within both Miami Dade Community College and University of Florida. At the lower division level, students are Miami Dade CC students, then you transfer to U of F. U of F has engineering. I am not familiar with the music program at all, but I am very familiar with the dance program, and it is TOP tier. For dance, it’s right up there with Juilliard, NYU, Boston Conservatory or Purchase. The school is a bargain, about $3k to $4k tuition annually, and they do have scholarships. I don’t remember anyone posting here about the music programs, but do check it out. I think the GPA might be fine there, because you start out at the CC, and then you can see if engineering is a good plan. I don’t believe they have dorms, but of course the students share apartments nearby. However, if the music program is as selective as the dance program, then musically it would require top players for admittance.</p>
<p>BassDad, The 3.0 is unweighted, weighted is 3.5. According to Naviance, UCF and Florida State are matches but thank you for the names of all those schools. I had considered UAZ and SUNY-Buffalo for engineering but wasn’t sure if music was any good. I didn’t know that music was good at the others (well, except for No Texas). I had been told to consider U Iowa, Iowa State and U Colorado for engineering-- but wasn’t sure about music. He is good at math and will take calc in high school next year (as a senior)-- not sure how first-year Chem will go, however. I don’t disagree with you that engineering may not work out-- but it’s not my life and he seems convinced that engineering is a good career and music isn’t. So I’m trying to find a place where switching will be possible. I think the Univ of Hartford may be another. </p>
<p>sopranomom92, That’s a pretty good idea. I’ve heard of New World School, guess I have to figure out how good the music program is.</p>
<p>The University of Iowa is strong in both engineering and music – and the percussion program is especially popular. The final music recital scheduled each semester is for the percussion department and is by far the best attended (and one of the most enjoyable – no disrepect meant to anyone or any instrument, but it’s just down right FUN! Of course it is scheduled to begin 3 minutes after the hour, thereby ensuring it is the “last” recital and setting the tone for the entire event). There are a lot of talented people at Iowa that double major (BA) and then switch to a single major, one way or the other, so that is certainly a possibility. My eldest daughter is finishing up her senior year in the music program as a vocalist, while my younger daughter was doing a double BA that included VP and just singled that to include a music minor instead. Feel free to send a private message if you want more info.</p>
<p>Which classes helped bring the unweighted 3.0 up to a weighted 3.5? It is not as simple as Naviance makes things look at first sight. Many colleges have their own formula for recalculating GPA, in which they ignore all but the core academic courses and may or may not add in weighting for honors, AP or IB type classes. If your son is generally strong in the mathematics, science, English, foreign language and social studies classes, then he could be in very good shape with a shot at more selective schools than those I mentioned. If those are the classes that are bringing him down and he relies on music, phys ed, and a bunch of other non-core elective classes to strengthen his GPA as calculated by the high school, then places like UCF and Florida State might still be reaches.</p>
<p>As sopranomom92 suggests, some of the out of state publics could be harder than they would be for in-state students, but then again the ones that tack on a hefty out-of-state differential in tuition may be looking to fill some of their seats that way. The whole admissions thing can become fairly complicated, particularly when you start looking at auditioned music programs.</p>
<p>By the way, note that I cannot speak for the quality of percussion instruction at any of those schools - you are going to have to research that on your own. What I gave you is a list of schools that I know have engineering majors, anywhere from a decent to an excellent music program, and that might accept a student with a 3.0 under the right circumstances.</p>
<p>Take a look at Case-Western too. They have a well-known engineering school as well as a good music degree. Should he change his mind and decide to go with the music after the first year, he may be able to audition for CIM and transfer to the conservatory, or he could remain and take his music degree on the Case side. The two programs do not share music faculty nor are the Case music students permitted to take part in the CIM ensembles, but Case has their own and the students do share the same language classes.</p>
<p>One good point made in the above post…if your son “wants” to change to a music degree, he will be required to audition…and there really isn’t any guarantee he’ll be accepted into the music program where admissions are largely based on the audition.</p>
<p>Many colleges have ensembles for non-majors in addition to the ones for the music majors. You might want to check University of South Carolina. They have a good engineering program AND they allow ALL students to audition for ALL of their ensembles (whether they are majoring in music…or not). Perhaps this would be an option worth considering.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. </p>
<p>It is very hard to make him see that college is NOT like high school where he has been able to keep his foot in everything.</p>
<p>2collegewego…he CAN keep his foot in lots of different things. What he may have difficulty doing is just “switching to music” which requires an audition. Perhaps he should consider schools with a BA in music that do not require an audition. There are schools like this and perhaps there are such schools that also have an engineering program.</p>
<p>On a different note that is not really music weighted but rather in experience with engineering and engineering programs, you need to look at your son’s high school academics and see if he would be equipped to go into engineering as a major. What would concern me is if he had more trouble with the math and science courses, since they make up the bulk of the kinds of courses engineering students take…and more importantly, why his academics were not that great in those subjects. Was it that he had trouble grasping the concepts? Or was it that he hasn’t developed the study skills and discipline to do the work (something I know only too well, in my case I got through 9 years of school without having to crack a book pretty much, with an A average, then hit the heavy duty stuff in high school and struggled…I also will add that college music programs are not the same as school ones, and they take in many ways as much or more discipline then engineering, so if discipline and work habits are an issue, that could be a problem in music, too, if he goes that way. I highly recommend that if his problem is with work/study skills, to find ways to help him develop that, it certaintly won’t hurt him no matter what he does:)</p>
<p>He has no problem with discipline in music. As a matter of fact, he was just named one of the state’s top young artists. His problems in school are related to an ld which doesn’t affect music at all.</p>
<p>Well, then I think that perhaps the answer lies within your last post, 2collegewego. One of those left brain-right brain kind of things… College engineering courses are not easy, even at colleges that are not top ranked, and are filled with math courses that range from the merely difficult to the terribly abstract. Most colleges won’t make major accommodations for an LD (my eldest S was classed as ADD Gifted, which means he was the proverbial “Absent Minded Professor” who couldn’t remember what he had for dinner the night before but could speak Welsh!) and that it the worst time for things to come crashing down around a kid- having two sons and one daughter, my experience has been that boys really don’t mature as quickly as girls and going away to college is like a big picnic for them! He also won’t have the benefit of a structured home life to keep him centered. As musicprnt said, college music programs are very rigorous in their own way, so do your homework carefully. My experience is with CIM, which is why I mentioned Case- they have a good music major of their own, and it does require an audition, just not of the level and intensity of that required for the conservatory. Case has it’s own orchestra and ensembles and chances to perform in the musicals,etc. If he would then decide that he really desired a more intense experience, he would have the option to audition for CIM and a great many of the first semester or first year courses would transfer- after the first year, too much ground would be lost and he would most likely have to make up an entire year.
Congrats to your S on his latest accolade! You should be very proud of him!</p>
<p>Of the schools I mentioned, the following have extensive services for LD students (although I do not know how many of them will apply to the more advanced classes in an engineering curriculum): Cleveland State, Texas Tech, and the University of Arizona.</p>
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<p>Just for reference, there is an audition based BA and a non audition music based BA at Hartt.</p>
<p>The BM is audition only. </p>
<p>Switching may or may not be “easy” into an audition based program. </p>
<p>As you don’t specify what type of engineering, there is an offering there that might allow him the best of two worlds. [The</a> Hartt School | Music Dance Theatre > Bachelor of Science in Engineering](<a href=“The Hartt School - University of Hartford”>The Hartt School - University of Hartford)
There are similar offerings elsewhere.</p>