<p>I am interested in working toward a dual degree in music performance / math. I understand this is more doable at some schools than others, and I find that many of the schools people say dual degrees are doable at happen to be small schools.</p>
<p>My question is, what about bigger places? How doable are dual degree programs at large schools such as University of Maryland-College Park or University of Michigan-Ann Arbor?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>For any school, big or small, you can do the following:</p>
<p>A = courses/credits for major #1
B = courses/credits for major #2, not overlapping with major #1
C = courses/credits for breadth or general education requirements, not overlapping with either major
D = courses/credits that you can skip with AP or other college credit on entry.</p>
<p>Calculate A+B+C-D. If this is no more than the total number of courses/credits that you will take over the normal amount of time in school (usually about 32-40 courses or 120-128 credits in 8 semesters, or 48-60 courses or 180-192 credits in 12 quarters for a quarter system school), then you can do it without overloading your schedule.</p>
<p>Thank you for the help. Also, does a school having a “commuter campus” make dual degrees more difficult due to scheduling/time restraints, or does this not really make a difference?</p>
<p>Dual degrees often require 150 credits rather than 120. Are you really thinking of a dual degree (say a BA and BFA) or simply a double major?</p>
<p>I am thinking of a dual degree in math (BA) and piano performance (BM).</p>
<p>Then you’re probably going to need 150 credits- check with your school. I am getting a dual degree in 4 years (BS and BA) but I came in with a LOT of credits and I’m going to school year round. </p>
<p>It’s going to be difficult, but doable. It might not be doable in 4 years though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help; how did you get those credits? Lots of APs? Of so, which AP courses did you take in high school?</p>
<p>AP and a few dual enrolled courses. I didn’t take many AP classes, just the tests. US Gov, bio, psychology, calc AB (class), english lit (class), english lang, world history (class), environmental science, and stats (class). Got some anthro and math credits at U of M and a cc.</p>
<p>Wow! So you self studied a lot of those, huh? What is a dual-enrolled course? Also, how did you take he exam if you didn’t take the class?</p>
<p>You don’t have to take the class in order to take the exam. I just registered for the exam through my school, the same way that you register for exams for the classes you take. </p>
<p>Yes, I self-studied. Sort of. For most of them, I just took the regular or honors class and took the AP exam with very, very little prep. Standardized testing has always just come easily to me <em>shrug</em>. </p>
<p>Dual-enrolled means you take college classes while still in high school. I took both of the anthro classes at my high school, was out of anthro classes, so I enrolled in one at U of M and one at my local cc. Same with a math class.</p>
<p>My freshman roommate is enrolled as a BS Math and BM Violin student (We go to a small private school). She’s extremely well organized and very motivated, as well as an outstanding musician and a brilliant student. And yet… her life is insane. She practices upwards of 2 hours per day in addition to all of the homework, studying, papers, etc she has. She constantly is asked by both departments to come and talk to prospective students about doing double majors and dual degrees. She always tells them: Don’t do it.</p>
<p>If you are going for a BA in Math instead of a BS, it might not be so math/science heavy and you might be able to get away with more. If this is what you’re really wanting to do then I would contact the departments at these schools and ask to speak to a program coordinator or an advisor about whether or not this is possible. Then see if you can get a curriculum for the degrees and see how many courses can be counted towards both.</p>
<p>a BM by itself is a ***** to complete. I know a lot of music students and several of them switched to a BA in music or out of music entirely because the BM requirements were too rigorous.</p>
<p>With all this in mind… Good luck!</p>