I am currently a rising high school senior from Akron, Ohio, and I am interested in going to college for an undergraduate engineering degree. I am thinking about Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering mainly. Music is also a very large part of my life, as I play drum set for my Church’s youth group a few times a month, and I’m on my high school’s drumline for Marching Band and Indoor Drumline. We compete at a very high level compared to most high schools. I’m also in my high school’s top band, Wind Ensemble, which consistently receives superior ratings (the highest rating). My favorite classes are my math and science classes as well. I have put so much time into music, and it is something I have a deep passion for, and I’m also interested in the science behind music. I could picture myself creating longer-lasting drumsticks, more durable/better sounding drum heads, electronic music equipment, low-cost and high-quality headphones, and things of the sort. I want to combine my passion with music with my success and interest in the STEM field.
I am having a hard time finding colleges that openly combine music and engineering into a single major, or give information about music and engineering. I know it is not common for someone to be interested in these two disciplines, but I feel very strongly that pursuing both music and engineering is the right thing for me. Does anyone have any advice or information about colleges or majors to check out? I’m currently looking at Vanderbilt, Case Western Reserve, and Ohio State in that order (most to least). Thank you in advance!
My S is about to start as a college freshman and has similar interests. I don’t think you are going to find a combined degree, we didn’t see any when we looked. Indiana has a combined degree in music and another subject of yoyr choice, but would be tough to do engineering. You might check out Baldwin Wallace, good music and they have a physics professor who is a musician and studies physics of music. But I don’t think they have engineering.
My son will try to combine a BM with a physics degree (probably a BA). You might want to investigate something like that. Or engineering coupled with a BA in music. This will likely require 5+ years though and you really need to consider whether the extra time/cost is worth it. Or consider engineering and minoring in music.
Also, if you are looking for a BM rather than a BA in music, you might want to add more schools to your list. The BM typically requires an audition and can be tougher to get into.
But there is some way to do it, you just need to decide interests and priorities.
I think majoring in engineering and minoring in music would be the best option in terms of degrees for me. I will contact some of the colleges I’m interested in about it. I think what I want most is to get a STEM degree and find opportunities either through the school or internships that involve music. Nashville is ‘Music City’ so that’s one of the reasons Vanderbilt is attractive to me. It’s also a beautiful city in general. I’ll have to do my research.
Typically it is tough for an engineering student to have enough time to add music classes. However, during our tour of Case we learned it was possible for engineers to do music minor (or even a double major). If you happen to have top stats, Case is (or at least was in 2010) generous with merit scholarships.
Also, I think UA (which offers great merit scholarships) has a special opportunity to combine engineering with one of the arts – it’s called Creativity + or something like that.
I did a quick google search and came up with several (including many well known) colleges that have programs in acoustical engineering. These programs might not be an exact match for what you want to do. But with a little research, you should be able to find some that give you the background you desire.
A music performance degree combined with a mechanical engineering degree would take five years plus summers based on the number of credits in each major.
Now instead if you are fine with a music minor, many schools will enable you to play in a non major ensemble and take some music classes. And perhaps march in their marching band.
As WhataProcess said, University of Rochester has Eastman school of Music and also has Mechanical Eng, Computer science and an Audio Music engineering program under EE.
UR has an open curriculum meaning no core classes except one English writing class. You can take music classes quite easily and complete an engineering program as engineers only need to complete a single cluster (4 classes in one specific area) or a minor which can be music.
If you come in with AP Credit, you have even more slots you can fill with music classes.
A friend of mine is an audio engineer and his job involves designing and testing audio systems for large arenas around the country. Not sure where he went to school but the job does sound like fun. Spends much of his time in the office, designing. But will make a couple of trips a year to oversee the testing of the installations (or mods to them).
@billcsho I don’t want to do a double major between music and engineering. From look around the past few months I think I want to go to college for a math, physics, Computer Sci/Eng or something of the sort and maybe do a music minor. I think keeping it as a hobby would prove well. That’s when I enjoy music the most
Take look at WPI. With its term system, you take up to 12 classes a year. Music Minor is attainable there. Also, look at SMU. I have a coworker whose son is studying engineering and violin performance there.
“I think keeping it as a hobby would prove well.” - That’s what DS (an ECE major and avid musician) did. It worked out well for him.
He wanted to keep music as a fun outlet. In college he joined various music groups and opted to do a music concentration for his humanities capstone. Also had lots several music-themed engineering projects. After college he continues to offset his techie work with music pursuits.
DS = Dear Son. DD = Dear Daughter. There may also be a number following the abbreviation, indicating either when the child is due to graduate – e.g., DS17 – or the position they hold in the family – e.g., D2.