<p>Music has always been a huge part of my life since I was a child. I've learned to play several different instruments, sing, dance, and draw. Recently I've been considering attending Interlochen Arts Academy as a Comparative Arts major. It seems like a great opportunity to look further into my different interests. However I am rather reluctant to leave behind the other opportunities I have at my public school. The academics aren't as rigorous as Interlochen, however they do have a satisfyingly large amount of AP and Honors courses. And I would be leaving behind the tennis team, National Honors Society, Key Club, and being a Freshman Mentor. I am not pursuing a career in the arts, but rather pursuing a job in the medical field. However I am aware that although the vast majority of Interlochen students pursue jobs in the arts, there are still some that obtain jobs in other fields. So my question is, if I intend to be a doctor in the future, which picture would look better and help me the most in the long run?</p>
<p>Would you consider going to Interlochen’s summer camp instead of a full time IAA student? My D did a few summers there. Great, great opportunities for musically talented students.</p>
<p>I urge you to call the Admissions office and talk to someone there. They are fantastic, and will be able to answer your questions in a very detailed, meaningful way. Quite a few graduates do not go on to major in an arts related field. When our daughter was first looking at Interlochen (she will be a first-year Junior, Theatre major next fall) they gave us a printout with college admissions data by school and by major. From the 2009-10 stats, non-arts majors included: Architecture (Yale), Biology (DePauw), Biology and Spanish (Oberlin), Cultural Anthropology (Kalamazoo), Diet/Nutrition (Marywood), East Asian Studies (Colby College), English/Econ (Harvard), Law (Johns Hopkins), Liberal Arts (Albion College and NYU), Math (McGill), Political Science (Gettysburg College and Florida State), Pre-med (Oakland Univ, MI, and Univ of Rochester). I’m sure that they would have similar stats available for more recent graduation classes. </p>
<p>And just FYI - our local physician who was recently awarded the state medical society’s highest honor for practicing physicians (he’s an internist), was a double major in college in violin performance and physics. He attended a great med school, where he continued to excel (although I understand his violin finally had to take a back seat, since he was just too busy in med school to continue playing much). So - it is possible, although a challenging road, to combine your love for music with a career that is not arts-focused. Good luck.</p>
<p>I am also a big arts person aspiring to be a doctor. As far as I can tell, only go to IAA if you want to center your life around art. I recommend B.S., but one with a good arts program as well as academic course offerings. Getting into medical/med oriented schools with art as your major component would be awkward, and therefor detrimental, unfortunately.</p>