<p>I'm a junior in high school considering going to Indiana University since it's a good school, only about an hour south of my hometown, and has a beautiful campus. My passion is music, and I would love to study music, especially at a music school as prestigious and renowned as IU. However, I also want to double major since music is not always equitable when it comes to careers, and I would like to have a "backup major" of sorts. I'm considering communication or English because they're general enough that I could apply them in a variety of different careers. I went to a career counselor, who told me that, based on my interests, I should study English and go on to law school. I honestly don't think that I'm interested in going to law school, and I'd like to focus on music. I guess my questions would be, is it possible to double major in music and something at IU? I know you can, but the amount of dedication to a music conservatory is incredibly weighty, and I'm not sure if a top-notch school like IU would be a wise decision to double major. Also, I'm wondering about the possibilities of communication or English studies at IU: are the programs good, are they hard/average/easy, what are my possibilites, etc. Any input at all would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>There's a special degree that would allow you to study both music and an additional subject. However, I think this degree would require you to be accepted to the Jacobs School of Music, which is certainly harder to get into than regular liberal arts, so if you would still be interested in IU even without music, that may be problematic. I don't know if you can apply for the regular BA program in addition to this.</p>
<p>"B.S.O.F. The Bachelor of Science in Music and an Outside Field is designed to provide students an opportunity to study music as a major and also another field at nearly the level of a major (27 credit hours). The field in music can be instrumental or vocal performance, composition, jazz studies, or ballet. The outside field can be in any other degree-granting area of the university; some of the most common choices are languages, theater, business, telecommunications, speech, and mathematics. The outside field can also consist of the major field coursework of one of the A.S. degrees in music-related technical areas (see above). Yet another option for the outside field is an Individualized Cognate Area. This consists of 27 credit hours in a variety of fields carefully selected to meet some particular interest of a student. For example, a student may be interested in music therapy (an area in which IU Bloomington does not have a degree program). By choosing specific courses from music, music education, recreation, and psychology, a student could construct an Individualized Cognate Area which would leave only a minimal amount of additional graduate and clinical work for certification as a music therapist. Students who wish to pursue an Individualized Cognate Area must have two faculty advisors and have the chosen program of study approved." Degrees</a>, Diplomas, and Careers : Faculty and Staff Resources : Indiana University Jacobs School of Music</p>
<p>Thanks! I had heard of that program, and it's definitely a possibility. However, is it possible to major in one program in the Jacobs School of Music AND also major in an additional program in the College of Fine Arts?</p>
<p>Fine arts is in the College of Arts and Sciences. The issue with double majoring rather than doing the outside field would be meeting the additional COAS requirements in addition to your outside field requirements, and still meeting all of your Jacobs requirements. The outside field will give you almost a double major without the extras. My D has an outside field in English - it is not easy but the classes are small (under 20-25), challenging and the discussion is interesting.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input, lakeeffect! Another question... If I were to scratch the music idea, how are IU's communication and English schools? You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about IU...</p>
<p>You're welcome. The English department is highly regarded, major classes are small, and the majors tend to be bright, and that is regardless of whether the class is an honors college class or not. Some profs are very stingy when giving out As; however you can check out their grade distributions before signing up for the class. Classes are hard but visiting your prof during office hours and getting feedback on your writing goes a long way. There is also a Comparative Literature dept that focuses more on world lit; it is one of the few departments of its kind I believe, not sure about its reputation. Communications and Culture focuses on speech and verbal communication; a popular outside field for music students. This is a newer department at IU and I don't know much about it. It would probably be an easier outside field than English. Finally the Journalism School is a separate college and not part of ARts and Sciences. It is one of the best J schools in the country, mainly focuses on print journalism but is expanding beyond that lately for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>MusicMan, part of the issue at IU, or any program allowing/supporting/or advertising a double major or dual degree is contingent upon how you are defining music.</p>
<p>Performance, music ed, music therapy, composition are all credit and time intensive degrees, with lots of 1 and 2 credit courses taking large blocks of time, particularly in ensemble commitments, studio time and private instruction/practice. Music academic concentrations like theory and music history may involve less participatory requirements. </p>
<p>Combining a performance related discipline with a science based curriculum is normally very difficult due to time and schedule conflicts, and can often take five years, maybe a bit more, so add in additional expense as a potential drawback.</p>
<p>A music discipline combined with a separate liberal arts discipline is often very do-able, usually in 4 years if no glitches, particularly if both concentrations are at the BA level as opposed to a BA/BM concentration.</p>
<p>One other aspect can be a private instructor's (or department's) mindset about combining a performance concentration with an unrelated discipline. Tehy may see this as a distraction from the time and devotion required in a performance field. This can occur even if an institution supports dual pursuits.</p>
<p>You'll need to define music and what you need and expect.</p>
<p>Familiarize yourself with options, a BA vs BM, or even a minor in one or the other field.</p>
<p>Study degree requirements for each major in the undergrad handbook, with detailed course outlines and requirements. This will tell you far more than the degree overviews presented in the "prospective students" webpages.</p>
<p>Plenty of discussions on double majors and dual degrees at cc's music major forum <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/</a>, although I can't recall any IU specific threads.</p>
<p>IU offers either a B.S. in Music or BS in Music and Outside Field. OUtside field is about 27 credit hours so slightly less than a double major. I agree a science outside field would be very difficult for someone studying an instrument; difficult but not impossible for a ballet major. Most importantly you need to be well prepared for your audition and talk to your private instructor before auditioning. The Jacobs School is very selective.</p>
<p>Thanks again for your help! How many credit hours does a normal major require?</p>
<p>Well, what is a "normal" major? It will vary for a science, a liberal arts field, and applied technical field dramatically.</p>
<p>At 15 credits a semester, normally a full load, that's 30 a year @ 4years, for 120 credits.</p>
<p>How that is split between major/general/and elective credits is a function of both the major, and institution.</p>
<p>Son was a dual major, performance and music ed; the total degree requirements were in the high 140 range, and this was a designed as five year program.</p>
<p>Your best source is the degree requirements for EACH major found in an institution's undergrad handbook, normally found in a link off the school's academic webpages.</p>
<p>Alright, sounds good. Thanks!</p>
<p>So if a major is typically 120-150 credit hours (depending on the program), wouldn't that mean that IU's B.S. in Music and an Outside Field wouldn't really be close to a double major...just a small concentration, with 27 credits, but not really close to a double major. Is that right?</p>
<p>well actually, ViolaDad is referring to the total credits needed to graduate, not to major. For example, a major in English at IU is 30 hours, so 27 is not that far off. The difference is I believe you might have to fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences requirements in addition to the major requirements, but not sure. I think somewhere around 127-130 credit hours is the total number of hours required for School of Music at IU. In any case, right now I would concentrate on your training and getting ready for your audition. Butler and Depauw are other schools you should consider in Indiana as well for music.</p>