So I am an admitted student to LSA and SMTD, planning to double major in astronomy and harp performance. I have gotten a bunch of emails inviting me to join the M-STEM program. Does anyone know or have personal experience about this? How is it like, is it worth it, etc.? We all know that how it seems on paper and how they sell is usually different from how it actually is. Since I am double majoring, would this be a bad idea due to the time commitment my music major would already have? I have also been invited to the Living Arts community and I am considering that one too.
@XxMU51CxX If you are talking about the M-Sci part of M-Stem that is a question I would liked answered also. We went to a info session yesterday in AA and the starting costs is 7K (The engineering side of M-Stem is free). We had lots of questions about the program and I just get the feeling we are not getting 100% of the info. I want to nail them down on the types of credits offered in the summer and how they relate to a degree. I believe my S was invited because he went to a small high school. He has a 4.0UW, 36 ACT, 2250 SAT, mult. AP 5’s and dual enrollment college credit A’s.
Yea it would be M-Sci. Wow I didn’t know there was an extra cost to this apart from the summer session. Considering they are barely giving me any money in the first place I guess that does it for me LOL
@XxMU51CxX Sorry for the confusion but that 7k is for tuition/room/board in the summer session. Everything involved in the program for 2 years other than your regular college costs is free.
Oh okay that clears it up! Do you know if being in this program is manageable/worth it if I’m a double majoring student with SMTD?
@XxMU51CxX - If you are seeking a BSci in astronomy and a BMusic in harp performance, you will be seeking dual degrees not “just” a double major. This in itself is doable but will likely take 4.5-5.5 years, depending on your AP credit. (My D is seeking dual degrees between CoE and SMTD. She did not do M-STEM.)
I am not that familiar with M-Sci but just reviewed the website. For the initial summer program, you won’t have music classes so you only need to determine if you will be able to fit in your desired amount of harp practice. I imagine the M-Sci folks can tell you how much free time you’ll have.
For the academic year, the website says: “You will conduct research in a faculty laboratory through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and participate in group scheduling with your M-Sci peers for your core courses, as well as specially-designed academic sessions. There will also be monthly group meetings to address topics relevant to M-Sci Scholars.” If you want to get both degrees in ~5 years, you will likely be taking a pretty heavy course load both semesters (~18 hours) and will have a lot of music courses that are time intensive. For example, if you are in one of the orchestras, it is 2 credits but you have six hours of rehearsal (plus your personal practice, of course). Logistics in scheduling classes will be a challenge with ensembles and labs (physics, etc). Sometimes My D can only find one feasible way to make her schedule work. Taking specific sections of core courses with your M-Sci peers may or may not be feasible. You will also need to fit in your UROP work along with your music lessons, rehearsals and practice.
Will the M-Sci academic coach serve as your freshman LSA advisor? If so, you might see if they can talk to you about some of the above issues and see if they have managed a dual degree student through M-Sci together with a SMTD advisor. My D has hugely benefited from the combined guidance of her CoE and SMTD advisors. The dual degrees will certainly complicate things, and I think talking to an M-Sci staff member would help you figure out if you can fit everything in.
BTW, my D is very busy but she loves it! Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for this dedicated reply! You make excellent points as being an insider, since your D goes to the actual school. I will call soon and ask if they know of any students in similar boats but I do see what you mean. I need to slow down lol and actually realize all the work that I would need to put into this, and that is apart from the rough adjustment period I will most likely go through. You also brought up something I did not think of at all, the practicing situation over the summer. This is something I really need to consult the school about.
If anything, I could still try to get some UROP (if possible) before I finish my bachelor’s but just do it at my pace and not just going all at it from the beginning, that will probably stress me out so much and fizzle out all my energy prematurely.