Majoring in music and...

College Majors Music Major
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I’ve been studying the piano for 12 years, and I consider myself a strong musician. I compete frequently, play violin in an orchestra, sing in choir, and actively involve myself in all the music/musical theater programs at my school. I could never give up music in college. But I also don’t plan on focusing all my efforts into it either. I do well in school and earn A’s in all my classes and AP’s (english, calc, spanish) but I don’t feel a strong connection towards any specific area of study.

What do you guys recommend I pursue in college? And what universities have exceptional music programs for a pianist? I know I sound pretty wishy-washy with my interests, but I’m stumped! Thank you so much in advance :slight_smile:

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Accounting.

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You might want to read this essay and think about which student you most resemble. http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html This essay has been helpful to many students thinking about how to continue with music. And things can change in the next year, too.

You will have the choice of doing an academic BA or BS, doing music on the side with private lessons and performance on campus in extracurriculars, or off campus.

Or doing a major/minor, with music as a minor and a BA or BS in something else.

Or a double major, depending on the intensity of your other major and scheduling issues.

Or a double degree, with either a BA/BM or, at a couple of schools, a BA/MM. Oberlin, Lawrence and Bard are liberal arts schools with this option right on campus, among others. There are universities with music schools/conservatories that also offer this. NEC has programs with both Tufts (BM) and Harvard (MM).

Some BA programs have a performance component, some don’t, and some have auditions, some don’t.

A BA or BS in music has about 1/4-1/3 classes in music, including theory, music history, composition, ethnomusicology, technology and often some credit for lessons or performance.

If you go to a school with a music school or conservatory on campus, you might have fewer opportunities than students in the actual BM program: that varies and is something to look into. Not always.

A BM has about 2/3-3/4 classes in music with liberal arts gen eds.

It seems like you might want to either study something else and continue music privately or “on the side” (many talented students at, say, Ivies, do this and “on the side” by no means indicated that music is not a priority, and many go on in music or they go on to other fields but play in regional orchestras etc.)…OR do a double degree.

People will suggest particular schools with a little more information. Just trying to give you the lay of the land so to speak.

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To OP: My son and I have been dealing with pretty much the same situation as you except my son’s been playing violin for 12 years with piano on the side with many competitions, etc. Like you, he’s quite strong academically with no strong leaning towards any particular subject. Compmom along with others have been very helpful in sorting things out. The result of all the help we received is our plan to apply to: 1) several Ivy and liberal arts colleges with BS with Pre-Med concentration and college music participation in mind; and 2) BM degree programs at Northwester/Bienen, IU/Jacobs, Rice/Shepherd, etc. with possible double degree in mind. Because of my son’s dual interest in academic and violin performance, we felt that such universities with the integrated school of music built in would be ideal as opposed to those stand alone conservatories. Nevertheless, we do plan on 3) auditioning at NEC and perhaps Juilliard just to leave all options open (if merit amount, should he be accepted at either or both, and if any, is far superior to any others, then that could change the dynamics of our final decision-making).

Decision making isn’t easy. For instance, my son was more “definite” with our plan 1) just a few days ago. Currently, he’s open to all 3. By next fall, who knows? This is good, though, in my opinion. It’s allowing him to think things thoroughly and sort things out for himself with much soul searching. The point is there’s no formula to our dilemma. You might want to look at our own 1) - 3) options (plus other possible options of your own) and write down all pros and cons and see which option(s) would work best for you. Keep in mind, too, that discrepancies of financial package offers could come into play in your final decision, so do not narrow your options too tightly from the beginning.

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@TiggerDad - know that Rice actively discourages double degrees. He might be able to take his prereqs for med school as electives, but it’s unlikely he would be able to get a second degree there. Also, you always say BS, rather than BA. You’ll probably want to loosen up on that, as well, as some of the schools on your ultimate list may not even offer BS’s only BA’s. It won’t make any difference for med school.

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@SpiritManager - Thanks for pointing out regarding Rice. As for BS, which is of course my fault for failing to point out, is because when time comes to pick a major, my son is most likely to pick Biology or something closely related. It’s just being used loosely – obviously too loosely!!

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That Peabody link can be pretty helpful. Tiggerdad’s son is smart to keep a few options open until decision time, which can be April 30th after acceptances!

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It depends on what you needs in music are, you could do a dual degree (piano BM/BS or BA in something else), of you could do what a lot of kids do, they go to a school that they like that also offers music to kids who aren’t majoring in it. The ivy league and some of the elite LAC’s have strong music programs, yet they don’t offer performance degrees (BM) as such. The level of playing at schools with a school of music may be a problem, some of them don’t let non majors play with majors (for example, for piano, I was thinking chamber music, if they don’t let non majors play with majors, it could mean the level of playing may not be that good). Do you think you may want to pursue music someday as a career option, or do you simply love to play and want to keep playing (and there are always options, if you are good enough, to change your mind). It sounds to me from your post that you like music but don’t necessarily think you want to focus on it, so a conservatory or even a BM in a university music school may not be what you want. A BM requires a lot of theory and ear training and the like, and you may not want that…again, I think you should be thinking about what you are looking for. Dual degrees are in some ways a great “hedge” , in case music ends up not being your thing (for example, friend of mine went to IU, dual degree in performance and math, decided he wasn’t going to cut it, and finished his math degree, dropped the BM), but they have their own rigors, can take 5 years, and can be pretty intense, whereas playing music while pursuing a BA/BS in something else may work better for you.