<p>Hi,
We're trying to expand our list of dual degree, double major etc, schools where music plus another major is welcomed. In reading previous posts, we've noted the schools listed, all are great, but also want to add to our list of schools to consider. Not just the more "name brand ones" Some one in another post mentioned "Illinois"? Which college is that, there are so many with Illinois in the name? Also, do any of the SUNY schools like SUNY Buffalo allow dual degrees/majors? We need really good academics for my DS age 15 soon to be a junior, he's musical but has really high GPA and tests well.</p>
<p>Another question: do any of the schools allowing/welcoming dual degrees give good merit aid? Thanks for any info or opinions.</p>
<p>Merit aid, particularly among the LACs, can be based upon straight academics, musical talent, or a combination of the two. It will depend alot on the specific program and school. </p>
<p>Academic aid for oos state students at another state's college/university system tends not to be as generous; merit (called talent) aid for music may or may not be as generous, and can very widely based on need for a particular instrument or other skill.</p>
<p>Illinois = University of Illinois
Indiana = Indiana University
Wisconsin = Usually, University of Wisconsin, Madison, but this part can vary.</p>
<p>That's OK. I'm a transplant to the Midwest and when I say I went to "Lafayette," they think I went to Purdue, which is in Lafayette, Indiana. They'll also call the University of Pennsylvania "UPenn" instead of "Penn," which is confounds me based on the local use of "Illinois."</p>
<p>Intersting how geography changes names...</p>
<p>Regardless, the University of Illinois does have dual degree programs and is a relatively decent music school. Most programs at the university are well respected, especially the school of engineering. Don't forget where HAL from 2001 was assembled and programmed...</p>
<p>The links are for the online searchable databases. I don't know how sophisticated or detailed the search criteria of each is, but you may try searching "dual degree" or "double major" across each database.</p>
<p>I've found that the having the physical paper copy in hand is always handy as a quick reference and broad overview as well. </p>
<p>I would highly recommend that anyone looking for or at schools and programs
pick up one or both. Barnes & Noble or Borders magazine racks would be the place to start.</p>
<p>Perhaps there are other instrument specific publications that provide a similar listing as well... it's just that I'm most familiar with these two.</p>
<p>Hello Bookcases,
double degree / dual major means different things at different schools, so you will need to look carefully and check the details. The Columbia-Julliard program, for example, is really a program that permits a student to complete a BA at Columbia and then enter as an MA student at Julliard, not really a "double degree" (and yes, very very competitive, as the student must be admitted to both Columbia AND Julliard AND THEN go through a separate review process at Julliard which allows only one or two students per year to do this)
Our experience was that generally schools that have both a liberal arts college and a conservatory are best suited from an administrative point of view for completing two degrees (U Mich, Oberlin, Northwestern, among others) Some that look as though they would be easy (Eastman-Rochester, Rice-Shepherd, Peabody-Hopkins) may not be easy to manage for other reasons, including objections by the music faculty, difficulty of the programs, and distance between campuses.
Bard is worth a look because ALL of the Conservatory students will be double degree students, so the entire school will (in theory) be helping to make it possible for students to pursue two degrees.</p>
<p>You said you've already got schools that have been listed on this site, so I'm probably not adding anything you don't already have.</p>
<p>Furman allows double major / double degree with BA, gives merit (music or academic).
Indiana U Bloomington allows double with BA, gives merit.
Emory allows double, or even triple, with BA.</p>
<p>All of those schools may also offer a double with performance degree, but it is harder because the performance degree is so time-consuming.</p>
<p>I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience with the new conservatory. Last we looked at Bard was 3 years ago with my D, when the conservatory was off on the horizon for the next year, and the school administrator seemed a bit confused over the curriculum. We visited the music department, the bulletin boards appeared bare with few, if any, concerts or recitals announced. We heard a lot of "next year..." and so on. Now, 3 years later, with my S poised to look at double degree progams, I'm curious how the conservatory has changed the music department over the years, and what the conservatory/ double degree program is like. Any recent Bard experiences out there?</p>
<p>We visited last fall -- underwhelmed by the lack of activity around the music department (at a variety of times of day, while school was in session), the empty practice rooms (located in a dreary basement) and the absence of any sign that the faculty listed in the catalog are actually there much of the time (no names on doors, for example); the admissions counselor said that the program had far fewer students than they had expected to have so far, that they tried to jump start the program and up the quality of the students by heavily recruiting from China, but that the students had language problems in the non-music part of the curriculum. So it has been a bit of a rocky start. But on the other hand, it is true that Leon Botstein is a conductor and they have a lovely new Gehry performance hall, and the listed faculty is impressive. Eventually they plan to build a conservatory building. They seem to do a bit of insider recruiting -- if you want to get on their radar screen, you could write directly to Robert Martin.</p>
<p>Thanks for that update. It appears very much unchanged in 3 years. Seems like the kind of place that if you went in excited about music, you'd have to remain entirely self-motivated or you might end up losing interest. Not sure it's for us at this time.</p>