Music and languages at UChicago.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>My D has fallen in love with University of Chicago. Everything she had read about it's being "intellectual campus", "nerdy place", "social climbers need to apply elsewhere" made her exclaim "wow, just the place for me!" </p>

<p>After visiting the campus (unfortunately, in summer, so there weren't much students or classes to sit in) she fell in love even more. She also loved their mail-spam. ;-) Therefore, so far, she has considered this place her first-choice school. </p>

<p>But now, the spring of her junior year, she actually started to think what exactly she'd like to study in college - and she wonders, what her opportunities would be in UChicago (compared to other places) in the area of her interests, which are, mostly, music and languages.</p>

<p>She plays piano and violin (with the emphasis on piano), passionate about music theory and choir singing and has an extensive experience in ensemble playing/singing (with the outstanding sight-reading and accompanist abilities). She is almost fluent in French and Russian and wants to continue polishing her skills, with the advanced grammar and literature studies. She also interested in studiing other Romance and Slavic languages, maybe classical languages or some "exotic" languages ... and, maybe, linguistics.</p>

<p>Generally, she wants to double-major in music and something language/linguistics-related, but still has no idea what exact configuration it would make, especially at such a special place as UChicago. </p>

<p>So far, we have heard (or read somewhere) that UChicago is(or was?) famous with its linguistics department and its graduate program in music theory; also, there is quite a variety of languages offered to study. We don't know how good or bad its Romance or Slavic departments are, how easy or difficult it is to arrange private instrument lessons there (and how good or bad the teachers are), to get into ensembles/orchestra/choir and what their respective quality is, what the performing opportunities there are, etc. </p>

<p>We do know, however, about the famous UChicago Core Curriculum and its demanding workload, so my D is concerned whether it would be possible at all to double-major (as well as to learn multiple languages) at such a place (that is, without losing your health and sanity).</p>

<p>So, I decided to post my request here of any information some of you might have on the subject. Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>Double majoring is fine, and a good number of students do it. It's not as if by double majoring she would be taking more classes (though she would probably opt for 3 rather than 4 a good part of the time, which is totally normal); she would just be taking them in more specific areas and have less room for electives.</p>

<p>There are a few excellent piano teachers at the U of C, and there is an organized piano program. Lessons by the top music faculty tend to be quite expensive. It doesn't sound as if she'd have any trouble getting into any musical groups. Auditions are held in the beginning of the year. </p>

<p>I'm not currently taking any languages, but I know a lot of people who do. They are supposed to be very good and quite tough, depending on the language. Language classes, particularly first year, are pretty time consuming. Add that with two instruments and musical groups, and she will definitely have her hands full. I've seen people do it before, though. </p>

<p>My only warning would be that she won't have very much room for electives with the core and two majors, so there won't be a lot of room for multiple new languages. This is generally true with most colleges. There are only so many classes you can take. </p>

<p>Right now at the end of junior year she shouldn't worry too much about the specifics of classes and activities at college. Interests change and shift in importance throughout high school and while beginning college. She sounds as if she'd do well at the U of C.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your reply, corranged. </p>

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<p>Are they on the regular faculty? Could they be found on UChicago web-site? And their names are ...? :-)</p>

<p>Where could we find more information on that specialized piano program?</p>

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<p>There are auditions for lesson stipends in the beginning of the year, but I do not believe the full cost is covered.</p>

<p>Piano program: <a href="http://music/?piano%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://music/?piano&lt;/a>
You can email the director of that program for more information. She also takes on some students.</p>

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<p>One thing that has occurred to me about studying languages at the U of C is that each quarter is the equivalent of a semester at schools on the semester system (at least, that's my understanding). Theoretically, this means that taking four years of a language would be equivalent to six years at a school with semesters.</p>

<p>As for the number of languages, there are few places on earth where one can learn Hittite, Akkadian, and Sumerian. The UofC is one of them.</p>

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<p>My brother currently goes there and is probably going to major in Linguistics. He is focused on Slavic languages, actually, and loves everything. He is currently a second-year and could have finished all the requirements in the core curriculum but he chose to take an elective course so he still has one core class he must take junior or senior year. This is all just going three quarters- no summer courses (though he did spend last summer abroad). I assume if there are two years where you can choose whatever you want, your daughter shouldn't have too much trouble double majoring- I'm guessing it'll obviously be tough, but she'll have about two years to do anything. As to how good music and linguistics are- UChicago is top-notch in everything, basically :-)</p>

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<p>Myau
here is a listing of the rankings of Chicago's programs taken from another CC thread:Notice Music Theory and Linguistics-</p>

<p>Anthropology #1
Art History #10
Astronomy #5
Chemistry #9
Classics #7
Comparative Lit #12
Ecology/Evolution #1
Economics #1
English #10
French #16
Geology #7
History #8
Linguistics #6
Mathematics #5
Molecular Biology #11
Music Theory #2
Organismal Biology #11
Philosophy #11
Physics #7
Political Science #6
Psychology #18
Religion #1
Sociology #1
Statistics #4</p>

<p>These NRC rankings are over 10 years old, and the replacement is due this year
I'm not sure about what corranged says re: music lessons. I remember asking someone in the Music dept. LY about who teaches Piano Lessons, and was told that U of C professors don't teach privately[?], but the music dept has a list of private teachers in the area that they recommend. I would advice you call and specifically ask someone in the Music dept about private lessons, and stipends [ which I doubt they offer]. Remember, Chicago, does not have a Music Performance Major, or offer a Bachelor of Music degree, so it is different from Oberlin, Northwestern, Peabody and other music conservatories. All U of C students are required to take the Core, which takes almost 2 years to complete. IMHO, I think it is the perfect school for a highly academic student who wants to continue to perform, which the Music depts highly encourages, as well as get a superb liberal arts education.</p>

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<p>The director of the Piano Program I am positive takes on a limited number of talented students. I do not know about other people associated with the department, though I'm pretty sure I've heard of one other teaching lessons.</p>

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<p>good to know! thanks!</p>

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<p>Thanks for posting the information. I had been wondering about their music program as well and this helped.</p>