Bonjour,
my son (nationalities swiss, german and French) is finishing his A-levels in Switzerland. He is an excellent cello player, plays in the second best youth symphonic orchester of the country and already played with the Youth Symphony orchester of San Diego. His grades at school are not good enough, we suppose, to enter one of the best American universities. He would llike to major in something like business and have music as minor (or eventually second major) in a good university, not too big. My son has a friend who was recently offered a scholarship in a good US-catholic university mostly because of his skills in playing rugby. Do you think there are also universities that would be interested in having a really excellent orchester musician and will take him although his school grades are not extremely good? His major could be also languages as he is 100% bilingual french and german. He is also quite competent in English (100 points TOEFL). Thanks for your answer! Merci!
Where in the US would he like to study?
Personally, without a lot of information on his academics, I would say he should at least try to apply to some really good schools, including selective ones. Some of the best schools are “holistic” in admissions and the talent in music, and language abilities, and the overall picture, may be very appealing to many colleges/universities.
However his interest in majoring in business may be limiting in terms of choices. Why does he want to do that? Some schools have economics as a major in preparation for the MBA later. Or is he interested in accounting?
He could enter a BM or BA program for music and do internships in music organizations or other non-profits if that helps on the job front.
He can also major in anything at all and continue to take private lessons and perform (extracurricular).
Hi @compmom ,
thank you very much for your answer concerning my project!
I understood that your ecouraging my to try to get into a really good school because of my rather high competences in both music and languages. That’s very positif, thanks.
However I am surprised of your sentences “his interest in majoring in business may be limiting in terms do choices”. What exactly do you mean? Do you mean it would be easier to get into a good school with any kind of major (instead of just focusing on economics)?
I am very interested in economics and could imagine to do a double major in economics and music. I wouldn’t want to study only music because I think there are less jobs opportunities in music than in business (I could anyway later then maybe mix my business and music knowledges to work in the music industry for example). I don’t see myself studying music but I’d like to use my competences in that field to enter a good american university.
Thanks in advance,
Laurent (the son) from tiny Switzerland
Dear @musicamusica
I don’t have any regional preference. What I would like is to get into a really good school using my special competances in music (lots of experiences symphony orchestra, Cello). Are there some good schools which give a big value on having a top orchestra musicians? I mean schools that will take me in their economics bachelor because they are interested on having me in their orchestra although my general school scores are not excelent.
As mentioned before I don’t want to study only music but rather economics in the first place.
The user Compmom told me that I could also use my bilingual language skills too to enter a really good school. Would you know a school that would be interested in both?
Best regards,
Laurent (son) from Switzerland
Hi Laurent-- here in the US, business and economics are different majors. Economics is more of an academic discipline; business is more of a vocational (in the higher sense–finance, marketing, accounting, etc.) For example, in my university there is a very prestigious school of business (Wharton) but if you study economics, you’d be in the school of arts & sciences, where you could also major in music. It is possible to double major between the business school and the arts & sciences school, but fewer are able to accomplish this. You should definitely know which you want to study-- economics or business --before applying to US schools.
To answer your question about whether top schools would value your cello competence…the answer is that it may not be special as you are hoping. If you are speaking of the Ivies or the near-Ivies, you’ll soon find that many applicants are highly trained classical musicians. It’s certainly a bit of an advantage, especially at a school like Princeton, for example, because they have a great music program. You’ll absolutely need stellar grades and scores to back up your application. As for being bilingual. Yes, that is an advantage, too, but top US schools have many highly qualified international applicants, all of them at least bilingual. US schools like international applications (not to be cynical) because they pay full tuition. So you will not be without highly qualified competition.
As for “which schools” would be interested–I think you are taking the wrong approach. All school are interested in a bilingual cellist with an excellent academic record who is willing to pay full tuition. The better question is, which schools interest you? You will need to sell colleges and universities on the idea that you want to attend them, so you need to come up with a list of schools you can say you truly want to attend, with reasons why.
PS I just noticed that your scores are not excellent. I’d say that knocks out the Ivies. You might want to look up colleges in the US that do not require standardized testing. There are many good colleges and some universities that no longer require SATs and ACTs. An example is Bard College in the Hudson Valley, near New York. Bard has a great conservatory and you could get a double degree in economics (but not business) and cello performance.
I don’t know how bad your scores are, but NYU is often an option for bright students who are not quite showing scores and grades of the caliber for Ivies. It’s a very large school in a vibrant city.
So there is are a couple ideas–but there are hundreds of schools that will fit your criteria.
Dear @glassharmonica ,
thanks a lot for your very helpful comments!
Thank you for pointing out the difference between economics and business studies - in Europe we don’t have those two themes apart from each other. What I’d be interested in is business studies. Economics is very theorical as far as I understand, right?
I am not aiming going into the Ivies. Just a good university offering a business major and possibly do a minor in music. I don’t necessary need to do a minor in music - just get into a good university partely because of their interest in having a good musician for their orchestra.
I dont’ know if that kind of schools exists but I would be looking for a university with a business school without a big music departement for music studies. But this university attaches a great value having a high quality symphony orchestra like some schools are interested in having a very good football team. Do you understand what I mean? (it’s hard for me to express this in english…).
I wouldn’t consider my grades as bad but the swiss school system is very elitist and therefore it’s kinda hard to achiev top scores and grades here. (for your interest: only 20% of a age class get the swiss high school diploma whose value is much higher than the american diploma). The problem is that noone knows this overseas like in the U.S. so it’s pretty difficult for swiss students to compete internationally. But as you truely underline we have a joker… that is money so the swiss can pay full tuition as you said. 
You said I should first look for a university I’d like to attend - the problem is that looking at the U.S. university scene from Europe is like looking for a small ant in a jungle; it’s a huge task.
Therefore thanks a lot for the names of the two schools you mentioned!! I will closely look at their program.
Have a nice day, Franklin! :))
I understand what you mean-- a school without a large music program that happens to need a cello for their orchestra. Although a school such as that may exist, you’d need deep insider knowledge to figure that one out.
Since you don’t have a regional bias, I recommend Temple University’s Fox School of Business. You can become engaged in the music scene at Temple (they have a decent conservatory) and in Philadelphia in general. There are many other schools that might be good–this is just one.
But tell us-- do you prefer an urban environment in a bustling big city, or something rural, or in between?
Thank you @glassharmonica !
I will have a look at the Temple University’s Fox School of Business.
Concerning the environment of the university I don’t have any preference.
Thanks again,
Laurent
A university came to mind that I’m sure you’ve never thought of - but a poster on here had a daughter who attended and was especially welcomed because she was a musician, even though she wasn’t planning to major in music. It’s not on the coast (despite its name) - it’s in Ohio, and it has a recognized business school. It might very well be exactly the kind of place you’re looking for. http://miamioh.edu/fsb/about/index.html Miami University of Ohio.
“For Fall 2014, the middle 50% of students gaining direct entry into the FSB held an ACT Composite Score of 27-31 and/or a SAT (C+M) score of 1210-1360. In addition, the middle 50% held a GPA of 3.68-4.09 (on a 4.0 scale) and a class rank of top 6% to 23%. Twenty-five percent of the students offered direct admission had an academic profile that exceeded these ranges and 25% had a profile that fell below. The academic qualifications required for admission are wholly dependent on the strength of the applicant pool, and we encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds.”
Dear @SpiritManager thank you very much for the link to the Miami University of Ohio! I’ll have a precise look at this school - looks interesting!
Laurent from Zurich
Here’s another school with a top ranked business program which might give you a boost because of your musical skills: http://www.scu.edu/business/undergraduates/ Santa Clara University is located in Silicon Valley in California. Again, there is a regular poster on CC whose daughter attended SCU and performed in the orchestra…
Thanks again for the link - you are very helpful!
What about depauw? They give scholarships that last 5 years for a double major in music and something else. And if you are a good cellist, you could get a lot of merit. You would get the best of both worlds. I don’t know anything about their business program. Can anyone speak to that? Their music department is nurturing and helpful and are interested in your success.
I still can’t believe you don’t care about location. Do you like to live in a city? Are you more of a countryside person? Do you enjoy hiking? What do you do in your spare time?
Dear @cellomom6 this sounds really good! This could be exactly what I’d need!
Thank you very much!
You know @glassharmonica, the best for me is to be with other students on a campus and to live a typical american campus life. We European don’t really know which place would be nicer to go or not. Every place in the U.S. is interesting for us.
Oh. I doubt it.lol.
petipois, don’t be afraid to get creative with college curriculum.
Your child could get a BA in economics and minor in business management, or he could get a BSBM (Bachelor of Science in Business Administration) with a minor in music or a minor in music entrapanureship, or he could opt for a performance certificate (not many colleges offer these but some do) which is more or less like having minor in music performance but without having to take the standard music theory/history classes. There’s tons of combinations and options, just find whatever fits both. I wouldn’t suggest a double major in music and anything else, unless they were both BA degrees, most BS degrees and the Bachelor of Music are are way too concentrated in the major classes and have very few elective opportunities which can be used for the second degree. It may be possible for him to double major with a BA in Music, a BA in economics and a minor in business administration.
And some colleges may offer a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in a specific business field, like economics, finance, managment, or marketing. These degrees are usually so concentrated that they don’t allow for a minor within the normal time frame, but he could still do a minor, it would just take an extra semester of college.