Do any of these schools have good music departments, particularly for piano performance interest?
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WUSTL and CMU both have solid, but second-tier, music schools with decent performance. They’re definitely good programs, but not really top-tier conservatory level.
UChicago is completely different - there is no music school, but instead an entirely academic music department, which is one of the best in the country for what it is. That said, music performance is somewhat ad hoc (though there’s something of an established piano program, which you can google) and of mixed quality.
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How would you compare these to piano performance opportunities at Stanford, Princeton and UCLA? Just trying to see if there are any other strong academic schools (possible physics major, or double major with piano performance) that might be missing from the mostly completed college list for an exceptional student in both academics and piano performance.
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Piano performance at UCLA is in a separate college to which one has to be admitted - as the primary major. If not admitted as a performer, then admission to UCLA in general is denied. Opportunities for non music majors looking for piano lessons will probably be with grad students, I would imagine (but I could be wrong.) Princeton has at least one interesting piano faculty whom I’ve heard perform - and many students there commute to NYC for lessons. As they do from Yale. Both Princeton and Yale have strong undergrad ensembles. But, at Yale, performance is taught by grad students, except for the rare few. At Stanford one could commute to San Francisco for lessons at the conservatory. Same with UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley does have adjunct faculty available for private lessons. MIT has a surprisingly good music department, with a wonderful composition faculty - have you checked it out? And, again, private lessons would always be an option.
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Thanks for the information, @SpiritManager. Appreciate it.
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My D applied at WUStL and CMU and we noted a big difference (for winds, at least). At WUStL there was no auction required and the caliber of the orchestra reflected that they had a tough time filling it with music majors. In a sample lesson, my D was told they would love to have her, but she would probably be happier elsewhere where she could play in a better orchestra. CMU requires auditions, and prescreens for many instruments. We found the caliber of the ensembles there were much better. FYI for the OP, my D ended up at UMich and is pursuing double degrees in music performance and engineering.
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U Mich is on the list, for sure. Thanks for the feedback on the difference between WUSTL and CMU.
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Is your son considering a double degree, as opposed to a double major? I am sure you have read this before:
http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html
Since it was mentioned, Princeton has a performance certificate. http://www.princeton.edu/music/certificate-of-music/ and a double degree program with the Royal College of Music in London.
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This would be for a friend’s son, and he is considering a double major. I believe he knows about the certificate program, but I will share this info with him (as well as the peobody link, which he may have seen since JHU is on the list).
Thank you!
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You are a good friend!
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@SpiritManager, I would love to get the name of the interesting piano teacher at Princeton, please. Also, if you know of any student who has commuted to NY for lessons, I would love to communicate with her/him.
Thanks so much!
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@sbjdorlo Geoffrey Burleson teaches at Princeton. http://www.princeton.edu/music/people/display_person.xml?netid=mus_Burleson&display=All I’ve heard him in performance, and, I just remembered, he’s actually performed a piece by my son 
(Didn’t get to hear that performance, unfortunately.)
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How does one achieve a Music Performance and Engineering degree - doesn’t that take 5.5 years at least?
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Please recognize the difference between a music department and a school of music. Carnegie Mellon is the only one on that list with a school of music meaning a greater emphasis on music performance than those others.
Does your child aspire to be a musician, or simply continue playing (piano) in college?
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Double degrees take 5 years.
A music department generally gives a BA (1/4-1/3 music) and a music school generally gives a BM (2/3-3/4 music).
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and this just in:
UCLA will be the only UC with an independent SOM.
(I LOVE the new Evelyn and Mo Ostin music center.)
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@ClarinetDad16 - Double degrees between music performance and engineering are tough - academically, musically and logistically. Scheduling labs and rehearsals is challenging as they often conflict. How long it takes depends on AP credits, scheduling challenges, and how many credits a student can comfortably handle each semester. My D went in with a lot of AP credit. If she stays on her current track, she will complete both her degrees (BM and BS Engr) in 4.5 years. She’s only starting Sophomore year, so we will see!
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BTW- re UCLA-this will really throw off our generalizations on SOM’s, BA’s and BM’s ----since the performance degrees are still called BA’s yet they involve well over 2/3rds of music study.
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@musicamusica That is big news! I wonder exactly what it would mean, though. Would the degree become a BM instead of the current BA, and would there be any general ed requirements? And, if all the music departments are removed from UCLA will they be replaced with something else for the students there? I assume they’d still be on the campus of UCLA? Do you know more details?
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Very interesting about UCLA!
As far as my inquiry, the student in question is undecided about which path, music performance (or composition, a budding interest) or academics, or both. Academics would likely be in physics or some related area (math, perhaps).
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