<p>Hi all</p>
<p>I am an active musician (Junior in High School) but not looking to major in music. Since starting my college search I have considered schools such as Lehigh and Cornell because of their strong engineering program and great arts departments as well. How does Yale stack up to other schools in it's music department? I am not so much interested in the prestige of a school as in the actual quality and the integration of academics and the arts. How many music groups does Yale have, what caliber are they, is it easy to excel in academics and be a musician, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry for the kinda specific question, but it's one of my biggest concerns :-)</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The caliber of music at Yale and in New Haven is incredible, for classical, jazz and other music. In particular, the city has a classical music scene that's larger than that of most of the largest cities in the U.S. combined. At the undergrad level, funding for student music groups is virtually unlimited, so there are literally dozens of them as a result, with 5-10 undergrad performances every weekend. There are many performance spaces.</p>
<p>As you may know, Yale has the best music conservatory in the country (arguably tied with Juilliard, although that's changed now that Yale has free tuition for all music students, as a result of a $100,000,000 gift last year to the music department). The conservatory has hundreds of concerts and grad performances per year, which are mostly free. Also, very talented students can get simultaneous BA's from Yale College and music diplomas from the music school. An enormous number of Yale College graduates go on to professional careers in music or music education.</p>
<p>With the big emphasis on music that you're describing, does that mean its viable for a prospective applicant to be "recruited" for music abilities, similarly to athletic recruitments? I know it isn't nearly on the same scale, but I've met with heads of music departments at other colleges and they've expressed interest, and while they all say they can't really bypass the admissions process like athletics can, would being a great musician add a lot to your credence at a school like Yale?</p>
<p>Also, this dual BA-program you speak of, is that a 4-year program or more?</p>
<p>Yes, it can add a lot to your admissions file if you submit a professional audition and/or even contact music school performance faculty. But remember, Yale has the world's best music conservatory, so getting into Yale to do a music diploma is extremely difficult -- even when compared with other good music schools in this country. The dual BA/MM can be a 4 year program. </p>
<p>For students who aren't already internationally renowned musicians, there is an undergraduate major with performance courses, that anyone can do, which is just as good (although it won't guarantee you a spot in a major world orchestra right when you graduate!).</p>
<p>Yeah, again I'm not all that concerned about the degrees offered because I don't intend to major in music. It's just really my favorite pastime and pretty much all the things I do now revolve around it so I want to make sure I can be an engineer/scientist and still stay involved in a high-caliber department.</p>
<p>Oh that's another thing, how easy is it to get into the groups if you're not a music major? I'd rather be in the jazz ensembles than orchestra and etc (I'm a drummer), but would there still be music majors given precedence over me for placement, or is it purely merit based?</p>
<p>It's purely merit based - most of the ensembles (and there are dozens of them) are made up of non-music majors. Actually the number of music majors at Yale is quite small, but a lot of people are very serious about music, and take many music classes, while majoring in something else. Even graduate students at Yale, in areas totally unrelated to music, take a few the music classes. That's the beauty of a place like Yale.</p>