<p>I will for sure major in piano performance under the BM degree program. I am going to double major, and I want that second major to be History under the BA program, and then also minor in political science. Also, I want to study abroad for a semester and do the Washington Semester program too, and maybe work on campus also. I will have about a year's worth of AP credits...does this sound impossible to do in 4 years? I'm thinking it will take me 4.5-5 years...how's that sound?</p>
<p>Hmm. Sounds like the double major by itself might be doable in 5 years. It’d be easier if you were aiming for a BFA in music instead of a BM, but it’s possible nonetheless if you’re highly dedicated to both. That minor might be a problem though, time-wise. Is there a strong overlap in history and political science class requirements? </p>
<p>I’d say that if you want to graduate in 5 years or less, you should probably choose either a major-minor or major-major combo and ditch the major-major-minor, but I could be wrong. </p>
<p>Also, what school(s) are you considering for this combo? What grade are you in now?</p>
<p>A lot depends on the school and on the student. Some schools make it much easier to obtain a double degree than others. You would have to find out from the school itself whether they support this option and, if so, what the requirements are.</p>
<p>Also, some music schools allow you to attend another school for a semester or two and some do not because they don’t want you going to an unknown piano teacher who may have different ideas about technique than the one you study with the rest of the time. That is another thing you would need to find out at each individual school.</p>
<p>Two majors, a minor, a year at different schools and working while doing all of that sounds very ambitious. I do not think it would be possible at most schools for most students in four years, even when going in with lots of AP credit. Music schools rarely accept AP credit for anything in their curriculum other than free electives. Someone taking two majors and a minor is probably going to have very few free electives, so the AP classes would mostly be applicable to core courses in the non-music degree. Four-and-a-half or even five years would be ambitious for all of that.</p>
<p>This would be best to discuss with admissions staff or one of the academic advisers at each of the schools that accepts you. They will have a much better idea of what is possible given the degree requirements, the class schedules and the previous history (or lack thereof) of others attempting to carry that much of a load.</p>
<p>I think that it is certainly possible, but maybe not the smartest route. </p>
<p>I spent a lot of time looking into the possibility of my son doing that, but after reading just about everything that I could find, including the college catalogs of several colleges and studying the course requirements of different majors, and I concluded that a double major for a BM would require more time than simply getting a masters degree in the second field of study. A second major will usually take a minimum of 44 (up to as many as 90 depending on the major) credit hours, a Masters usually only takes 30-36 credit hours (assuming that your undergrad degree included any prerequisits). Why spend a year and a half+++ on a second bachelors degree when you could get a masters in the same amount of time or less. </p>
<p>As for the minor, it’s pretty much the same situation. Minors typically take 15-27 credit hours (I looked some up) which translates to one or two semesters of college. That time may very well be better spent on a masters, unless the minor is in the same subject as the masters and serves to fulfill the prerequisits of the masters program.</p>
<p>Besides that, some colleges simply will not allow it.</p>
<p>As Bassdad suggested, it may be a lot more doable in a BA Music program than a BM. If you have interest other than music performance, and don’t expect to be a music performer, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go through such an intense program as a BM in performance. The BA in music will give you a lot broader education and will allow you to take more classes of your choosing than a BM.</p>
<p>If you insist on multible degrees, then you need to spend some time looking into whether your college will allow “double dip” coursework. Many will not allow it, but sometimes you can find one class that will satisfy multiple requirements. I once took a course in international economics that satisfied both an international studies requirment and an economics requirement. If you want a degree in music and history, then you could look for classes like music history that are required for the music degree but also satisfy a history requirement for the history degree. A class studying George Washington may satisfy a history and a poli science requirement. </p>
<p>With some careful planning (years in advance), utilizing your ap credits and any electives very wisely, and double dipping some classes in the bachelors program and both masters, it may be possible to get a Bachelors and two masters, all in different subjects in 6 years, but I am not real sure that you could economically justify it. I dont think that too many employers would pay someone with two masters any more than they would someone with one masters.</p>
<p>I also don’t think that you could get a masters in music performance without having a bachelors in music first, so the music degree would most likely have to come first.</p>
<p>Colleges- Illinois Wesleyan University or Concordia College…right now, I’m thinking IWU. I’m a senior and have applied and auditioned. Accepted at IWU and waiting for others yet to come in the mail! I’ve check with them- my AP credits will take care of gen ed requirements, and some music major requirements will take care of a gen ed thing too, and a couple classes from the history major and poli sci minor will take care of 2 more gen ed requirements. Yes, they’ve said a double degree is possible, and music majors can do the study abroad semester, etc. No overlap btwn poli sci and history course requirements unfortunately. I want to have the double major, and will for sure go to grad school for music after, but probably not do grad school for the history/poli sci thing. The history major at either school I’m considering is around 40 credits and the poli sci minor is around 20 credits.</p>
<p>Since you are down to two colleges, I would suggest that you get their catalogs and also see if you can find class schedules online. Go through the catalogs to figure out all the courses you would need for what you want to do. Then figure out what order you have to take them in, and in which semester. Once you have done that, use the schedule to get an idea of how many sections of each course are available and whether it may be possible to avoid time conflicts. Note that there is no guarantee that the schedule will not change. If there are several classes that you need that have one section every fourth semester and those meet at the same time as other required courses, then you may have a problem. </p>
<p>When doing two degrees, particularly with a possible minor, a year at a different school and some work-study thrown in, it is absolutely essential to have a curriculum planned for all four or five years right from the start. This will generally have to be modified as you go along because you may not be able to take classes that you need in the semester you want to take them. You will also need to check on how many credit hours the school will allow you to take in a semester. Some have limits as low as 15 (this could be as few as four classes with a primary applied music lesson and possibly some languages or science courses with labs thrown in), sometimes you have to get approval from your adviser or a dean to take above a certain number of credit hours, and sometimes you have to pay extra tuition once you get above a certain number of credit hours.</p>
<p>And even with careful mapping, things can change. Courses get cut, or scheduled in different time slots. If you end up at a program that offers evening classes, seriously consider scheduling some of your general ed courses in these slots if possible. These often will meet only once or twice a week. May make for one or two long days, but can do wonders keeping some options open during the day for those courses you simply must have, and are available on a limited basis.</p>
<p>I haven’t checked the schedules online for these 2 colleges, but I have gone through the catalogs already and figured out what I need to take each semester. I have to take the maximum allowed each semester pretty much to finish in 4 years, and if I take slightly less than that max, but more than average, then I can finish in 4.5-5 years, depending on the college and allowing for courses not always being offered at the right time. Yes, I’m planning to plan out my whole 4-5 year schedule right away freshman year, based on what I have already figured out. I’ll have my advisor go through it with me and help finalize it. At Concordia, I’d have to pay extra per credit, and at IWU, there are some extra credits allowed in the normal tuition already for a music major, so the only extra I’d have to pay there would be the extra semester or extra year, and the unfortunate thing is that my scholarship only covers 4 years, so the extra semester or full extra year would be all at my own cost, there and at Concordia too. I don’t think either of these colleges offer much for evening classes, but Concordia would have summer classes that I could do, which I’m sure I’ll have to!</p>
<p>I’m currently declared as a double major. BM - Violin Performance and BA - Business Leadership Program. I’m at a liberal arts school which means I also have a bunch of core requirements. The nice thing was that I came in with some AP credit which actually took care of some of my business requirements. However, it’s really stressful and I’m actually dropping my business major at the end of the semester. </p>
<p>I tested out of aural skills 3 semesters which allowed me to take more academic classes. Freshman year was definitely doable but sophomore year has been quite awful. I’ve had to cut a lot of corners and scheduling is really difficult because classes often overlap and there aren’t always multiple sections of those classes. At my school, sophomore year is when the music history classes start and theory also becomes more difficult. This year, my upper level business classes also started. I’m also in the honors business program so I have to do internships, work, and attend seminars outside of class. I work pretty efficiently and quickly but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Between ensemble rehearsals, school work, classes, business seminars, and work, it’s almost impossible to find time to practice. I guess I’m also trying to fit the double major into four years because my scholarships only last that long, but either way, it’s very difficult. While doing the BA in music and another major is more doable, it’s still not the best idea. That’s my two cents anyway.</p>
<p>My D dropped her double degree plan because the core requirements for the second degree were going to eliminate any “exploring” that she was hoping to do in college. That is, she had courses she wanted to take in such random subjects as astronomy, field botany, ballroom dancing, Chinese, and speech pathology. To her, the exploration was more important than getting a degree in a language she was already fluent in (German).</p>
<p>She had a four-year plan mapped out, but unfortunately, some courses overlapped (one required German course was ALWAYS scheduled at the same time as violin studio) and other courses were only offered every other year, or whatever. </p>
<p>She’s now graduating with two minors, and is much happier. </p>
<p>Adding a 5th year would have made it easier, but we couldn’t afford that. Like Imagep, we decided it made more sense for her to get a second degree in grad school if she wanted one.</p>
<p>I suspect you may be trying to hedge your bets - you love piano, but are afraid you won’t make a living at it, so also want to add a marketable degree. I feel for you; music is scary business. Perhaps you should go ahead with the plan, but understand that along the way, you may need to modify it. Lots of students change majors along the way.</p>
<p>To gyoun09: Well, I’d be willing to take 5 years to do it instead and also take May Term classes. My parents have agreed to pay for the 5th year if necessary, even though my scholarship too only covers 4 years. What liberal arts college are you at? The two I’m considering are also liberal arts- Concordia College in Moorhead MN and Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington IL, and I think I’m going to IWU. I’ll have core requirements/gen ed too, but will have AP credits in Math, Lit, History (2 classes- APUSH and AP Euro), Government/Political Science, Psychology, and Spanish, and will take a music theory placement test also. </p>
<p>thanks for your opinion though!</p>
<p>to binx: yes, my parents want me to have a second major to fall back on in case music doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>I’m at the University of Puget Sound. The double major would also be easier for me if my school allowed AP Credits to fulfill core requirements. Unfortunately, they only allow me to take those classes at the higher level. I think I only had to take one summer class the way I mapped it out. Summer classes stink though because it often conflicts with summer festival opportunities. </p>
<p>My parents were the same way with having me do an extra major. They didn’t want me to do music so the condition on which I could apply for music schools was that I had to get into a double degree program. I thought I was really into business. I find it interesting, I really love the program I’m in, and I’ve been fairly successful. However, I’m realizing now that I convinced myself that I wanted to pursue a business degree. What I really wanted to do was music and I only told myself that I wanted to get a business degree because that’s what my parents wanted. </p>
<p>If you really do want the double degree then go for it. Personally though, my experience at college would have been much more pleasant if I had just gone with the music major.</p>
<p>^We did approximately the same analysis with my son, who is a sophomore in a dual-degree environment. At this point, he intends to drop his second degree (although he loves the field) because scheduling and finances do not make it practical or in his estimation, survivable 
He’s elected instead to pursue his cognate field at the masters level. It will take two years longer, (replacing the extra 5th year with a 3 yr MFA) but an MFA is a terminal degree and qualifies one to teach at the post-secondary level.</p>
<p>However, other students at his SOM do dual degree and double major, so I suppose it depends on the discipline itself.</p>
<p>Ok, the difference would be that I can use AP credits to take care of gen ed requirements, or at least some of them. My parents don’t care about the 5th year- if it takes that, they’ll pay for it. They don’t want me to take too much at a time and not be able to do it and not have “a life” as they call it.</p>
<p>to kmcmom13 What college does your son go to for the dual degree thing?</p>
<p>I’ve been told at both of the schools I’d still be considering that it’s definitely very difficult but still doable with good planning and lots of work. They have some other students doing that now, so I would think it would be possible…</p>
<p>^My son attends the University of Michigan SOM. They’re very supportive of students who want to dual degree but are very up front about what a challenge it can be. Typically, AP credits only count for electives, not replacing gen eds due to the rigor etc. In the case of UMich, to dual degree in something like history (they have awesome history and polysci departments btw) you would need to apply to BOTH schools and be accepted to each. I know you’re already accepted and selecting different options, but give you this info in the event that you were asking to share with others. Cheers!</p>
<p>Ok, thanks. I am glad that some of my AP credits would count for gen eds. Actually at IWU, they allow a max of 4 APs to count for gen ed, but then some classes in each of the music and history majors are allowed to double count for gen ed requirements. </p>
<p>I actually have U of Michigan on my list of music grad schools, so that’s interesting that your son goes there now. I just want to go to a smaller school for undergrad, and then a larger university for grad school later.</p>
<p>iluvpiano </p>
<p>Most of your questions can be easily answered on your own if you do some basic research in advance of posting your questions. Pls try to collect what commonly available info is already out there and it will help you better phrase your questions and help you to become more mature as a person. </p>
<p>Thx and wish you the best !</p>
<p>No, we welcome questions of all kinds. Only stupid questions are the ones not asked. Mark of maturity to risk scorn by asking questions.</p>
<p>In fact, most of us get to CC by attempting research of one kind or another. For me, it was what to wear to auditions. (7 years ago!)</p>
<p>Agree with Binx that asking questions is a sign of maturity. As a parent going through the college application process for the third time, I admire you for taking the initiative to get advice from others with first-hand experience. Good luck to you.</p>