<p>Note: I'm putting this in both music and science major forums.</p>
<p>I am really interested in neuroscience, and don't want to give up music when I get to college. I'm thinking about double majoring.
Know any colleges that will support me in my neuromusical endeavors?</p>
<p>I'm looking for a place that will allow me to do both, but not invest too much time in one area while neglecting to explore the other. I saw that Northwestern has a combined program with their music school and CAS, but sadly, Northwestern doesn't offer a neuroscience degree (although i did hear about a choose-your-own-major system at Northwestern). If I could see the average GPA's of the neuroscience majors at the specific school that any of you CC'ers suggest I would be overwhelmed with happiness and ecstasy.</p>
<p>Also, I would like to know the difficulty of the chemistry (gen. and orgo) at the schools that may be suggested in this thread. (I'm going to be a pre med so, naturally, my GPA is as vital to as is my heart)</p>
<p>What area of music are you interested in? A BA with general music major (academic music, meaning theory, history, composition, musicology) or a BM in performance (instrument, voice, composing?) or maybe a BA with some performance aspect?</p>
<p>You might want to look at Tufts, which has a double degree program (BA/BM) with New England Conservatory, and does have neuroscience (and a medical school), and an excellent music department itself. University of Pennsylvania students sometimes study with teachers at Curtis. Johns Hopkins sounds like a good suggestion. Amherst college has neuroscience and a good music department. Brandeis, Rice, Duke. Carleton has a neuroscience program. Allegheny, Pomona, Brandeis, Cornell, Brown, Muhlenberg, Williams, Smith and Wellesley (both women’s schools). Many others.</p>
<p>Why do you want to be a doctor? Many students want to be a doctor during high school, and change their minds. Sometimes this goal reflects very real, long-lasting motivation and other times it seems to reflect a desire for security, or even a lack of knowledge about other, less well-defined, options. Make sure that the neuroscience program is good preparation for med school, or be prepared to do prerequisites post-grad. Some neuroscience programs fall under psychology, others have full bio, chem etc.</p>
<p>And here are some google results: <a href=“Google”>Google;
<p>Depending on what you want to do in music, you can always study privately, and participate in ensembles outside of school or as an extracurricular. And you can study music as an academic subject almost anywhere.</p>
<p>woodwinds- thanks for the suggestion. Do you know the quality of life at Johns Hopkins? I heard some mixed reviews, but it obviously seems like a good place for pre med. </p>
<p>compmom- Again, thanks for the reply. I genuinely do want to become a doctor, but I don’t want to digress, so you’ll have to trust me haha. In short, I like medicine because one gets the best of both worlds- being exposed to science everyday and helping/interacting with all kinds of people. I’m taking pre med reqs in high school to make room in college (that’s why I asked about chemistry- I’ll be done with everything else.) I want to do neuroscience with a physics concentration, so maybe it should be best to ask which college is best for neuroscience+physics/music. </p>
<p>As far as area of study in music goes, I want to do music theory or jazz composition. Will this narrow down the number of schools? It seems that most good schools also have a decent music program, so do you suggest not to make any decisions until I visit colleges?</p>
<p>To tag on to what compmom said, about becoming a doctor. Be warned that medicine is changing rapidly. So think carefully about what aspect of being a doctor appeals to you. If you are interested in being a clinician then you might consider becoming a nurse practitioner or physical therapist or dentist. But if you are interested in research then maybe a degree in public health or a PhD in Biophysics is more appropriate. I would talk to young doctors who are practicing today about what they like and dislike about their profession to help sort out if that is a path you want to pursue. Why? Because being pre-med can dictate a lot of your curriculum and it might mean that you would have to pass on courses that might be more useful to you depending on what your goals are. </p>
<p>I personally would not obsess over GPAs. For one thing Organic chemistry, physics and many of the other basic courses that one is required to take for graduate school are the same whether you take it the course at Harvard or you take it at a less known college. What is important is to figure out how you learn best and what learning environment will help you to excel and pursue your passions and your interests. Do you do better with frequent assessments? Do you do better with more interaction with the professor? Small versus large? Do you learn best when you hear the material, see the material, experience the material, or all three? Look for a school that matches how you learn. Try to avoid getting caught up in the “big-name” appeal. Think about personalities of faculty as well. My father is a professor and he says one of the most important things for an undergraduate interested in pursuing graduate level research to do is to get research experience. Talk to faculty and see if there is one university/college where you could see working with the neuroscience department as an undergraduate. </p>
<p>Finally we know a young man who went to McGill to study Neuroscience and Music. They have a lot of research going on in that area. But he left and went to Emerson to do sound engineering and design.</p>
<p>I have gone through the process of questioning if I really wanted to do medicine and have explored other careers, but I cannot picture myself doing anything other than medicine. I love science, problem solving, and helping people. </p>
<p>That’s a really good idea of finding which place is the best environmet for me rather than looking at the average gpa. In fact, I’ll go do some googling and find that out right now. </p>
<p>I can see why someone would want to go to McGill, isn’t Daniel Levitin a professr there? He wrote This is Your Brain on Music- pretty good read.</p>
<p>I hope that, at your age, you will stay at least a little open to other possibilities. Staclip’s story about the student interested in neuroscience and medicine, who then changed to sound engineering and design, is not at all unusual. If that student had stayed attached to the idea of medicine, he or she might have missed out on a path that must be fulfilling.</p>
<p>I want to add the relatively new field of physician’s assistant to the list of clinical caregivers. Well paid, respected, and students can study practice in graduate programs after any major as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Finally, combining neuroscience and music would be nearly impossible in a 4 year program, unless in a curriculum tailored to that specific combination (perhaps McGill has that). A music major’s sequence of courses is rigorous and sequential. Theory is often a two year sequence and is quite time-consuming, with piano, ear-training/musicianship often included.</p>
<p>You could look into double degree programs and get a BA/BS and BM perhaps. Or, as I said, you can do music as an extracurricular, take a few classes in it, do lessons, or do music entirely outside of school. Oberlin or Bard, for instance.</p>
<p>You could also look at schools like Bennington or Hampshire, where you can do interdisciplinary work and design your own plan or major, working more independently. But I don’t think that you would be interested in that somehow. Larger universities would have more research opportunities.</p>
<p>USC Thornton is a great place for such double majors (they do everything in their power to help you double major or minor), although be aware this may take more than 4 years.</p>
<p>Compmom, I am looking into dual degree programs (4-5yr programs). That’s why I started this thread; I’m looking for a well rounded school that hosts a decent sciece and music dept. We kind of digressed with the whole, “do you really want to become a doctor” thing. So, I shall ask again: any more suggestions for schools with dual degree music programs that also offer a neuroscience major?</p>
<p>No, you originally posted about a double major, not a double degree. There is a difference. I tried to tell you that a double major in music and neuroscience probably would not be possible, and a double degree would take 5 years. Read up on the difference between a double major and a double degree before continuing, perhaps. This might help:
[Peabody</a> Institute - Conservatory Admissions: The Double Degree Dilemma](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree]Peabody”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree)</p>
<p>Ah, my mistake. Sorry about that; I meant that I would like to be in a program like Northwestern, which is a double degree, not major, program. Do you think that despite adding an extra year to college, one would be extremely time constrained? How hard would it be to maintain a 3.8+ gpa?</p>
<p>USC Research Resources
USC houses a number of institutes and centers that focus on various aspects of Neuroscience. New centers are constantly being developed to keep pace with cutting-edge technologies. Check out the links below for a sampling of our research resources.</p>
<pre><code>Broad Institute for Integrative Biology and Stem Cell Research
Center for Vision Science and Technology
Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center
House Ear Institute
Neurobiology Section
Program in Hearing & Communication Neuroscience
Brain and Creativity Institute
Andrus Gerontology Center
Zilkha Neurogenetics Institute
Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Engineering Research Center
</code></pre>
<p>In addition, USC strongly encourages students to double major or major and minor in diverse fields of study . They have a program- the Renaissance Scholars Program- that awards hi achieving graduates with scholarships for post graduate study. </p>
<p>The students my daughter knows at Peabody are all saxophonists, and they are all very happy there. The student we know who double majored in music performance and neuroscience completed both in four years. I believe he had a physics emphasis. He decided after getting his degree to go into music, and is currently working on his masters at Peabody. We don’t know anyone who is studying music theory as their emphasis. For that, I would suggest Eastman/Rochester.</p>
<p>Just to add, another daughter of mine studied neuroscience at USC. You can definitely de-emphasize the hard-core science in that major if you want to.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t discount a double major at a LAC. Several schools with good neuroscience and music programs have already been mentioned (Amherst, Carleton, Allegheny, Pomona, Williams, Smith and Wellesley), to which I’d add Connecticut College, St. Olaf, Swarthmore (they have cognitive science rather than neuroscience). A liberal arts setting can be perfect for someone with broad interests.</p>
<p>I honestly hope you can be less focused on GPA. That is, honestly, a terrible way to live, for one thing. GPA’s will vary from institution to institution. Try to find a program that meets your needs, and not think about grades. Let life happen. </p>
<p>I am still curious if you want to do performance or academic music.</p>
<p>I’ve been absent from CC for a while but this question drew me right back in. My son has one more year left on his 5 year Tufts/NEC double degree program. His majors are Cognitive Brain Science at Tufts and composition and theory at NEC. You might be interested to hear that Aniruddh Patel, who wrote Music, Language and the Brain, will be joining the Tufts faculty in August, indeed he will be serving as my son’s cognitive brain science thesis advisor. </p>
<p>As a serious student and musician, our son has been very happy in the Tufts/NEC dual degree program. He has made very good friends at both schools but he is closest to his fellow double degree students. He’s been very happy with the caliber of the music programs at both schools and has worked as the manager of the Tufts Symphony Orchestra for the last two years and will continue for his final year. He’s also participated in John MacDonald’s composition seminar at Tufts in addition to his composition and theory studios at NEC. He’s also played violin and viola at both schools.</p>
<p>In short, he’s been a very happy, academically and musically fulfilled guy for the last four years. He’s also been very busy. He’ll be applying to graduate programs in composition and perhaps theory in the fall.</p>
<p>So, if you’d like to pursue neuromusic as well as continuing in music, I’d strongly encourage you to take a look at the Tufts/NEC double degree program.</p>
<p>The OP is interested in medical school. In order to have a chance at admittance, he will need to have a 3.8 GPA or higher. That’s why he is very concerned about it.</p>