<p>I'm interested in studying music in college, but I would like the opportunity to double major. Since it's a lot of hard work attending a highly ranked music conservatory and having the option to double major/double degree, I was wondering if there are any good music schools that offer B.A. degrees (as opposed to B.M. degrees), that are reputable, and that offer an accessible double major program.</p>
<p>Also, I'm from the Midwest (Indianapolis-area), so someplace nearby would be ideal but not necessary.</p>
<p>Most schools with a music school or department also offer a BA. If you tell us what your instrument is, we can better advise you about schools…also information about your academic strength. You will have a better shot at a fulfilling musical life as a BA music student if you are not at a school with a major music program, like IU-Bloomington…unless of course, you have an unusual and rare talent. Ball State has a fine music program. There will be other suggestions.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I would love to go to IU-Bloomington, but I think it would be too hard to double major there because (as far as I’ve found) they only offer a B.M.</p>
<p>I play piano and I also sing. I’ve had more training with piano, but I’ve also got a very good voice (albeit a little untrained). I’m still unsure as to which I would prefer to study, but I honestly love both so much that it wouldn’t matter to me which I would concentrate on.</p>
<p>Oh, and I didn’t answer your questions about academic strength. I’m ranked in the top ten in my class (maybe top five after this semester), and I got a 1990 SAT score, which I hope to improve. Since my AP classes were weighted, I will have over a 4.0 GPA on our 4.0 scale.</p>
<p>If you look at the degrees at IU-Bloomington, the BA may not be offered by the School of Music, but more likely by the School of Arts and Sciences. You would have to be very advanced to get piano lessons, and voice study would most likely be with a graduate student. I do not know their BA requirements, but most require 4 semesters each in music history and music theory, other music course work, some kind of piano proficiency, ensemble participation, and instrumental or vocal study. As I said, you will have a more rewarding musical experience at a less performance dominated school. Do you want that big of a school? Do you need to stay in state for financial reasons? A BA is not preparation for any kind of career, and it would be a bad idea to incur debt to pursue that degree…dependent on what other subject you want to study. Your rank is good, depending on how big your class is (big difference in top 5 in class of 100 and a class of 600) but you are not saying much about your grades…if the AP courses are required to get your GPA over a 4, probably you have a lot of B’s. Your SAT is good, not great, not competitive for one of the strong LAC’s.</p>
<p>Oberlin offers a BA in music through the college, and it is possible to double major with many other subjects. You can start the other degree program without an audition, but you will not be able to declare the music major until you have completed an introductory-level music class with at least a B- and auditioned into a faculty member’s studio for at least secondary (half hour per week) lessons. Many BA music majors declare the major at the start of their sophomore year, having completed the required intro music course during freshman year and auditioned during the first week of sophomore year. These auditions are not as difficult as the auditions for primary (full hour per week) lessons that conservatory students must pass, but they are not a walk in the park either. Average SAT for college admissions in 2008 was about 2070 (probably a bit lower than that for males and a bit higher for females.) 1900 would be about 25th percentile and 2180 about 75th percentile. Your grades and class standing (assuming there are at least 50 in your high school class) are in the right range. They offer both merit scholarships and need-based financial aid and are generally pretty good about keeping loans to reasonable amounts. Talent-based awards are only available through the conservatory as far as I know.</p>
<p>As lorelei points out, there are going to be quite a few very talented students at a school that has a major music program. There is the distinct possibility that you would be one of the smaller fish in that particular pond. If that prospect does not alarm you, you may wish to have a look at [Major/Minor</a> Requirements - Oberlin College](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical_studies/requirements.dot]Major/Minor”>http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical_studies/requirements.dot) for more information about their program. On the plus side, there are some excellent piano and voice teachers there, lots of opportunities to play or sing even for those not in the BM program, and there are 200 Steinway pianos on campus that are generally kept in pretty good shape.</p>
<p>Having just been through this - twice-it is also important to consider what area of academics your child is interested in-sciences, journalism, writing, etc. While we only explored schools which had an engineering or science/math departments as well as a BM in music, we were often informed by the music departments that many of the schools (almost all mid-west) have a BA in music as well. I felt that most of the music departments (not the teachers themselves) assumed that S wanted to get a BA in music together with his academic work. This was not the case, he was only interested in a BM, but we were often told that was the exception, rather than the rule. I found that surprising, and I felt like we were fighting an uphill battle to make them understand.</p>
<p>Midwestern schools we explored included CIM, Carnegie-Mellon, Northwestern, Michigan. There are also the southern schools, Blair/Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice and Peabody. There has been lots said about Peabody/Johns Hopkins on these boards, but I can add my 2 bits on Rice. Don’t bother. Double majors are discouraged and I think they only have Bachelors of Music degrees. They make a very few exceptions for voice majors interested in a non-science degree.</p>
<p>Rice surveys their graduating class and this is what they posted re double degrees (2007 last one I could find) Of the 11 who responded, 3 had a double degree, but they were history, poli sci, and philosophy. One of DD’s current friends is doubling with a language. I think you would find it hard to do one with a lot of lab work since those meet at the same time as the ensembles. If you are considering a double degree instead of double major it is worth looking at the web sites at Peabody [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>IU - Bloomington offers the degree described below for those that wish to double major (sort of). Not sure why it is BS and not BA. As the music school is so large there I got the impression they were very flexible with what people wanted to do. This degree has similar music requirements to the Music Ed degree if I recall from the admissions spiel in January. </p>
<p>Bachelor of Science in Music and an Outside Field (B.S.O.F.)
Students taking the Bachelor of Science in Music and an Outside Field can study music as a major and take 27 credit hours in another field. The outside field can be in almost any area in which the university offers a degree or certificate. Some of the most popular choices are languages, theater, biology, business, journalism and psychology. The outside field can also consist of the major field course work of one of the Associate of Science degrees in audio technology and string instrument technology. With faculty approval, some students complete an individualized music cognate area as the outside field, choosing courses from a variety of areas to meet a particular interest.</p>
<p>Lawrence University. You have the option for a 5 year dual degree (one each from the Conservatory and college), or you can do a 4 year double major in the collage.</p>
<p>Univ of WI Madison offers a BA and BM.</p>
<p>Check out Anderson University in Anderson, IN (a little north of Indianapolis).</p>
<p>Miami U of Ohio (on Indiana border) offers a BA and the opportunity to double major.</p>
<p>A double major implies that you are staying within the same “school” – At Miami a BA in music requires that you meet college of arts and sciences core curriculum, which then makes it easy to add another major within CAS - social sciences, languages, etc. A BM is from the school of music, which has it’s own core. To get a degree from CAS and SOM requires that you satisfy two different cores - much harder. This would be true if your second major was from the Business or Engineering schools as well.</p>
<p>So when you are looking at schools, it is important to consider which part of the college or university offers the majors you are interested in, so you can figure out if you will be pursuing a double major or a double degree.</p>