<p>I tend to agree, if you aren’t in high school yet then it may be early to worry about the issues you are talking about (though it is great you are thinking ahead and asking questions. </p>
<p>As you surmise, being in an academically challenging environment in high school and pursuing music at a serious level (i.e defined as trying to get into a top music program, whether conservatory or in an LAC; sounds like you are leaning towards dual major music performance/pre med rather then stand alone conservatory, and I am going to assume that with what I have to offer) is difficult</p>
<p>The problem with answering your question is there is no reliable way to know; if someone is really gifted in music, for example, but has GPA/SAT’s/etc that are a bit less then what a typical admit has, they potentially could get leeway in admissions, from everything I have heard, but there is no science to that either. A lot of it depends on how good the student is and also needs of the school (if a school is trying to build up its music program, for example, as several ivies are reputed to be doing, it could help that the person is on an instrument they need or want). The real answer is there is no way to know until you actually go for admission, audition, etc and the dynamics of that year play out.</p>
<p>You are wise in assuming that going to an academically rigorous school and pursuing music at a high level is going to be difficult, there is no doubt about it. I don’t care what instrument you are on, it doesn’t matter, you are going to need to put a lot of work into the music and into the academics, to achieve your goal. Put it this way, if you are serious about pursuing music at a high level to get into a top program and potentially get a performance degree, it isn’t something you do practicing 30 minutes a day or an hour a day, it generally takes a lot of work in the range of several hours a day or more, depending on instrument/program (a vocalist practicing the number of hours a violinist does would ruin their voice, for example). To get into the top music programs, conservatory or associated with an LAC, requires that kind of discipline, it is as competitive or more competitive then admissions to the top academic schools and requires the same kind of discipline, if not more. </p>
<p>Can it be done? Yes, it can be, the top pre college music programs have kids who are both musically up there and academic superstars, many of them end up going to ivy caliber schools and could probably get into the top conservatory programs if that was their bent (many of the kids in the pre college programs have no intention of going into music after high school). It takes a lot of discipline to do so, and they probably will tell you that they wouldn’t assume that music would make up for their grades or scores being behind the top applicants.</p>
<p>BTW, getting into a pre college program will require a lot of committment in of itself, in some cases I kind of wonder if it isn’t harder to get into them then it is into a top music program in college (not level, but rather the competition to get in), it will take a lot of discipline just to get into one of them, and the work just keeps on. </p>
<p>A couple of other points for you to consider:</p>
<p>-Pre med is not a major, it is a pre-professional program. In theory (and take this with a grain of salt) you could major in music and also take the required courses in the pre med track (generally, unless it has changed much, it is a year of inorganic chem, a year of organic chem, a year of physics, year of bio (at least), plus possibly bio chem plus associated math courses), so you would major in music performance with a pre med concentration (whether a school would let you do that I don’t know). As someone pointed out, doing something like music with a pre med program might actually help, since it stands out from the ‘traditional’ path. </p>
<p>-If you major in music performance as a pre med, keep in mind that doing so is going to be as hard or harder then it was in high school, the demands of a performance degree are not small, it requires hours of practice, ensemble playing, theory, ear training and so forth, to do a music major with pre med, which is heavily weighted towards science, is extremely difficult. This would be even more demanding if you decided to dual major in music and a science, like chemistry…</p>
<p>-If you simply like music, want to keep playing it, there are other options. Instead of majoring in music, you could keep playing viola in college as a non major, take lessons and so forth, without the rigor of a performance degree. Many of the LAC’s have student orchestras and such open to non majors, the ivies have some pretty good ones for example, and of course there are youth symphonies and such that allow college age kids to be part of them. Not saying you shouldn’t pursue the dual major or whatever, if that is what you want to do, just saying there is an alternative, depending on what you want to do.</p>