<p>We are looking for a top 50 school that has a good classical music scene - ie, a lot of music classes, good orchestra, a lot of people in the program, good concerts. D might want to major in music as a second major.</p>
<p>We figured a good judge of how vibrant the music scene is would be to see how many kids graduate with a degree music as listed at College Navigator. The weird thing is, even schools that we've heard have a pretty good music scene (Williams and Bucknell) are listed as graduating a very small number of music majors (5 and 6 respectively). Maybe the problem is these are only first majors and maybe these schools have a lot of second majors in music. Is there any place that has these statistics? Are the music programs at the above schools really as small as they seem?</p>
<p>What is her potential first major? Is her second major in Music Performance, Education, Composition or does she just want to take music classes? </p>
<p>Typically a BM in music is a dedicated program and there may not be many classes that cross over or allow for a double major (in four years). There are some schools that do offer integrated programs within their colleges, but it depends on what her other interest is and the requirements of that program.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Vassar, Bard (they have a Conservatory program, but also lots of music for non-performance majors), Columbia? Also, my D has a friend at Washington University in St. Louis who is pursuing a double major with one of them in music (non-performance) and she loves it there.</p>
<p>And Music, as a true performance major at a school with a good program and all the things you’re looking for, doesn’t leave a lot of time for a second major. There are a few places where one can do a dual degree, but it almost always requires an extra year.</p>
<p>Thank you! We want a school with a good music program (performance degree and/or general music) and a top academic program. The good music program part does seem to eliminate a lot of LACs and universities (U Penn, Emory, Wellesley for just some examples). D probably wants to either double major or double degree. Her academic major might Humanities, Social Science, or Environmental Science. The school has to reasonably accommodate a double major or double degree. I think of the top 50 academic schools we might get less than 10 that meet the above criteria, I’m just trying to figure the best way to widdle them down.</p>
<p>I can suggest looking at Case Western which can accommodate both degrees. They do not use the CIM faculty or participate in their ensembles, but they can elect to go through the conservatory’s theory track ( very, very few do because it’s much more difficult). Case does have its own very good music department though and of course, offers unlimited academic majors.</p>
<p>I always suggest a book entitled “Creative Colleges” that has a section on schools (colleges and conservatories) with good music programs.</p>
<p>Not sure why you eliminated UPenn or Wellesley (don’t know Emory). Many LAC’s have good music programs. My daughter goes to an Ivy university where many classes are huge, but the music department is small, classes are small, and the number of music majors is small.</p>
<p>Academic music consists of theory, history, composition, ethnomusicology, music and technology, etc. It is often a general music major, but in some schools it is broken down into these strands so that a student could concentrate on, say, composition.</p>
<p>Some schools have excellent academic music classes but no performance, or very little.</p>
<p>Whether a performance BM or an academic BA in music, a double major would be hard as others have said, but people do it. The sequence of courses for an academic music major is pretty rigorous. A double degree generally takes 5 years or more.</p>
<p>At any rate, I would not hold a small number of graduating music majors against any school. The music department may be stellar, but often there are just not that many students doing academic music.</p>
<p>I would check out faculty, courses, curriculum, distribution requirements, and also extracurricular music opportunities and possibilities for lessons. There are many many choices among top schools.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt and its Blair School of Music is certainly worthy of consideration. Also I second Oberlin.</p>
<p>It seems as if your daughter does not want a conservatory, but an academic program first and foremost. Is that correct? Can she decide whether she wants performance or general music? It is an important distinction. BA or BM?</p>
<p>Some colleges have performance with the BA, others don’t. </p>
<p>The small number of students/grads in university and college music departments can be an enviable advantage actually and, again, I don’t think that is necessarily a gauge of quality at all.</p>
<p>If she looks at Oberlin College, there is a “low wall” with the conservatory but studying music in the college can mean fewer opportunities, since conservatory students might have priority.</p>
<p>There are many, many fine schools with fine music departments, so I am not sure why you say there are only 10. UPenn’s music department is very well-regarded (George Crumb taught there for years) and Wellesley’s is fine too.</p>
<p>My D knows several very good conservatory-level musicians who are either music majors or double majors at Williams. Musician students there have the opportunity to play with the Berkshire Symphony, as well as with the college ensembles.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen its name here, so I’ll toss Northwestern into the mix. Fair warning, I’m a student there, so take my words with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Academically, Northwestern will give you as good of an undergrad education as you can get pretty much anywhere else. Musically, I would put it far above most schools of similar academic stature. For me though, the double degree program is what sets it apart.</p>
<p>When I applied to schools, I went with the knowledge that I wanted to pursue two degrees (music and political science, if you were wondering). Throughout the application process, I found NU to be the easiest and most straightforward of all the double-degree programs, and that has only continued since I’ve started. compmom speaks of the “low wall” at Oberlin. At NU, I would argue the “wall is even lower,” allowing easier crossing, since the music school is not a separate institution from the rest of the university.</p>
<p>If a BM is not your taste, there is also a BAmus option through the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Something else to consider may also be the music scene for non-major students, should your child decide to drop the second major/degree.</p>