<p>If a student is equally musically and science/math talented, and considering the dual major there, what are your opinions on the strength and reputations of the science depts, e.g., physics, chem etc? This student will probably become a scientist but also wants to be involved with the musical community throughout his life......</p>
<p>ive heard that oberlin has the best sciences among LACs actually, but that was from a biased source and could be wrong. its their social sciences you dont want to be a part of.</p>
<p>You should research this for yourself. But, it's actually quite possible that Oberlin would be a terrible place for a science major interested in music. The reason? With its Conservatory, Oberlin has hard-core music types. Is there really a spot for someone doing music on the side? I don't know. Things change when a school has a particular concentration. Can you be a walk-on athlete at Williams? Can you be a walk-on musician at Oberlin?</p>
<p>I do know that majoring in science and being very active in music would be pretty commonplace at most LACs.</p>
<p>Oberlin is an excellent science school. They have a brand new facility for chem and bio which allows for collaboration between the 2 subjects. They have a lovely science library in that facility as well. I don't know about physics. </p>
<p>As far as music goes, over half of the students who attend Oberlin have music and theater backgrounds. There are many opportunities for non conservatory students to participate in ensembles. Non-conservatory students won't be able to play in the conservatory orchestra, but there are large ensembles available for non-con students. </p>
<p>Finally, Oberlin has a double degree program that allows students to earn both a Bachelors of Music in performance and a BA in some other area. Double degree students usually need 5 years to complete both programs. Students must apply to and be accepted by both the college and the conservatory. It is a seperate admission process for both programs.</p>
<p>I just dropped my daughter off there today.</p>
<p>At breakfast we met a sophomore who was dual degree math or comp sci and the conservatory. He seemed pretty happy.</p>
<p>It's tough to do the dual degree thing because you have to be committed to two demanding programs. But that is precisely what a good number of students choose Oberlin to do.</p>
<p>A poster here, Bassdad, has a child who was thinking about dual-degree with a science, perhaps he'll check in.</p>
<p>As for a non-major just casually taking some music courses at the Con- my daughter hasn't wanted to, but I believe they can. Con students probably have preference in enrollment. My daughter is, however, getting free music lessons on her instrument from a con student who she says is the best teacher she ever had.</p>
<p>Everybody is playing music here. Its not just the con kids. Kids just moving in are already jamming in the quad. While killing time I played a bit on the piano in my daughter's new dorm. It's incredible.I'd be on it for hours. and I can barely play. And she says the con kids never even use these dorm pianos. because they're playing in the practice rooms at the con! So that means they're for everyone else. Not bad!</p>
<p>For ongoing promotion of music appreciation, the con students are constantly giving performances on campus.</p>
<p>I can say for certain that the math department is very good, and very rigorous. Physical sciences have good reputations I believe. I was in the bookstore today, killing time & looked at the books. I majored in physics myself. The offering in Chemistry seemed reasonably robust. I didn't see that many advanced Physics course books out, but the basic class was using the 5 zillionth edition of the same text I use at Cornell. Which was a pretty demanding course.</p>
<p>So I would say that promotion of ongoing music involvement would be excellent for both recreational players (depending maybe on what they do) and the very serious. People in between should check into what they can do at the con. For Physical sciences, Chemistry seems fine, Physics I would check into course offerings but suspect it's fine.</p>
<p>"its their social sciences you dont want to be a part of."</p>
<p>FWIW. my daughter is a social science major there and wants to be part of it. She selected Oberlin for this purpose, over several other liberal arts colleges. I've gotten particular positive feedback about course offerings in Politics and History.</p>
<p>Perhaps you're confusing the reputation of the student body (liberal slant) with the quality of academics. I've heard nothing negative about the academics in these programs.</p>
<p>eh, my source is biased, as i said. im not surprised to be wrong.</p>
<p>Oberlin has plenty of opportunities for "walk-on" musicians. There are school-run ensembles aimed at students from the college and community members. There are a lot of student-run ensembles that consist either completely of college students or a mixture of college and con students. The garage band scene there is very active and very fluid, with new bands of all types constantly being formed.</p>
<p>One of the things that most impressed when I first visited was the amount and the breadth of spontaneous music making going on. When we dropped daughter off yesterday, a fiddler and guitarist had climbed high into a tree and were playing Irish tunes. At other times, I have happend on impromptu drum circles, a string band jamming on old-timey and bluegrass tunes, a trio of didgeridoo players, what seemed to be an outdoor workshop on Tuvan throat-singing, rock bands of various sizes and types and the usual grouping of a few kids singing along to a guitar or two with maybe a flute joining in.</p>
<p>They may not have had the polish of the top conservatory groups, but they sure appeared to be enjoying themselves.</p>
<p>Daughter speaks well of almost all of her math and music teachers. She has not yet taken much outside these departments. I understand that the ratio of math and science students who go on to complete a PhD is quite high.</p>
<p>I have just been informed that there is also a music major offered in the College, outside of the Conservatory. I would imagine that such a major would have an unusually large pallet of courses to choose from, if Conservatory courses are also available. So this could actually be a good situation for the right student. The challenges would be: the quantity of available performance opportunities might depend partly on whether you're good enough to play in ensembles with Conservatory students. There will be some in any event, just maybe not as many as otherwise.</p>
<p>And, I would think if a major is offered then courses must be open to non-majors as well.</p>
<p>Definitely bears further investigation.</p>
<p>This is all great information, and I am glad to hear about the many options at Oberlin.</p>
<p>There are some caveats that should go along with the info in monydad's last posting in this thread:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the music major in the college is a BA, not a BM. Only about a third of the total credits will be in music.</p></li>
<li><p>College music majors can have a double major within the college, but cannot participate in the double degree program through the Conservatory.</p></li>
<li><p>There are several courses, particularly some of the more interesting upper level courses, that are completely filled by Conservatory students every year. Otherwise, all Conservatory classes are open to College students on a space-available basis with Con students getting first crack at registration.</p></li>
<li><p>BA students interested in concentrations in Performance, Composition or Music Technology go through the same admissions auditions and are held to the same standards as their Conservatory cohorts.</p></li>
<li><p>BA students interested in the History/Theory concentration need not audition for admission. They will, however, have to audition into Secondary Private Study on voice, an instrument or composition in order to complete all of their requirements. The Secondary Private Study auditions are normally held during orientation and during the first week of the semester. They are not terribly hard provided that you are not a soprano, a flutist or a violinist. Those three in particular would face some competition for available teachers.</p></li>
<li><p>Most of the merit scholarship money for music is distributed through the Con. College music students may not see very much of it. Since they cannot be in the double degree program, any merit money that they did get would not be extended to a fifth year.</p></li>
</ul>