<p>Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and a little embarrassed to ask for it, so I thought I would start here. I'm a rising high school junior, but I've expressed interest in graduating at the end of this school year and going to college. I've discussed this with my parents and school counselor, and they agree with me that I am academically and socially prepared.
However, I've recently started to take my study of oboe much more seriously and would like to continue to pursue it in college. I have been taking lessons for four years as well as playing at my school, and this fall I will also participate in a youth orchestra. I love playing and performing, and being an orchestral oboist is certainly a "dream job". I'd love to try my hand at teaching also.
I know career opportunities as a classical musician are limited even for the best of performers, which I'm not. I'm now wondering if I would be better off spending a fourth year in high school to focus on music, or going to college sooner and pursuing an academic path. I've also looked into double degree programs such as Oberlin, Lawrence, and Tufts/NEC, which seem like a great theoretical combination of my interests and earning a BA could prove to be useful, but I doubt my ability to be admitted to any of them due to my musical inexperience.
All of this boils down to wondering whether I should pursue an academic path (likely in the social sciences), oboe performance, or both, and when?
Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Here is a good link for you: <a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html</a></p>
<p>You might want to consider a university or liberal arts college where you can major in music for a BA, or major in social sciences and continue private lessons while also performing in extracurriculars.</p>
<p>The presence of a conservatory on a college campus can have some negatives if you are not in the conservatory. However, you can sometimes enter the college and then transfer to the conservatory (a year of the college w/lessons could replace the additional year of high school) and vice versa.</p>
<p>You don’t mention your academics other than an interest in social sciences, and you don’t mention your grades and so on. You can enter as an undecided and explore your options, too.</p>
<p>Are you sure you want to go to college early? There are many reasons to wait, Development in music, yes, clarity about what you want to study, emotional maturity. Are you feeling bored and restless in high school? For some early college is an answer, for others an escape :)</p>