<p>Our D says she might be interested in Music Ed and I've got questions. For her to teach in K-12, can she get either a BM, an MM, or a MA in music ed? Will school systems care which one she gets? If she waits until graduate school, can she get into MM or MA program with a BA in music instead of a BM? If she gets the music ed degree in state X, is it generally hard to get certified in state Y?</p>
<p>And...is it realistic to get double degree with a BM in music ed and something in Arts and Sciences? The music ed degrees I've seen seem to fill almost the whole four years with requirements, so getting a double degree in even five years seems like a reach.</p>
<p>Our D says she might be interested in Music Ed and I’ve got questions. For her to teach in K-12, can she get either a BM, an MM, or a MA in music ed? Will school systems care which one she gets? </p>
<p>My older D just graduated and has the BME, which is what she suggests Had a great student teaching placement and 50% of the Music Ed students in her class have been hired as new teachers (including mine thankfully) She intends to work for a yr or two and then start on the MM (the school system offers assistance, which certainly is a great perk).</p>
<p>If she waits until graduate school, can she get into MM or MA program with a BA in music instead of a BM? Not sure on this ? If she gets the music ed degree in state X, is it generally hard to get certified in state Y? You would need to take the test in state Y. Good idea to get certified in state X. Probably not too hard as long as the student does well in state X. 70% of my D’s fellow students passed the first time. 10% have failed it 4 times.</p>
<p>And…is it realistic to get double degree with a BM in music ed and something in Arts and Sciences? - IMHO - no The music ed degrees I’ve seen seem to fill almost the whole four years with requirements, so getting a double degree in even five years seems like a reach - Yes</p>
<p>Our son completed an undergrad music education degree- extremely demanding with many requirements and the student teaching semester. He opted to go directly into a music performance masters and just finished his first year teaching in public school instate.</p>
<p>His undergrad program addressed all the pieces of becoming certified in state, including the student teaching and Praxis exam. It is generally recommended to go to school in state for these reasons although becoming certified in another state is certainly possible.</p>
Some schools do a BA in music ed, but that’s really not a strong degree for getting hired. You want a BME. Some BA programs really are not a strong music degree. I go to Illinois Wesleyan, which has close to a 100% placement rate for music ed majors, so you really should check into it. We offer the BME in music ed, which is a very demanding degree. I’m not a music ed major; I’m a performance major, so I’m doing the BM degree. Music ed is huge here- most music majors are music ed here, more than performance, composition, or music BA. I don’t know much about the certification requirements, sorry.</p>
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Usually, no, double degree does not work with that. I tried doing a BM/BA combo (not music ed though) and still it would take me 5 years, I actually just dropped the BA at the end of the year to focus more on music. At my school, doing a double degree with music ed just does not work. People definitely need the 4 years for just that, and even with that it’s difficult. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>I agree with everything that everyone said.</p>
<p>But there are a lot of different paths that can get one to the same end. One of my sons friends decided that the BME program was too rigorous for him, and he only desires to teach music at the elementary level, so he opted to major in elementary education with a minor in music.</p>
<p>My son picked a college that has offers an optional “performance certificate” in addition to the BME degree, the performance certificate is just a piece of paper that states that the college belives that he is good enough to be a professional performer and automatically grants him a “distinction in music performance” on his BME diploma and transcript.</p>
<p>One of the schools that my son applied at only offered a BA in music, but they have a 5 year BA Music/M.A.T. combo program that would certify the student to teach music.</p>
<p>Another of my son’s friends is a music performance major (BM) who intends to go to grad school to become certified as a teacher.</p>
<p>As far as double degrees, it is definately possible, but you have to weigh out the value of having two bachelors degrees vs spending the extra time and effort working towards a graduate degree. There are masters programs that can be completed in two semesters plus a summer school, so thats about the same amount of time it would take to complete two bachelors in to different fields. And not all grad programs have strict prerequisists, so it is possible to get a bachelors in music and then go to grad school for a totally different field (like business or law or whatever floats your boat).</p>
<p>The university that my son attends offers five or six different options for business masters programs. One is a fast-track MBA that only requires two semesters of grad school, but it is restricted to students who have a bachelors in business. Another MBA program is a two year program aimed at people who didn’t major in business as an undergrad. So if you search hard enough you can find a grad program in whatever field you desire regardless of your undergrad major.</p>
<p>Some colleges offer a year and a half MME only open to students who have a BME degree. Others offer a two year MM (performance) open to anyone with a undergrad music degree.</p>
<p>My point is that there are an infinate number of options - something for everyone, you just have to figure out what the best direction for yourself is.</p>
<p>The USC on the east coast (University of South Carolina).</p>
<p>I forgot to mention, but students who are enrolled in the performance certificate option are treated like performance major and have most of the same requirments except for some of the music literature classes. It takes about an extra 10 credit hours of applied music classes (private lessons) plus some recitals and whatnot to earn a music certificate. All performance students including performance certificate students are required 15+ hours a week of individual private practice on their primary instrument in addition to ensembles and lessons (the ensembles and lessons and masterclasses don’t count in the 15 hours a week). </p>
<p>My son ended up enrolling in summer school at our local community college, taking the rest of his general education requirments, to allow him enough time during the regular school year to practice 3+ hours a day.</p>
<p>It’s a little tough on music ed students because the also need to be familiar with most other instruments. He will also be taking group beginner piano lessons (fortunately he already plays piano fairly well so that should be a breeze) and one woodwind instrument next semester in addition to his trumpet classes and esembles and music history and aural skills and music theory and marching band, and the required recietal attendance class and possibly a concert wind ensemble. It’s quite a full day, starting at 8am and sometimes lasting til 10 or 11 pm.</p>
<p>If you do not get a BME degree as an undergrad, but then want to get an MME, you will need to student teach while getting your master’s. So it is possible to go from a BM to a MME program…but you will need to fulfill the ed requirements that you did not take as an undergrad. Also, it is easy to become certified in most states. I have taught in three different states - first the one I graduated from (Florida State University), then I moved to Texas, where I had to take a test to become certified, and then I moved to Michigan, where they had a reciprocal program with other states, including Texas, and so I only had to apply for a teaching certificate using my Texas certificate. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Also, when discussing double majoring - if it’s so one can be certified to teach in two different subjects, be careful what you wish for. I know MANY teachers who were certified in two subjects, then got a job in one field (say elementary ed), but then 25 years later was forced to teach HS biology, because they were certified in it…even though they hadn’t had a science class in 25 years. Most of them really regretted being certified in two subjects. I am only certified to teach music, and yes, it might make it harder for me to find a job, but I am eternally grateful than no one can force me to teach anything else!</p>