Hi all, I got accepted to UR + Eastman Dual Degree and Rice University Dual Degree for economics and piano performance. I am debating on which one to choose.
UR + Eastman Pros:
Received a 40k Merit Scholarship (40k/year for 5 years)
Higher ranked in both terms of piano and economics program
Closer to home
UR + Eastman Cons:
Weather (snows a lot)
Less well-known and not the “traditional” college experience
Rice Pros:
Higher ranked, and more well-known in general
Great weather and campus, student life, community
Rice Cons:
Received less scholarship (15k), will end up paying around 60k/year for 4 years
Farther away
Please let me know your thoughts. I am stuck between the two.
Sincerely, SD
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Eastman is extremely well-known and top tier. Rice is a great school too. What rankings are you referring to? I would be surprised if Eastman is lower ranked compared to any other school and am curious.
Hi, I meant that academically UR is not as highly ranked as Rice (not that it isn’t great). But, since I’m doing dual it might affect my decision.
I don’t have personal experience with the music schools at either college. I do know that both are very good, and that Eastman is by far the longer and more well established program.
I do have a GD currently at Rice in Econ and am overwhelmed by just how good a school it is and how well it is run. (Caveat: the current president is retiring.) she will be studying at London School of Economics this summer, sponsored by the college. Many wonderful opportunities at Rice. I recommend it without reservation.
Having said that, if I were in your shoes, I’d choose Rochester. It’s a wonderful school as well, Eastman is a great school, and $200,000 over 5 years is a lot to pay for better weather - although that is very definitely an advantage. As a personal contact, my wife’s specialist is a Rochester alum, both BS and MD/PhD. Very impressive woman in her late 30’s. Great representative for the university.
Two excellent opportunities. Can’t go wrong with either.
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The difference in cost is significant, and the two schools are probably equal in quality both for music and academics. For dual degree, you could also look into the logistics of the programs at each, meaning how far you would have to go between the two programs> Also consider how much support there is for dual degree students.
I am more familiar with Eastman and know a lot of grads who are doing well (after grad school). The price difference is pretty convincing, especially if you might want grad school.
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Great options! Congrats!
I am a bit biased since I have a daughter at Rice but that is a big price difference. I think one factor is how difficult will that extra $60/year be for you and your family to cover? Do you have any grad school plans where you might wish you had that money later?
If the money is not a big factor, have you visited both campuses?
Hi Mr. Marsh,
Thank you very much for your input. I agree that the opportunities at Rice are amazing as I have heard from friends and teachers.
That being said, I am leaning a little towards Eastman right now. I have studied with the piano professor I got assigned there and I think it would be a good fit. He also likes me very much and is close friends with my current teacher.
Eastman also costs 40k less than Rice (assuming I do 5 years there compared to 4 years at Rice). I will probably go to grad school as well so that money could be of help in the future.
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Dear compmom,
Thank you very much for your input. I have researched the logistics of travel for both schools and in this regard Rice has the advantage. The econ building is right next to the music school, while at Eastman I would need to take a shuttle (10-20 minutes travel) to UR.
However, being a piano major, I do have the benefit of a freer schedule than ensemble instruments (who have orchestra rehearsals and have to work around times). An Economics courseload would also be easier than, say, pre-med or STEM.
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You’re welcome. Let us know how you progress.
Hi PrdMomto1,
Thank you for your input. I hope that your daughter is loving Rice.
My parents are relatively well-off, so that I (probably) wouldn’t have to take loans, which I am grateful for. However, I do plan on doing grad school and traveling during summers for competitions, festivals, e.t.c., so I don’t want to be too much if a burden on them.
I will visit Eastman within the next few weeks. Rice is farther away, so I need to consider whether to book a flight there.
Hello- my kid was also a dual degree applicant (voice not piano, though) and got in to both these schools a few years ago.
You have identified one of the two factors she was weighing - one campus (Rice) vs really two campuses (Eastman/UR). When we delved into the actual bus schedules between Eastman and UR we thought it’s realistically more like a 20-30 minute proposition to get from one to the other, door to door.
The other thing that was mentioned at Rice (4 years ago, this may have changed), is that some of the Shepard faculty are openly disapproving, and therefore unaccomodating of their students pursuing dual degrees. If it’s still true, it probably varies by individual teacher, but if you’d be going there to study with a specific teacher, it would probably be worth your time to try to somehow ascertain their feelings on the subject ahead of time.
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Completely agree with @NYCMusicDad.
Both schools are great and will give a great education. You have done good research on the campus, reputation etc.
Still dual degrees are a “special animals”. I would highly advise you consider the following research:
Check how agreeable the teacher is. If the teacher is supportive, I would suggest asking them about the faculty in general. Are they supportive? You will interact with the whole faculty so you don’t want to be OK with your teacher…and considered less committed by faculty in general.
Check with music admissions about how many students do a dual degree at the school? How do advisors assist those students with schedule conflicts (they will exist!!).
Check the ensemble requirements in music. If you are REQUIRED to be in evening music ensembles each semester, will that conflict with any Econ requirments? How do students resolve these issues?
Ask if you can communicate with another student at the school doing a dual degree to see how they are handling it. They will generally give you the good, the bad and the ugly.
You may not get every question above answered clearly…but if the answers are very general or vague (don’t worry…you’ll figure it out), you should be a tad concerned. Because you figuring it out with little support will be extremely stressful if not impossible. The better answer would be: we have multiple students doing dual degrees and an advisor will assist you with getting all requirments in.
Check carefully which faculty/school will support your dual degree best.
OOPS - meant this to go the OP not NYCMusicDad…
One other thing to think about is how easy/hard will it be to get into the classes you want? How about waivers of required classes (because of APs or just general flexibility)? Summer school? Would that interfere with summer programs you really want to do? My kiddo is pursuing a dual degree and her teacher and both advisors have been quite supportive, but there is just one narrow path to graduation in 4 years and lots of ways for that to go off course. She’ll need to do summer school and probably sacrifice study abroad to make it happen - is that ok for you?
You articulated both issues that I had hinted at 
- shuttle at Eastman and 2) attitudes toward double degree depending on teacher
Hi NYCMusicDad,
Thank you for your input! Your daughter must be an amazing singer, I’m wondering which school she is going to now?
For Eastman, I probably will use the public transport for 1st year if I go and then get a car for 2-5. Hopefully it’ll be easier to commute that way.
As to Rice, I think most undergraduate piano majors (if not all) double major. If I do decide to do only music, I’ll probably be the exception haha.
Hi Bridgenail,
Thank you for your input! Those are good ideas that I will think about and do further research upon. I will also ask those questions next week when I visit.
I appreciate your thoughtful and intricate response.
Hi MathandSinging,
Thank you for your input. I think both schools allow flexibility (with Rochester being an open curriculum and little required courses). If I do go there I will also have an extra year if I need to finish all of my credits.
The music major at Rice is very intense. While many students double major at Rice in other disciplines, I have not heard of many Rice music majors having the time to do another major. However, I may be misinformed about the piano major. Rice requires students to take classes in several areas outside of their major (distribution requirements), so you could also take econ/business classes while there even if a double major is not in the cards Distribution Credit | Office of the Registrar | Rice University
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She ended up at a different school- closer in profile (if not weather) to Rice than Eastman/UR, as the “one campus” thing was important to her. She couldn’t get the teacher she had wanted at Rice- the faculty was in transition and it’s a very small voice program. Rice has a ton going for it, though. It all worked out.
@NYCMusicDad, that was our impression too, after visiting Shepherd - they discourage double majoring within their School of Music, especially with the instrument performance degrees. AO even went further and shared that application could be rejected if you mention double major in your school of music application. That was one of the “cons” for Rice, but D23 loved that school and is still considering applying there.
I would check the schedule for your Econ and Orchestra and Chamber ensembles classes overlapping.
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