<p>My son is in 10th grade and took the PSAT's in October. He scored in the 99th percentile so now is getting inundated with college mailings. He is a bright kid - does well in school - all honors, AP classes - gets A's and some B's (right now his GPA is a 4.0 Weighted). He is a very good trumpet player - he's first trumpet in jazz band and in the county band. He attends a summer music program and hopes to be in a regional youth orchestra next year. He goes back and forth between wanting to be a music major and wanting to be a math major. He loves math but ironically he did better on the verbal and writing portion of the PSAT's. He already wants to start looking at colleges (he has a 12th grade sister - so I am trying to put the brakes on looking until we are have her at college!). In the meantime, I'd love to find out about schools with a strong math and music program where he could possibly dual major or major in one and minor in the other. I know CMU has strong programs in both but it seems like you are either a math or a music major and those two dept's/schools never intermix.</p>
<p>Liberal arts colleges are perfect for these interests. Look at Williams. Has particularly strong departments in both.</p>
<p>Look at Rice in Houston. The Shepherd School of Music there is amazing, and Rice has a stellar math department... You can't double major, but if your son decides to go the math route, many music majors have easily switched out, and if he plays trumpet, there are plenty of extracurricular opportunities with the jazz band and the concert bands, as well (not within the music school, but still amazing... the jazz band is led up by Larry Slezak, who is a tenor sax god, and the concert band's led up by Chuck Throckmorton, who's a scream and a half). I'd recommend having him apply to the music school first, since it's harder to transfer into Shepherd than out of Shepherd.</p>
<p>There are lots of others, too, but I'm a little biased towards Rice. ;)</p>
<p>University of Rochester/Eastman Conservatory. Lots of double majors there.</p>
<p>And if he doesn't want Eastman (except for free lessons if he qualifies), Rochester has its own music department which doesn't require an audition.</p>
<p>U of Rochester is definitely worth considering. It has strong programs in both math and music, and double majors or major/minor are pretty common at that school.</p>
<p>How about Oberlin? Or Carnegie Melon?</p>
<p>Rochester does require an informal audition in order to play in an ensemble at the River campus (non-Eastman), along with an informal audition to qualify for free lessons at the Eastman school. Daughter described her auditions as "checking to make sure you can at least play (not a beginner)".</p>
<p>UR does offer a nice mix of sci-math and the performing arts.</p>
<p>Right, MADad; I didn't mean to imply that no auditions were ever required, just like auditions are required for, say, a play. But no auditions are required for entry into the major if it's at River campus, unlike at Eastman.</p>
<p>I suggest you take a look in the music major forum.</p>
<p>You've gotten some good suggestions, but there are many more. A lot will depend on whether math or music (and specific discipline) is the priority.</p>
<p>There are a number of threads with LAC and university programs that have strong music programs mentioned, a number of dual degree/double major threads addressing specific discipline combinations, as well as some pro/con discussions including some of the institutions already mentioned above.</p>
<p>I know someone just like that (4.0, amazing jazz trumpeter) who went to Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>St. Olaf College - wins all sorts of math awards and has a very strong music program. A lot of kids like it because there is no conservatory, but they get the conservatory level music education without being separated from the rest of campus.</p>
<p>Amherst would also be a good choice</p>
<p>Stanford is decent at music and really good at math. But then again it's Stanford =P</p>
<p>jsmom- I missed this in your earlier post <...so I am trying to put the brakes on looking until we are have her at college>.</p>
<p>Again, without knowing if the focus is math or music (and discipline), I would at least suggest reading BassDad's great overview post here <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-family-s-experience.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-family-s-experience.html</a></p>
<p>As a caveat, you should know the differences between BM and BA programs, minor options and double degrees where available and some of the requirements for audition based music programs, particularly performance.</p>
<p>There are steps that can be taken now to begin to expose your son to a broader base of talent, quality of peers, and private instruction if his goal is to be competitive in very selective audition based programs like Rice, Oberlin, Peabody, CMU and others. Additionally, academics weigh heavily on admissions for some programs, and matter less in others. </p>
<p>The criteria tend to be fairly school specific. If nothing else, it's worth some investigation early rather than trying to scramble later.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I second St. Olaf. Centre College (Kentucky) is also supposed to have an outstanding trumpet professor.</p>
<p>The University of Michigan is very good in both and offers agreat dual degree program. </p>
<p>UM</a> School of Music, Theatre & Dance - Department of Winds & Percussion</p>
<p>UM</a> Mathematics</p>
<p>I cannot think of another university that has top 10 departments in both Math and Music.</p>
<p>At Cornell, half of the music majors are double majors.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can I do a double major? A dual degree program?
Yes. As many as half our students are double and dual majors. You would have an advisor in each department. A double major completes a BA degree with two majors, both in the College of Arts & Sciences, usually within 4 years. A dual major completes degrees in separate colleges at Cornell (one in the College of Arts & Sciences and the other in a different college), typically taking 5 years. </p></li>
<li><p>Will the course load be manageable if I want to double-major?
Yes, although careful planning may be necessary to avoid conflicts between required courses in the two majors. </p></li>
<li><p>Can I do a minor in music?
Not formally; the College of Arts & Sciences does not have a structure for declaring minors. However, some students organize electives within a discipline or department in Arts & Sciences or another college. Such informal minors can be developed with the help of the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) and your academic advisor. They are not noted on the transcript as a minor. If you create such an informal minor, you can (and should) call attention to your strong interest in music on your CV or in letters to potential employers or graduate schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
St. Olaf College - wins all sorts of math awards and has a very strong music program.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Agreed with this.</p>
<p>Northwestern has one of the top non-conservatory music schools and a top-20 math program.</p>
<p>Not as good as Michigan, but UIUC also has a reputable Music and Math department. You should definately check it out.</p>