<p>I really want to major in music composition in college. However, as arts careers are notoriously low-paying, is there any college or conservatory with some sort of music major (preferably with a composition concentration) that allows you to double major in some other area (possibly advertising)? Thank you!</p>
<p>Lawrence University offers a 5 year double degree program ending with a BM and a BA. Lawrence is a small LAC with a conservatory and has a well integrated program. Bard has a new program with a double degree and Oberlin has a double degree program that I have heard is more difficult to follow through with. There are many other schools which offer double degrees in music and another field.</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University is one of the leading schools of music in the US. Not only is there a strong, classically based voice program that has produced Tony winners and opera stars, but a large award winning instrumental department as well.</p>
<p>In January, OCU will open its brand new, $38 million Bass School of Music, making it the most up-to-date music school in the United States. From instrumental labs to concerts halls to 60 private student practice rooms, Oklahoma City University will prepare musicans and performers for 21st century.</p>
<p>The first audition round is Nov 18th and 19th. You can be notified of acceptance in December. You can get information here: <a href="http://www.okcu.edu/music/index.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.okcu.edu/music/index.asp</a></p>
<p>Also, vocal performance students should check out the popular musical theater thread for details on the VP degree.</p>
<p>Northwestern, Oberlin, Barnard, University of Michigan are all schools that have exceptional music programs and are also top tier schools. I'm applying to all of them, planning to double major in voice performance (I've also been playing violin since age 5, so theory shouldn't be a problem) and political science.</p>
<p>I just merged a thread started by Juliatorgo that began on April 7, 2005 with an existing long thread on Music Majors. Please continue!</p>
<p>Thanks, CollegeMom!</p>
<p>How is University of miami in jazz and Umichigan ranked to other schools?</p>
<p>its no UNT.</p>
<p>Some great universities are Rice, Indiana, St. Olaf's (recommended mainly for voice), Michigan, Oberlin, Eastman, Peabody, Ithaca, SUNY Fredonia, Shenandoah, Michigan State, Northwestern, Yale etc.
I've read many people saying about the Juilliard & Columbia exchange. I've heard from teachers at Juilliard themselves that this program is very misleading. It's extremely difficult to get into- you have to be way beyond your peers in your instrument. And you don't even get to take classes or be in an ensemble at Juilliard. You're supposed to say you got a masters from Juilliard when you haven't studied there at all. These oboe teachers said there was one girl who got in and participated for oboe who a wonderful player but ended up quitting the program and focusing on her studies at Columbia.</p>
<p>DD investigated the juilliard/barnard double degree program and found that only one individual has actually graduated with the double degrees! Not a ringing endorsement for the program. She is on her way to Oberlin where 40% of the conservatory students are in the double degree program at some time, and 25% graduate with double degrees from the conservatory and college. DD had also looked at Eastman/U of Rochester's double degree program, never got the stats, but the fact that it was a 3 mile bus ride from conservatory to U of R's river campus, through a pretty unsavory neighborhood (wouldn't want to walk it or even bike it) made the likelihood of actually completing a dual degree pretty slim.</p>
<p>Yes, the Columbia/Juillard program is MASSIVELY hard to get into. It sounds like a great program if they would expand it. Some other notable top-notch academic/music schools are: </p>
<p>Northwestern
USC
Yale - Joshua Redman graduated from here!
Carnegie Mellon
UCBerkeley - actually, the music offerings aren't that great... but you have San Francisco and Berkeley to perform in! </p>
<p>also, this college isn't in the league of the other ones I've listed but the jazz program at San Jose State is pretty good. I personally know a lot of the musicians that went there and some are unbelievable.</p>
<p>I go to a school known for its incredibly strong music program. Many of our best musicians choose to go to the five schools mentioned above.</p>
<p>You all have put out alot of names on this post with some high end names. So what is the academic side of it all? Where does your GPA play in for some of these schools?</p>
<p>Tough question to answer, Nick, since there are all kinds of schools listed here. In general, the schools my S looked at all said a strong music applicant could get an edge in admissions despite a bit lower GPA. For instance, U of Michigan has a GPA requirement, but their music application says they understand that musicians may have concentrated on their music with a resulting lower academic effort, and that the music dept. has the option to overlook the GPA.</p>
<p>But we also had the feeling that a high GPA helped - for a couple reasons. First, a capable student has a better chance of succeeding in music - it's not the "easy A" that some high school music programs are, so kids who can't think or work hard aren't as successful. Juilliard, for example, didn't require any music teacher recommendations, but they did require one from a language arts teacher -- wanted to know you are literate. Second, a capable academic student has a better chance of keeping up with the academic classes in school. They don't want students who are going to flunk out of everything other than music. Third, a stronger academic student has the option of academic scholarships which relieve the music program of needing to provide as much, which is certainly attractive to the music dept. I don't really know that this last one matters as much, but my S was strong academically, and Cincinnati (the only "normal" university my S applied to) made sure he knew about and participated in the university's scholarship competitions.</p>
<p>Obviously, if a student is applying as a double major, then academics matter more - need to prove that you can handle both sides of the equation equally well - be an outstanding musician, and an outstanding scholar. Both schools (whether two separate universities, or two separate departments in the same college) will admit you solely on the credentials they look for, and in fact, might be concerned if they see you pulled two directions, and look for extra proof that you can handle it. I think that is why so few get admitted to the Juilliard/Columbia program, for example.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on BA programs with strong academics with great piano faculty? How about Yale or Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Julie, Yale has fabulous instrumental faculty, but most of those teachers teach the graduate students, not the undergrads. Yale's degree in performance is a masters program, not bachelors. The faculty for most instruments are there a limited amount of time and they concentrate their teaching on those grad students. However, it's worth checking. I know that MIT also has some great music instructors...and I've heard that they have good piano opportunities. For more info about that, contact Yale and MIT and ask.</p>
<p>I don't know about Swarthmore's piano faculty. However, they have a program where students audition for lessons. If accepted, they get either 1/3 or 2/3 of the cost of lessons with a private teacher of the student's choosing. Students need to find their own teachers and get there themselves, but they can pick anyone they want. (However, with Swat being as expensive as it is, the additional cost of lessons seems a bit much IMHO)</p>
<p>I tried out for a lot of schools, but I really recommend studying music in a liberal arts setting. You get to meet more diverse people, study more fields than simply music 20 hours a day and come out as a more well-rounded person. I'm currently a double major at Gettysburg College: I'm a music major in the Sunderman Conservatory of Music and a political science major within the actual college. </p>
<p>I highly recommend Gettysburg College for any aspiring music majors: the conservatory is very small and because of that we get amazing opportunities: I'm only a freshman, but I"m going to a chamber music festivcal in Madrid this summer with my professor! All the vocal students are spending a month in Prague, Budapest and Vienna as supers in an opera company. Before you pick a college, think about what opportunities you can get!</p>
<p>My son recently received some mailings (in the post PSAT glut) from Gettysburg. You're a vocal student - how about band opportunities there?
My son Tubaboy thinks he may want to double major (theory/composition) and pol sci or journalism, but beyond that, has no idea where he wants to go.</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in non-classical vocal performance. She is interested in contemporary or jazz. Any program suggestions?</p>
<p>for those new to the forum. This thread has been on "featured discussions" but doesn't appear unless you click the "more" link.</p>
<p>Perhaps one of the moderators can pin this thread to the top. It has alot of useful info.</p>