As the title says, I am a transfer student at a CC in California. I am double majoring in psychology and music (vocal performance). Soon I will have AAs in both. I would love some advice as to schools with strong psych and music departments, especially schools that really emphasize performance and are well connected with large chorales or opera houses.
I would like to do both majors, and it is a plus if the school offers a BM instead of a BA for music. My parents would really like the school to be prestigious, and would prefer it to be in California. They don’t mind if tuition is high, but cost is a factor.
My current GPA is 3.97. I was originally planning on applying this semester, but that may not work out as I couldn’t get some important classes in this semester. I do not mind waiting a year to apply. That would also give me time to visit some campuses and see what the schools have to offer.
Schools I am considering:
Cal State Fullerton (I have visited and like)
San Jose State University (I visited and like SJSU, but double majoring may not be possible. Also, very impacted)
Cal State Long Beach
USC (have visited and like, but COSTLY)
University of Washington (visited and like, but out-of-state tuition is costly)
Schools that I may consider:
Oberlin (I know it is great for double majoring)
UCLA (academics are self explanatory, but my voice coach says the music dept would not be a good fit for performance majors)
UC Irvine (If I decide to do a minor instead of 2 majors, but I probably won’t decide that)
CSUN (I hear the atmosphere is quite competitive, and parts for their productions usually go to grad students)
CSU Fresno (visited, like, growing music program)
CSU Bakersfield (visited, like, growing music program. But to be honest, I am not sure that I like the area)
Also, how are the music depts at other UCs and CSUs? What about Ivys? Berkeley? Princeton? Yale? Are they good for vocal/operatic performance? Are they well connected? How are professors and voice instructors? And I would much appreciate any other schools I may be missing, or critiques on my current list.
If you’re looking at the upper midwest, St. Olaf is a solid choice too, with excellent academics and music. https://wp.stolaf.edu/music/voice/
Chapman might also be a good place to double-major? Fullerton is a great choice too.
If you want to go distant/elite, there are probably better choices than the Ivies. Hopkins/Peabody, Vanderbilt/Blair, Northwestern/Bienen, Rochester/Eastman, and CWRU/CIM. (There’s Columbia/Barnard and their cooperative programs with Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music, but I wonder whether it would be practical to fulfill the necessary requirements as a transfer student?) Also consider UMichigan. (I would also say Rice/Shepherd but they make it difficult to double-major even for 4-year undergrads, so I’d venture it would be nearly impossible for a transfer. Probably also the same story for Carnegie Mellon, though perhaps worth checking before ruling it out. Also Cincinnati, which has a terrific conservatory at a relatively affordable price, but I don’t know how dual-major-friendly it is.) Boston U could be worth a look also.
Along with cost-per-semester, you’ll need to weigh how efficiently you can get through a dual program at each of the schools you consider, as I’m sure that will vary. Are you willing to do three years at your transfer school in order to get both degrees, or will getting done in two (or 2.5, or 2-plus-summers) a priority?
I think Syracuse has an opera school within its performance college. Very cold and snowy but plenty of reason to sing indoors and study.
The Rose, Jules R., and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music is one of five academic units of the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts
Definitely re-post this in the Music Major forum! One big consideration…many “elite” undergraduate music (or LAC) programs will accept few transfer credits, so you may need to do nearly 3 1/2 years more to complete your BM. For instance, there have been singers at Oberlin who had already completed an Undergraduate degree who started at nearly square one and completed their VP Performance BM in 3-4 years. So you’ll have to check carefully with each individual program!
aquapt: Thank you! I heard st Olaf’s choir in LA last year. They were phenomenal! Thank you so much, your info was super helpful!!
privatebanker: Thank you! I will check it out! And coming from socal, snow is a rare and exciting thing haha!
bopper: Will do!
dramasopranomom: I wasn’t aware of that. I know that at CSF, I would need to test out of classes to get transfer credits. I will re-post today, thank you so much!