Viola performance with premed?

College Majors Music Major
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<p>My daughter still wants to major in viola performance. She is good, but, even her teacher suggested she look at other routes. Not because she is bad, but rather because a music career is always full of struggle and uncertainty. I, personally, think my daughter enjoys symphony music a lot, but not enough for a career. She practices 1 hr a day usually, I think. In addition to that, she has orchestra 10 hrs a week. And she has private lessons. So, she is practicing 20 hrs a week I am guessing when you add all that in. </p>

<p>She is very strong in math and science and has been thinking of majoring in music, with intent to go on to med school after graduation. But, she seems set on going to a top music school. (yes, I am frustrated). What schools could so go to, major in performance, and still get in the premed classes, without having to go 5+ years to get in both. Thanks!</p>

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<p>It sounds like she could do well at a top university with a good music program rather than a conservatory, since a conservatory is unlikely to have the sequence of classes in biology, chemistry etc that she would need for the MCAT. There are statistics out there somewhere about high numbers of musicians who are accepted to medical school, and we know one personally who majored in music but used all of her elective credits to get those science courses done in 4 years (she got a BA, not a BM, which is a big difference).</p>

<p>Some programs to consider:
Bard (the college, not the conservatory, for a 4 year graduation)
Northwestern
Hartt (music piece is excellent esp. for viola, not clear on the strength of their sciences)
Oberlin (also has a new BA in music on the college side, I think)
Lawrence
Gettysburg (not a top music school but she could get serious merit aid there as a violist, good sciences)
Boston University
Penn State (terrific viola prof - D3 worked with him this summer)
USC (know a violist who is doubling there now - lots of work!)</p>

<p>You’re probably familiar with some of the double degree programs: Columbia-Juilliard, NEC-Tufts/Harvard, Eastman-Rochester, JHU-Peabody. Others are more familiar with the specifics, but my understanding is that these are 5-year BM programs and difficult to enter and equally difficult to finish.</p>

<p>Some of the LACs also offer scholarships to violists, even if they’re majoring in something else. They often have high level orchestras and chamber groups.</p>

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<p>stradmom…do you know which LACs offer viola scholarships?</p>

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<p>I don’t have specific information, but I’ve been told that many will offer something for a violist (could be neglible, though). At tours of Williams, Amherst, Conn College, Swarthmore etc, we were told that viola was a plus (not a “hook” per se), but D2 (Bard '12 amateur viola) never applied there, so can’t give good info. D3 only applied as a music major (currently holds a viola schol at Hartt).</p>

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<p>A school like Vassar, Amherst, Hamilton or Brown, that does not have distribution requirements will make it a lot easier. All will give you a strong preparation in the sciences. Vassar and Hamilton both have excellent orchestras (have not heard Brown’s or Amherst’s orchestras) and I know that Vassar has a strong supportive music culture. There are not viola scholarships but definitely submit a music recording and see what happens. You can graduate in 4 years with a music /science double major.</p>

<p>Franklin & Marshall and Bucknell told us they have unusual instrument scholarships but we did not follow up with these schools. Holy Cross has a very small but good orchestra and has a full tuition music scholarship</p>

<p>I agree the Hartt School is excellent for viola and it also has a respected (at least locally) engineering/science program - lots of local corporate support for labs and buildings - not sure about med school acceptances though . U Hartford would be a good option for both viola scholarships and science scholarships. Many years ago, I did a dual degree in Flute Performance and chemistry(took 5 years) and received a hefty academic scholarship in the College of Arts & Sciences.</p>

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<p>I’d strongly suggest Oberlin. My husband thought he wanted to do an instrument performance, but after a year there, he realized that science was what he wanted to pursue for his career. It was an easy switch at Oberlin, and music continues to be a big part of his life, but he has a successful career that he loves too.</p>

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<p>Your post follows a few others with the same theme, that music performance is too risky as a focus for undergrads. Music forum veterans always answer that a student who is dedicated to music, should just go for it, on the undergrad level. A bachelor’s in music, whether BM in performance or BA in general music (and sometimes performance), is a bachelor’s like any other, and opens doors to many jobs. The discipline of a music major is respected everywhere. College majors are often not relevant to future career. There are many kinds of music jobs, besides orchestra, and many musicians these days are entrepreneurial and make their own opportunities. Some do day jobs but still do music as their main thing. Music major can get into grad schools, including law, medical, business or other professional schools, like any other grad with a bachelor’s. Etc. I think I have covered the usual comments (at least my own!).</p>

<p>My own daughter is a music major and works p/t for an orchestra while still in school- but not performing (she is not an instrumentalist). Her job is varied and interesting.</p>

<p>The statistic that I have sometimes quoted on here, which is now a little dated, is that as a group, music majors have the highest acceptance rate at medical school (it was 66% acceptance rate at the time I read this).</p>

<p>There is really no such thing as a premed major at many schools (some, like Brown, have a combined program) and there are programs at several schools that provide the postgrad prerequisites for med school for those whose undergrad majors did not include biology, chemistry and so on. (I have also read that med school welcome non-science majors, such as English, as well as music.)</p>

<p>Kids this age change a lot. They even change during senior year. With the scenario your daughter is dealing with, maybe she could apply to different kinds of programs, including both conservatory and college, and decide in April. My daughter did this, keeping all options open until the last minute. She applied to two colleges (one affiliated with a conservatory, with double degree option) and 4 conservatories (all w/some affiliation with a college, 3 w/double degree options).</p>

<p>Schools like Oberlin, Bard, and Lawrence are great choices because they have a conservatory and a college, so that she can choose one side of the wall but have the option to move to the other, and might also be able to take some science classes that are excellent, while in the conservatory. Eastman/Rochester, Peabody/Johns Hopkins, Michigan, many others with these combinations…State universities with BM programs are another option.</p>

<p>Harvard has a BA/MM program with NEC and Tufts has a BA/BM program with NEC. Both have medical schools as well.</p>

<p>Check out Peabody admissions’ essay on degree options
:[Peabody</a> Institute - Conservatory Admissions: The Double Degree Dilemma](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree]Peabody”>http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree)</p>

<p>If she really really wants to do music and is working hard, and you can afford it, maybe there is a way she can pursue it in a BM program. She should notice which conservatory/music school options offer no math or science at all, though, if she also likes those subjects!</p>

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<p>Your daughter has many options to get a strong music program and the science courses she will need for med school. I agree with compmom that she should apply to several different types of schools so she has multiple options in the spring of her senior year. </p>

<p>A conservatory/college (that has science courses) like Lawrence, Bard, Hartt, Ithaca, Oberlin, an LAC or two with strong music and science programs, a music conservatory (and take the science courses in the summers at a local university) and a financial safety (if needed) such as your state school are all good options.</p>

<p>She should do an audition at the conservatory schools so a BMus in performance is possible. This is what we did with S1, he did auditions to keep the BMus degree an option and submitted music CD’s to the rest of the schools. I kept telling him not to stress and that he had until the spring to decide what route he wanted. He choose the ‘LAC with strong music’ route and he was fortunate to have several great choices in the spring. All you can do is plan ahead a bit so she hopefully has several choices that are good for her. Keep us updated.</p>

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<p>Chemusic’s son and my daughter had the same experience, and I am thankful she did all the conservatory auditions. Like Chemusic’s son, she also sent CD’s to colleges as part of a supplement, along with recommendations (beyond the two requested from teachers) from music teachers and others who knew her in that context.</p>

<p>The auditions were also a great place to talk to others, get the vibe of a conservatory, and, once accepted (or before, for some) talk to teachers. Deciding in the abstract not to go to conservatory would have haunted my daughter, honestly. </p>

<p>Visiting campuses and really looking into the options with some depth made my daughter feel that she had a lot of tools for decision-making. But it really did come down to the wire!</p>