<p>WCC would probably be out; you need to consider the campus layout if you are seriously considering a double degree because much time can be lost in just getting from one place to another.
I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate here and say that I really don’t think that a pre-med major with a full VP major is doable, at least not at a school that has a really good voice program. The requiremenst for each degree are very involved and something is bound to suffer, which of course, will lead to problems. A performance major has Music Theory (Theory, Ear Training and Sight Singing), piano class, music history, pedagogy, French, German and Italian, plus several diction classes covering those along with English (and that class can quickly become a full-blown linguistics class, depending upon the prof), opera workshop, Voice lesson, studio class, Choral groups (If the school requires them). And then, you have practice time along with required hours for tech on productions and possibly stage time if the school allows undergrads in operas, and don’t forget about your Junior Recital ( about 30 minutes) and Senior Recital (about 60 minutes) which require intense preparation not only in selecting the pieces and singing, but in writing your program notes. You may very well have to take a freshman writing course as well as some sort of Freshman Colloquium as they are required at many schools with no exemptions.
Pre-Med is it’s own time warp; all of the science classes AND the labs that go along with them, plus the electives that are required for that degree. And you have to work your labs around your lab partner/s schedules, which may not fit at all with those of your classmates in Opera Workshop!
While you say that you can handle “the pressure”, that’s based upon what you have experienced in high school, which really has little or nothing in common with what you’ll be doing in college. Your APs, if you’ve gotten at least a 4 (some schools will accept a 3, but not all) can help exempt you from some electives, but Spanish won’t be counted for VP. most likely AP Chem and AP Bio won’t either if you go the Pre-Med route, and AP Calc is questionable. AP Music History might, at most, exempt you from one semester, but that is increasingly rare these days as colleges want you to follow their own Theory track. The growth and change of a voice as it matures may require you to learn rep in a new fach more than once, which is another demand on your time outside of what is normally expected to build up your rep list.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to pick on you, but I just don’t want you to get in over your head and not to be able to do justice to either major. I have degrees in both performance and in biology/pre med -granted, that was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I got one degree first and then the other- I now have a daughter at a top-tier conservatory as a VP major and a son applying to colleges for Pre-Med. The amount of work for each degree now IS far more than I had to do way back when. Don’t forget to factor in eating, sleeping, cleaning up after yourself, basic hygiene and laundry (you’ll soon see how much time mom spent some of that for you!) and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day, IMHO.
I would suggest sitting down and searching inside you to find out what you expect of a music performance degree and where that fits into your future life. If you really enjoy choral singing and are serious about pre-med, a school with some really good performing ensemble opportunities that are open to non-music majors might be an option. Or getting the performance degree and then the pre-med degree or vice versa… The college years are supposed to be fun, enjoyable and a positive experience that eases you into “adulthood” (yep, dinosaurs, I told you!), so really give your whole plan a good look, talk to your guidance department and see if you can go and talk to a few of the college recruiters who may be appearing at your high school in the next few weeks to pick their brains on this.
Again, I do not in any way mean to discourage you, I just want you to see all sides of what is being considered and to take good care of yourself. The voice is a very delicate instrument which requires rest, good health and care to survive and thrive; once broken , it may not be easily mended. Fatigue and spreading oneself too thin could be asking for trouble. It’s impossible to be “snobby” or even “laid back” if you don’t have a moment to call your own and can’t find an hour to go to the coffee house with your friends.
Think about it, OK?</p>