<p>I’m sure some kids are into computer sciences, engineering and music. If they want to pursue their interests in college, which schools offer good opportunities for double majoring? How and where to find someone who’s a computer scientist and a musician, or a computer scientist and a musician (plus others) teaming up for some cutting-edge research? I checked a nearby university but couldn’t find any. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume college admission is not a question.</p>
<p>It’s a matter of time. A CS degree, at least at a U with a rigorous CS program, takes a lot of time since it’s filled with required courses that are difficult and require a lot of HW and additionally, more HW in programming assignments. Adding on a difficult minor (like chemistry) or a second major adds to the time required for courses and HW. Don’t be surprised if double majoring CS plus another major adds a year or more to the time to graduation. The time required will vary with the particular major and particular college so you really have to look at the details.</p>
<p>At my college, double majoring in Music and CS would be intense, but doable if the student started out early on with the required courses in both fields and was willing to work hard. I know at least one student who has done cross-disciplinary work involving music and computer science. </p>
<p>Music and engineering, though, might be literally impossible to do in four years at my school–both are time-consuming majors with many required courses. Engineering plus a music minor would be much more doable. </p>
<p>This will vary a lot by school though. Even if a double major is not feasible, a major + minor will likely be a possibility. Keep in mind, too, that depending on the nature of musical interest, a major/minor might not be the best choice–intensive extracurricular music activity might be more aligned with some musical goals.</p>
<p>We have a friend who’s S is majoring in Environmental Science and Music Composition.</p>
<p>The School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University in Bloomington would allow a “cognate” area in Fine Arts/Music.</p>
<p>[School</a> of Informatics and ComputingBloomington | Indiana University](<a href=“http://www.informatics.indiana.edu%5DSchool”>http://www.informatics.indiana.edu)</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon recently started a degree program in Music and Technology for exactly those kinds of students.</p>
<p><a href=“http://music.cmu.edu/musicandtech/index.php[/url]”>http://music.cmu.edu/musicandtech/index.php</a></p>
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<p>I thought about IUB but didn’t realize they have a school of informatics with a musician as its founding dean. Will check out what research they do. I wonder who they compete with. I remember the founding president at Stanford was from IUB, could they start something similar also?</p>
<p>Excellent info about the CMU program!</p>
<p>D’s best friend from HS added a music minor to her engineering major at Virginia Tech this past year (her jr year). I don’t know if she could have swung a double major if she had decided earlier…she’s always had to take an intensive schedule of required courses.</p>
<p>Here’s an article from Johns Hopkins (of which the Peabody Conservatory of Music is a part, which talks about the challenges:</p>
<p>[Peabody</a> Institute - Conservatory Admissions: The Double Degree Dilemma](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree]Peabody”>Double Degree | Peabody Institute)</p>
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<p>Of course, JHU and Peabody are both world-class institutions on their own. To get into both… and succeed… wow. I highlighted the “usually five years” part to show that it is probably not possible to do in four years.</p>
<p>Also Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science requires all their students to have a minor - and there have definitely been ones who minored in music. I don’t know how many extra courses a major would require compared to a minor.</p>
<p>There’s also a basic question - why does he want to major in both? Many people will major in the field they plan to have a career in and minor in something that’ll enhance that area or minor in something they just find interesting. I assume he doesn’t plan to have both CS and music as a career path and possibly would have CS as a career path and music as more of a hobby (unless he gets lucky with it).</p>
<p>My son’s suitemate at Case Western Reserve is a double major mechanical eng and music. He works very hard but will do it in 4 years, in part because Case is pretty generous with AP credits, so he came is as a freshman having close to sophomore standing. If your son or daughter has AP credits, especially to cover any distribution requirements, the road is a bit easier. Double major at Case is not hard to arrange, and they are affiliated somehow with the Cleveland Institute of Music.</p>
<p>Also from Peabody, worth the read:
[Peabody</a> Institute - Conservatory Admissions: The Double Degree Dilemma](<a href=“http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/doubledegree]Peabody”>Double Degree | Peabody Institute)</p>
<p>Both are time and credit intensive. Does he want an audition or non-audition program? A BM/BFA will have many more ensemble, performance obligations than a BA, and they tend to make scheduling a nightmare. A science degree coupled with a BM can be a five year plus pursuit. Oberlin, Bard, and Lawrence have the most seamless combo programs.</p>
<p>You may want to spend some time in the music major forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/</a>.</p>
<p>Many thanks for the excellent responses so far. </p>
<p>Why double major? No one knows what new majors will emerge in the years ahead, so the more a kid can take in when he’s young the better. Maybe double majoring is not an appropriate term here, something like the new program at CMU could be more fitting.</p>
<p>DS CMU roommate did ME and was concertmaster (many years) on the music productions. He also painted (took him 2 years to complete a painting for DS). It was his passion but not his vocation. Builds robots now.</p>
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<p>Note sure what to think about this one. If his music education gets integrated into his robots building, that’s great. if not, not that great.</p>
<p>CMU’s 1-year old program is small but interesting. Are there any other places besides IUB and JHU that are strong in this interface?</p>
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RPI has a strong program in integrating technology and a variety of media, not just music.</p>
<p>They just opened a new building called the “Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center”, it’s pretty cool.</p>
<p>The best place to do a double major, any double major, perhaps is a place where one can find the best teachers in either fields, not necessarily a joint program.</p>
<p>ICAM in UCSD should be the major you are looking for.</p>
<p>The Hopkins/Peabody program referenced above has a difficult time filling its spots because the standards for admission to each of the separate programs is maintained in its combined program. My son was contacted by the program because he had very high SAT math scores and had indicated an interest in a music major when he took the SAT. Great program, but he did not apply.</p>