<p>I have decided that conservatory is not a very good choice, no matter how appealing it may be to me. It seems to be impossible to complete two (so intense) degrees in 5 years, especially if there is a long commute between school and con. Bmus is what I would really like to do, but all of the 5-year double degree Bmus programs only allows a BA as the other degree. </p>
<p>At this point, I can see myself getting a BMA (bachelor of arts in music), and a BS in mathematics.</p>
<p>Would DePauw be a good school for this? I have been doing some research and this appears to be a very good “match” school.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re correct in thinking your second degree has to be a BA. PLenty of students get a B.S. I know of a number of students double degreeing at universities like Michigan and Northwestern in Music and Engineering, for instance. However, both, of course, are extremely competitive for flute. Chemusic who posts on the Music Major forum got degrees in chemistry and music at Hartt/U. of Hartford many years ago. It is completely doable. Just takes planning and hard work. Which I would imagine wouldn’t bother you, right?</p>
<p>Not unless you are sure you want to go into actuarial work. Math (with selected electives to keep the actuarial options open) is likely more flexible, as you noted.</p>
<p>Regarding Depauw, be aware that the social scene is fraternity and sorority dominated, with nearly 70% of students in them.</p>
<p>Spirit - That’s what I was hoping someone would say. I’ve looked at the double degree option description for many schools and they all seem to be BMus + BA. I’m looking for a BMus +BS (even though stantedj said it would be a LOT of work). If I called the admissions office of some of these schools, would I be able to ask about a BMus and BS combo? I’ve heard that the admissions offices of some schools don’t know much about their music program.
Worst case scenario, I get a BS in math and a BMA in music. </p>
<p>UCB - Thanks for the tip about fraternities and sororities at DePauw. As you guessed (correctly ), I am not interested in joining a sorority. I don’t mind going to a school that has Greek life, but an overwhelming presence would probably not be my cup of tea.
About math/actuarial science: Would going to a school that offers an actuarial major (but going for the math major) be helpful? I was thinking that it probably would benefit me, because I would be able to take actuarial specific classes as electives for the math major.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put too much weight on the relative value of a BS vs a BA. Schools that offer both differentiate between the programs, but many schools only offer one or the other. It isn’t necessarily a determining factor in the breadth or depth of the program or in career or graduate school opportunities.</p>
<p>As momrath said above ^, that BA vs.BS really doesn’t matter, it’s just a name – BS only means more courses in your major because it’s more specialized, but a BA is just fewer required classes in the major and more electives, it doesn’t mean you can’t take as many classes in your major, just that fewer of them are required and you can use your electives to add more classes to your major, which BTW most students do.
You shouldn’t focus on that difference and look at schools that offer BM and BA as well. De Pauw is heavily Greek as mentioned above so if you’re not interested in sororities (and parties…) that wouldn’t be a good fit.
You should keep Lawrence as a safety. Check out the BM/BA Math at St Olaf (-- it’s the school I immediately think of when I think math/music for students who are strong in both and either want a safety compared to Yale or don’t have Ivy stats - although I know they recommend BA Music Performance/BA Math). Does URochester offer a music major without the conservatory? What about Wellesley? If you have an Ivy-level profile, look into Yale.</p>
<p>As Momrath alluded to a few posts upstream, Wesleyan (a co-ed college not to be confused with all-women Wellesley) boasts a Math department with courses through the doctoral level and probably one of the preeminent experimental music departments in the country. The OP hasn’t said what she wants to do with her music degree; I presume she has eliminated symphony orchestra playing as a possibility or she would be applying to conservatories. A lot of performing artists have come out of Wesleyan, including Blue Man Group, the band MGMT, singers, Dar Williams, and Santigold. I’m sure there’s room for an electronic flute player in someone’s band.</p>
<p>Please remember that for flute admission, there are no safeties. Rochester does offer a Music major, as does Case Western - and their proximities (and relationship with) to Eastman and CIM offer many music opportunities. As for Yale, it does not offer a performance undergrad degree - just a general BA in music.</p>
<p>As I keep mentioning - there are dozens of threads discussing possible schools for double majors and double degrees on the Music Major Forum.</p>
<p>I know that the place that math and music overlap is electronic music and recording studio science, but I’m not very interested in that. I have looked several times at the Music Major Forum, and there are many threads about double majors/degrees. I am actually interested in a conservatory-like education, but I don’t think a conservatory is right for me because the low distribution in classes would make it difficult to complete both degrees in 5 years. I still have some conservatories on my list (like Oberlin, CIM/CWRU, etc.), but none that require a serious commute from con to school.</p>
<p>I think on this more general forum most posters do not understand the difference between a conservatory and a School of Music within a university setting. You can pursue a performance degree at the highest level at a School of Music - equivalent to a stand-alone conservatory. The Tufts/NEC commute is doable, from all that I’ve heard, as is Peabody/JHU. Oberlin, Bard, Lawrence both have conservatories on the main campus. And universities like USC, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, UCLA, CSU Long Beach, UM Kansas City, Miami, Florida State U, etc - they all offer the possibility to pursue a BM in music and a second degree - but the level of support from within the institution, or within the individual studio, may vary dramatically. Some universities are much better known as supportive of two degrees.</p>
<p>On the other hand - if you’re interested in a second degree because you’re worried about a future career - I suggest you think long and hard about your commitment to music and whether it is genuinely important to you to get a BM in Performance or if you’d be satisfied with just taking high level lessons and performing in quality ensembles.</p>
<p>I definitely will be pursuing a career in mathematics, but I also plan to include music in my life after schooling. I may teach privately and/or belong to ensembles.</p>
<p>I have compiled a list of schools from many of the suggestions here and some of my own research. This list is NOT final, and I plan to make many changes to it. I am aware that there are WAY too many “reach” schools on this list and I do not intend on applying to all of them. I am simply putting this list up so that people may comment on it and suggest some changes. Some of the schools on this list are conservatory college combinations, which I am still interested in.</p>
<p>Safety:
-Central Washington University (It’s in-state for me, and therefore cheap)
-Lawrence University</p>
<p>Match:
-DePauw (I would appreciate an alternative to this because of the high involvement in fraternities and sororities, but I believe the music and math programs are both good.)
-St. Olaf (I am not Lutheran, but I’ve done some research and it seems that that hasn’t really been a problem there for others.)</p>
<p>Reach:
-Williams
-MIT
-CIM/CWRU
-University of Rochester/Eastern
-Northwestern
-Oberlin
-Stanford
-Vanderbilt
-Wesleyan University
-Amherst</p>
<p>Lawrence University is not a safety school - not sure why you have it there. It is closer to a match - for the math degree - but, like all top quality flute programs - a reach for the music degree. Have you looked into Western Washington State for a safety? Their music program is more well known nationally. Also, what about UW?</p>
<p>Stanford does not offer music performance, only a general theory focused BA in music. Not sure why it’s on your list, as you’ve plenty of reach schools. If you want to apply to an Ivy level university - Yale and Princeton have the strongest music programs. Amherst is not known for its music program - you’d be better off with Vassar and Smith. Oberlin Conservatory flute will be very very difficult to get into. Vanderbilt is a wise addition - definitely keep it on your list. What happened to CMU? CIM for flute is again, a very tough admit.</p>
<p>Since you live in the Northwest check out The University of Puget Sound. It has a well regarded school of music.</p>
I’m not familiar with Vassar’s strength in these areas, but strongly agree about Amherst and Smith (though I don’t think the OP actually indicated his/her gender).</p>
<p>Spirit - Ok. I don’t actually know where CMU went, it was definitely supposed to be on my list! And about Stanford, thank you for the tip. For some reason, I wasn’t aware of that. I am going to avoid UW because of the size of the school, especially since CWU and WWU are both good safeties. I really want to thank you, Spirit, for all of the help. This is why I put this list up here. I’m so glad that there are people out there that are willing to assist those who are new to this.</p>
<p>And @momrath, I am actually female. I didn’t outright say that, but I did mention something about not wanting to join a sorority at some point in the thread. </p>
<p>NEW list (updated with the suggestions of Spirit and momrath):</p>
<p>Safety:
Western Washington
Central Washington</p>
<p>Match:
St. Olaf
Lawrence
Puget Sound</p>
<p>Reach: (In the order of difficulty of admission not assessing music.)
MIT
Vanderbilt
Williams
Northwestern
Wesleyan
Carnegie Mellon (See?! It’s here! )
Oberlin
U Rochester
CIM/CWRU</p>
<p>CIM and Oberlin would be quite a bit farther up the list if we included the fact that flute players are a dime a dozen in the list. In fact, many of the schools would be much more difficult to be admitted to. </p>
<p>I noticed that at Amherst, Vassar, and Smith there was a BA in music, but I didn’t notice a performance degree. If I decide to throw out the performance idea altogether (which is a possibility) at some point, I will consider these schools first.</p>
<p>Smith does not appear to have that big a selection of advanced math courses by itself, but does have a cross registration agreement with University of Massachusetts - Amherst and three other colleges, which significantly expands the advanced math course offerings.</p>
), I am not interested in joining a sorority. I don’t mind going to a school that has Greek life, but an overwhelming presence would probably not be my cup of tea.