Some questions about JHU/Peabody DD program

marcyr
Wed, 05 Apr 2006 22:16:26 +0000

T, be prepared for a huge amount of work if you end up double majoring. While a double degree program with both degrees in music may let you double-up on required courses (for example, you wouldn’t have to take Music Theory twice if you were taking two BM degrees, so you’d “save” one required course for one of the degrees), a music degree and a degree in just about anything else is going to require totally different sets of core curricula. Minors at Peab. seem kind of loosey-goosey. To get a minor in something, you usually just have to take X number of classes/lessons in that subject. I don’t think you have to declare a minor, you just keep taking voice or piano or conducting or whatever lessons until someone realizes that you have enough credits for a minor. At least, that’s the way it appeared to me (therefore I’m probably wrong).

DS got two BMs, one in Music Composition and one in Music Education, and he’s finishing his MM in Composition. I think that his scholarship money (not much, but better than nothing) continued through his fifth year, possibly because he was finishing his Ed. degree while he was working on his MM. The reason he needed five years (well, 4.5) to get his BM.Ed was because there physically weren’t enough hours in the day for him to do his student teaching last year. Remember your question about how much time do students have beside classes and practice? The answer is: Never Enough. Most of the Peab. kids seem to be fairly driven, though, so while they complain about their lack of free time, most of them don’t seem to mind it too much. At least DS’s friends were that way.

I would definitely suggest talking to a double degree student at Peab. I also agree with edad’s suggestion to talk to Emily Frank - she knows all, sees all, at least as far as life on campus goes. Another excellent person to talk to, if possible, is James Dobson, the Registrar. If you have any questions about doubling, he’s definitely the man to speak to. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll get it while you wait. Also, you might want to call the office of the Piano faculty and ask if there’s a piano major around who you could arrange to talk to. Talking to a real pianist should help you get an idea of what time demands are really like.