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My previous thread, but I got a lot of answers I was searching for so I have some new ones!
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=289946
TeamLiquid;DoRead!
Question: If Music Education really does take that much time, is doing Piano Performance + Music Education actually a better idea (save more time) than doing Piano Performance + Business (the finance kind, not administration nor law)?
What I know
Right now I want to dual-degree or double major, 4 years or even 5 years if needed (1 more year isn't that much more expensive in the long run).
I want to succeed at a professional music career, so long as my desire to play piano doesn't die out (or my passion for music). Very unlikely it will though ^^
However I've decided to pick a safety. Either music education or business (finance, if I want to start a business you don't need a degree to show anyone lol)
Probably want: 4-5 years, no more than $30k tuition a year, I don't want a six figure debt especially since if I am a musician I won't make much money.
Benefits of the 2 Choices
Music Education
-will overlap some classes with piano performance, so that doing 2 things will be a little easier
-I can do music education either at a school or just piano lessons (private, my own studio, or at students' homes) while I practice piano on the side. Even if I never become a full time pianist, I can still perform/accompany on the side for some side money/fun, my band teacher does this
-Might help if I ever want to go to Japan/Korea to teach English? I probably can't teach at schools without a degree (or at least hard to) but in person...? Ideally i'd like schools though I think.
(if I major in Education instead, I'm pretty sure I can't teach like a band teacher at a school, though i can do piano lessons, and don't think i'll even be able to teach language...? inside the USA i mean at least)
Business (finance, not administration)
-is supposed to be a nice compliment to music performance since you can learn to manage yourself
-if I fail as a piano player then I can at least work in a field I have a passion for as a finance/business dude (music or starcraft kekek)
-I hear is a bit easy, I'm talking generally more about undergrad business programs not graduate master degrees
Myth or Not?
However, I hear that music education workload is a bit heavy (my band teacher said you may need to take more classes than usual and they may give less credits than usual, but he said it wasn't necessarily hard). He frowned (in a humorous way) upon the idea of doing 2 different things, Performance + Business
Note: Thank you SO MUCH again for any advice. Some college apps are due in a few days so this is why it's a little urgent ( a lot due by the end of December 1st, so I have a little more than 2 days ).
Additional Info
Also I think BM is more what I want than a BA, and I think it fits better. Though for some schools like Emory it seems like you can get a degree in business in only 2 years while also getting a BA (50% music) in the same 4 years (without having to apply for dual-degree which has a small but still realistic chance of being rejected?). Probably won't prepare me as much but again I don't think I want to go to grad school, so I am keeping that in mind.
Another choice is to do Piano Performance + Pedagogy, so that I can teach in studios (much more easily?) than trying to ask around with just a Piano Performance degree (at least, I can charge more without them worrying much and without me having to prove myself slowly by starting with cheaper lessons). Teaching in a band class sounds fun, I love to manage things and think about putting bands together (i'm always trying to organize performances with friends lol) though I will have to work on the speech aspect and I might get annoyed by band class talking too much, though my band teacher does a great job and has little problem with it, and since he's my teacher I'll have a good idea of how to handle things when/if I teach ^^
Ideally I think I would love to learn either jap or kor fluently and live in Japan or Korea.
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How many rabbits are you trying to chase? Your passion for music is evident in the post. You also seek financial safety, something to fall back on, in either music education or business/finance. On top of that, you would like to teach English abroad, and ultimately live in either Japan or Korea.
Why the rabbits? Well, you're only supposed to chase one at a time...
I'm going to save space here and say this, go for either music performance + ed, or business. I don't recommend doing music performance + business. I was in a sort of similar situation 4 years ago (music or engineering?). You can PM me if you want a detailed story.
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Interesting... what college are you at?
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On November 30 2011 09:08 mizU wrote:
Interesting... what college are you at?
Senior right now, the colleges on my apply list are as follows (these were selected previously only on the plan of majoring in Business and finishing a degree in 4 years and not doing grad, possibly with music minor just for "fun")
University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Cornell Universtiy, Emory, UNC, Boston College, UW Madison, Northwestern, NYU, UT Austin, UC Berkely
On November 30 2011 09:03 OpticalShot wrote:
How many rabbits are you trying to chase? Your passion for music is evident in the post. You also seek financial safety, something to fall back on, in either music education or business/finance. On top of that, you would like to teach English abroad, and ultimately live in either Japan or Korea.
Why the rabbits? Well, you're only supposed to chase one at a time...
I'm going to save space here and say this, go for either music performance + ed, or business. I don't recommend doing music performance + business. I was in a sort of similar situation 4 years ago (music or engineering?). You can PM me if you want a detailed story.
Sorry I was a bit unclear, I am not trying to focus on all these things on once, rather I am considering them only as backup-backups, meaning if I look at Music Ed vs Business, and I can't pick which one, I will pick the more "flexible" degree/education that might be able to let me do something else, if the first choices fail.
Teaching English, for example, is only if all else fails and I decide to try to settle down to fulfilling only one of my goals, living abroad. Since obviously I won't have a Education degree for teaching subjects like Math or etc., it would still be possible to achieve one of my goals of living abroad by teaching English, something that I have.
Thank you for your recommendation, it means a lot to me ^^
Another choice, if I somehow find that I need it, is going to grad school after 4 years of Performance/Ed to get a Business degree. Like, if I lose my determination or really don't think I can handle it (the pressure, the sacrifices, etc.), I could perhaps take more loan and take another 4 years of college. It's a lot of money of course, but then I could get a better degree anyways (master vs bachelor, though idk if i need a bachelor first to get a master lol), and I will at least be able to live the rest of my life without worrying about the "what if I tried to fulfill my ideal dream of being a pianist?"
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Wait. You're not in college yet? You're overthinking everything. Everyone wants to double major and become fluent in another language. You're going to have to prioritize.
Which UNC? North Carolina or Colorado?
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On November 30 2011 09:18 mizU wrote:
Wait. You're not in college yet? You're overthinking everything. Everyone wants to double major and become fluent in another language. You're going to have to prioritize.
Which UNC? North Carolina or Colorado?
North Carolina.
I am overthinking? Whew, that's a bit of a relief ^^
I always thought it was horrible that the USA didn't prepare us for such things, perhaps college is more flexible than I believe it to be.
Ah, so you're saying that it will be very difficult to do all three things (double major, let alone dual degree, + fluent in language)? Thanks, that is another important question I had. I can always learn language by my self (with the help of friends haha) and later in life if I still want to move.
In that case, my priority is on the 2 degrees. Unless the workload will still be very heavy, I am fine with the 5 year idea. I have read and heard from others that in some colleges, you can do many kinds of double majors without even having more classes than needed, if at all (whatever that means), as long as you plan correctly. I guess it all depends on the school though; those with more rigorous courses in X field will probably require more or harder classes, making it harder for you to do 2 things?
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College is very flexible here. The only cause for worry would be if you weren't worrying at all about college. As long as you're thinking about it you'll be fine. 
Is there a reason you haven't considered any other Ivy besides Cornell? First of all your worries about your GPA is ridiculous since it is still good, and your test scores are perfectly fine. As long as you pass AP tests, are doing at least one or two extracurriculars, and write interesting essays you should be quite competitive. Furthermore, if your father makes $50k a year, you will attend free at the Ivies. They also have many resources and opportunities available to students because of their money, which can help you make it with a more difficult career choice.
I am not as familiar with the music programs at the Ivies. I know here at Penn we have a music school which is small but seems quite good. One of my friends is a music major and studying music business (the industry side of things), but he also does a lot of performing on the piano and guitar and loves it. It seems that the program is very open to individual student interests.
I am just pushing at the Ivies a bit because you have mentioned money as a big factor a couple of times.
As for which is better in terms of majors and focuses... no one can tell you. You gotta figure it out yourself!  (But don't worry, you will have some time to decide once you get to college.)
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On November 30 2011 09:41 RedJustice wrote:College is very flexible here. The only cause for worry would be if you weren't worrying at all about college. As long as you're thinking about it you'll be fine. Is there a reason you haven't considered any other Ivy besides Cornell? First of all your worries about your GPA is ridiculous since it is still good, and your test scores are perfectly fine. As long as you pass AP tests, are doing at least one or two extracurriculars, and write interesting essays you should be quite competitive. Furthermore, if your father makes $50k a year, you will attend free at the Ivies. They also have many resources and opportunities available to students because of their money, which can help you make it with a more difficult career choice. I am not as familiar with the music programs at the Ivies. I know here at Penn we have a music school which is small but seems quite good. One of my friends is a music major and studying music business (the industry side of things), but he also does a lot of performing on the piano and guitar and loves it. It seems that the program is very open to individual student interests. I am just pushing at the Ivies a bit because you have mentioned money as a big factor a couple of times. As for which is better in terms of majors and focuses... no one can tell you. You gotta figure it out yourself! (But don't worry, you will have some time to decide once you get to college.)
Wow, I am soooooooooo uplifted by this. Maybe it's also cus I'm listening to a kpop ballad song <3
Perhaps I should apply to more better schools then. My brother kept telling me even the schools i apply to i won't have a "good" chance of getting in (i usually disagree with him in everything we do though lol).
I didn't know that about the Ivies. My bro kept telling me (he's graduated with CS and went to grad with law) that the Ivies are overrated, just like brand names. But if they're like what you say I will reconsider!
That is great, meaning I will start with a piano performance and then figure out a backup, if at all :D.
I think 1 big concern I didn't mention (which is the reason why I'm all panic-y) is I have no idea how big a difference each program/college is. My brother says that it won't work just to go to a lower tier school and try to work harder (but that's just his experience). As long as I work hard and am open-minded and positive, I should be "fine" though eh?
Wow, free entrance. That sounds so fantastic. I'll keep checking things out, this is very appreciated ^^^^
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It sounds like music is your passion. You should pick a school that is known for its music program, as you will get the best teachers and most importantly the best networking. You will be able to meet so many friends that all play instruments really well, and that is the best way to improve, to start a band, to start networking, etc.
Two of my high school friends (both extremely musically talented) that knew they wanted to spend their life in music went to Berkley. They really loved it. You should apply. best of luck.
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On November 30 2011 11:30 tentoff wrote:
It sounds like music is your passion. You should pick a school that is known for its music program, as you will get the best teachers and most importantly the best networking. You will be able to meet so many friends that all play instruments really well, and that is the best way to improve, to start a band, to start networking, etc.
Two of my high school friends (both extremely musically talented) that knew they wanted to spend their life in music went to Berkley. They really loved it. You should apply. best of luck.
Sorry do you mean California Berkely, or Berkelee? the first has a good music department (top 3, but idk if this is top 3 departments or top 3 out of all music schools/conservatories)
Now that I check the berkely website, it says their music is currently rank 8-33 out of all national schools. Since it's a department and not a school, you can get in without an audition. So is it really possible for it to be that good? It's a liberal arts course meaning they only give BA in music, not BM, meaning it doesn't have as much music as I would like.
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I didn't even consider going into music until like September of my senior year. Currently in my 3rd year and I love it ^^
I feel like you're way over thinking things. Just do what you what to do and see where it leads you. As long as you go to a collage, it shouldn't make that big of a difference.
I was thinking of doing a double major in physics(what I originally wanted to do for most of my life) and violin performance but my professor told me that you can always to an undergrad in music and then switch majors or just go to grad school for non-music but it'll never work the other way around. I have some friends who did their undergrad in piano performance and then went to med school afterwards. In fact, one of my family friends was a piano performance major and he currently a professor of informatics.
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On November 30 2011 13:52 Xenocide_Knight wrote:
I didn't even consider going into music until like September of my senior year. Currently in my 3rd year and I love it ^^
I feel like you're way over thinking things. Just do what you what to do and see where it leads you. As long as you go to a collage, it shouldn't make that big of a difference.
I was thinking of doing a double major in physics(what I originally wanted to do for most of my life) and violin performance but my professor told me that you can always to an undergrad in music and then switch majors or just go to grad school for non-music but it'll never work the other way around. I have some friends who did their undergrad in piano performance and then went to med school afterwards. In fact, one of my family friends was a piano performance major and he currently a professor of informatics.
Thank you!
Ugh I just realized prescreening tapes are due December 1st for University of Michigan, whose music program seems different but most importantly they have 2 piano performance majors; one that is just performance, while the other one has slightly more credits but also allows you to teach (both elementary and secondary schools!) all for what seems to be 4 years (or is it more like you go to a college, and as long as you don't go over the max per semester, you can go at whatever speed you want at taking the classes?)
I'll do my best and practice up some old songs and try to wing the prescreening lol, if I don't make it though perhaps I can get in my 2nd year.
Actually, nope i can't lol http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/piano/bm_curr_b.htm
It's like 150 credits, meaning about 18.75 credits per semester. WTF I thought 18 credits was the max for Umich!
Anyways, i thought colleges just kicked you out after 4 years or something unless you specifically tell them. So, if I don't get into music the first year, I can try to take all the other required classes for music and graduation if possible, and then maybe do 5 years? sounds like a waste of a first year though T_T I guess I should try hard for my prescreening then.
Edit: Planning on skipping school the next 2 days just to practice lol... i hope there's a snow day tomorrow. I feel like it's important to skip school for this but at the same time I am struggling with the idea.
Edit2: OMG I was going to kill myself when I realized another of my schools (U Texas) prescreening was due Dec 1 as well T_T I can't believe a month has already passed. Anyways, I was wrong as only flute needs prescreening T_T
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EPT
