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What college major should I go for if I like math and music?

I'm a Senior in high school and will be submitting my applications in two months. I like math and music, but I am lost if there are any majors related. Could I get some recommendations?

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Andrew’s Answer

First and foremost, I must confess that I am biased in my recommendation since I am a Professor of Mathematics. Nonetheless, I will my best to present a practical recommendation.

From the future career point of view, a degree in mathematics is a lot more practical than a degree in music.

An undergraduate degree in mathematics will open doors to a wide variety of disciplines should you decide to go for a postgraduate degree or enter the workforce. Meanwhile, majoring in mathematics should not be an obstacle in pursuing your interest in music. You should be able to take as many courses in music as electives in fulfilling your degree requirement, which may inform your decision on whether to take music as your minor or even to take it as a major. You have a couple of years in college to finalize your future goal.
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Thomas’s Answer

My personal suggestion would be to Major in one and Minor in the other with a thought on maybe teaching one of them in the future and focus your curriculum on how one applies to the other. I love both math and music and there are definitely mathematical elements to music (especially when you get into music theory), as well, an intricate math formula can be like a symphony of equations and solutions that build up to a crescendo.

Might I also recommend two things...

[1] https://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/math-and-music <-- This is an article on the American Mathematical Society's website about "Mathematics and Music"

[2] The book "Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter <-- Although this is not necessarily about the direct relationship between math and music, it is nonetheless beautifully written and about a mathematician (Godel), artist (Escher), and composer (Bach)
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Mamadou’s Answer

For math - Bachelor's in mathematics, computer science, statistics or related field
For music -
Arts Management
Popular Music
Jazz Studies
Musical Theater
Music Education
Music History
Music Industry
Music Technology
etc..
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Marci’s Answer

It would be good to find a school that will let you major in something like math, finance or accounting with a double major or maybe a minor in music of some type. Or you can choose a major and still take music lessons and be in an ensemble as a non music major. Good to check on that with the universities that you are thinking of applying to see if they have guidelines for that specifically.
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