Double Degree Program
Double Degree students at Oberlin get the best of both worlds: the opportunity to pursue their musical passions in our world-class music conservatory while expanding their horizons in a top-ranked liberal arts college.
Why Double Degree?
We invented it. The Double Degree Program makes the entire campus your intellectual and artistic playground, combining a thorough liberal arts education with world-class, preprofessional music training.
In five years or fewer, you emerge with a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Music, and a wide array of options for life after Oberlin. You’ll also benefit from our collaborative community, supportive advisors, and rich resources—from Steinways to supercomputers.
Whether your majors are complementary, or couldn’t be more distinct, your capacity for intense focus and imagination will flourish. Some double-degree students in recent years have studied:
- piano performance and history
- viola and comparative literature
- law and society and jazz saxophone performance
- piano performance, vocal accompanying, and politics
- neuroscience and piano
- piano performance and visual art
- composition and computer science
- self-designed major in jazz and classical trumpet and economics
- violin and environmental studies
- trumpet and computer science
Applying to the Double Degree Program
Once you're through the door, Oberlin is one student body on a single campus. College and Conservatory students share residence halls, dining facilities, clubs and organizations, and often the classroom. However, in terms of the application process, it's helpful to think of the College and the Conservatory as two different schools with separate applications, timelines, and review processes.
Application
You need to apply to both the College of Arts & Sciences and the Conservatory of Music. Each application will be evaluated separately.
View the application requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences
View the application requirements for the Conservatory of Music
Timeline
| Conservatory of Music | College of Arts & Sciences | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | December 1 |
November 15 |
January 2 Early Decision II* |
January 15 Regular Decision |
| Notification | April 1 | December 15 | February 1 | April 1 |
| Reply Due | May 1 | January 2 | February 15 | May 1 |
The Conservatory releases admissions decisions in mid-March. If you apply to the College via Regular Decision, you will receive decisions from both divisions at the same time.
*Please note than an Early Decision application is binding: Arts & Sciences applicants who are admitted through Early Decision are expected to enroll, regardless of the outcome of their application to the Conservatory. Prospective students should only apply to the College via Early Decision if they wish to attend Oberlin whether or not they are also admitted to the Conservatory. Please see our Early Decision website for more information.
Financial Aid
You only need to submit financial aid documents once as part of the Double Degree application process. While enrolled in both divisions, you’ll have one tuition bill and one financial aid package.
The Double Degree Program typically takes 4.5 to 5 years to complete. Your financial aid package stays with you that entire time. See full details on how to apply for aid on our Financial Aid Overview.