Qualified Peabody undergraduates have the option of applying to complete a master’s degree in one additional year of study after they complete their bachelor’s degree. The selection process takes place at the end of the third full year of study. Transfer students may not apply. The admission process includes academic and performance elements as well as the recommendation of the faculty. Students selected for the program maintain their merit scholarship in the fifth year. However, any need-based aid (including the Cummings Scholarship and El Sistema award) will be re-evaluated upon entering the fifth year’s master’s program and is not guaranteed.

The selection process for both the BM/MM and BMRA/MA programs is managed by the Office of Academic Affairs. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, in consultation with faculty and the administration, makes the final decisions about admittance to the five-year programs. Because the selection process considers the results of the 309 jury, the final decisions are not announced until all spring grades have been recorded.

Five Year BM/MM

Undergraduate students may apply for admittance to the BM/MM program in the academic year in which they are scheduled to perform their 309 jury or junior recital (or, for composition majors, in their junior year) by submitting an application and faculty recommendations to the Office of Academic Affairs by May 1 of that year.

Admittance to the BM/MM program is limited to outstanding performers with excellent academic records. The minimum requirements for applying are:

1. An average of A- and above in all major lessons and juries
2. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.67
3. A recommendation from the major teacher.
4. Two letters of recommendation (one of which must be from the major teacher) submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs, either in hard copy form or via email to the Academic Program Coordinator

Admittance into the BM/MM program includes the proviso that a student’s fourth and fifth years of performance or composition study be with a single studio teacher unless there are circumstances that require special arrangements to be made by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Students who wish to complete a BM in performance or composition and then earn an MM in musicology, music theory pedagogy, or performance/pedagogy are also eligible to apply for this program.

Five Year BMRA/MA

Qualified students enrolled in the Bachelor of Music in Recording Arts (BMRA) program have the option of applying to complete the Master of Arts degree in Audio Sciences during a fifth year of study.

Students in the BM Music for New Media program may apply to this program with an adjusted program of study. Adjustments are detailed here. Interested students should consult with the Recording Arts faculty and Peabody Advising.

Applications and related materials must be submitted to Academic Affairs by 1 May during the students third year of study. Admission to the BMRA/MA does not extend financial aid arrangements beyond the fifth year of study, nor does it guarantee continued major lessons in performance or composition.

Admittance to the BMRA/MA program requires:

• a cumulative GPA of 3.5

for BM Recording Arts applicants:

• recommendation from Recording Arts coordinator or Acoustics coordinator
• completion of following coursework by the end of an applicant’s 3rd year of study:
  • Calculus I, II
  • Physics I, II
  • Introduction to Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Recording 3b

for BM Music for New Media applicants:

• recommendation from Recording Arts coordinator or Acoustics coordinator
• completion of following coursework by the end of an applicant’s 3rd year of study:
  • Calculus I, II
  • Physics I, II
  • Recording 3b
  • Music for New Media 4
  • The Tools of New Media 2