During your first three years, you will take studio instruction each semester at NEC, but you will focus on your academic coursework at Harvard. In your fourth year of study, you will complete your degree requirements at Harvard and begin to fulfill NEC’s Master of Music (M.M.) degree requirements, which you will finish in your fifth year of study.

The program is open to high school students who apply to both institutions through the normal admissions process. You must apply to both Harvard and NEC, indicating on both applications your interest in the Harvard-NEC dual degree option. If you are admitted to both institutions, you will then receive an additional decision for admission to the dual degree program.

Admission to the NEC Dual Degree Program guarantees admission to the NEC Master of Music degree program. 

NEC does not offer an early action program but has a regular action deadline of December 1. 

Performance applicants will be expected to audition at NEC during the regular auditions period in February/March.

Composition applicants will be expected to interview at NEC during February/March if invited after review of scores and recordings.

Find out more at the Department of Music at Harvard (617-495-2791) or the Office of Admissions at New England Conservatory (617-585-1101).

For more information, you may also contact:

Harvard University  
Peter Charig, Undergraduate Program Coordinator  
Pcharig@fas.harvard.edu 

New England Conservatory of Music  
Richard Giarusso, Dean of Academic Affairs  
Richard.giarusso@necmusic.edu 

The Harvard-Berklee Joint Studies program allows students to take courses at Berklee while pursuing their undergraduate degree at Harvard.  Students receive their undergraduate degree at Harvard after 4 years and then have the option to apply for a master’s degree at Berklee.

Joint Studies students complete the full requirements of the Harvard A.B. or S.B. degree, including all general education requirements and all the requirements for the Harvard concentration of their choice.  As part of their Harvard curriculum, students may take classes at Berklee. Students begin by taking private instruction on their instrument at Berklee, participating in an ensemble, and taking introductory courses that prepare them for more advanced offerings within Berklee’s curriculum. From there, students will be allowed to pursue their own interests at Berklee in consultation with Berklee and Harvard advisers. Berklee will give particular attention to preparing students for master’s programs if that is their goal.  Students who are interested in pursuing a master’s program at Berklee must apply for the Berklee master’s program in their final year at Harvard.

Upon graduation from the Harvard-Berklee Joint Studies program students receive a bachelor’s degree from Harvard but no degree from Berklee.
 

The Joint Studies program is open to high school students who apply to both institutions through the normal admissions process. You must apply to both Harvard and Berklee, indicating on both applications your interest in the Harvard-Berklee Joint Studies option. If you are admitted to both institutions, you will then receive an additional decision for the Joint Studies program.

Berklee students are allowed to apply early to both Harvard and Berklee. They will receive their general admission decisions from both in December, but they will not receive their decision from Berklee about the Joint Studies program until the spring.

Admission to the Joint Studies program does not guarantee admission to the master’s program. Students must apply for the master’s program in their final year at Harvard.
 

Find out more at the Department of Music at Harvard University (617-495-2791) or contact the Office of Admissions at Berklee College of Music at 800-237-5533 or admissions@berklee.com.

For more information, you may also contact:

Harvard University  
Peter Charig, Undergraduate Program Coordinator  
Pcharig@fas.harvard.edu 

Berklee College of Music 
Jeff Williams, Assistant Director for Program Evaluation and Equity  
jwilliams32@berklee.edu