… Jie Xin / from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / BSc Mathematics and Music / 4th Year (UG)
Having completed my first three years of my undergraduate studies as a maths and music student, I hope I could share a little about my experiences with anyone curious or prospective students.
Some comments and questions I always get when telling people about my programme include: “oh, I didn’t know that existed!”, “what made you decide on this particular programme?”, “you must be so good at both music and maths!” and “how do you combine maths and music?” Well, it does exist, I absolutely love both mathematics and music, and yes, I would love to think that I am good at both music and maths. For the question about combining maths and music, there are a variety of courses which do so, but it’s not a requirement for me to take them.
Before applying for this programme, I considered applying for a BSc Mathematics programme and taking music courses which I liked as optional courses. This looked like a good option as I was mainly interested in a few music courses and by doing so, I didn’t need to take the compulsory music courses which I was not too excited about. However, what I didn’t realise at that time was that music courses generally have quite limited spaces and music students will always be considered first. Therefore, it is very difficult to enrol in some of the popular music courses even as a music student. Consequently, being a maths and music student allowed me to have some of the perks of being a music student like gaining access to the music practice rooms and being prioritised for enrolling in music courses.
What I love about being on a joint honours programme
Besides getting to learn the courses which I am passionate about, I was able to experience being both a maths student and a music student. This means that I got to attend classes and hang out at both JCMB and Alison House, try out the food at King’s campus and around George Square, and befriend people from both the School of Maths and the School of Music. Moreover, there was no set routine where I travel to the same building daily, each day felt like an adventure as I was always discovering new places around both campuses.
The (possible) downsides of being on a joint honours programme
Compared to single honours students, I have to carefully pick my course choices to have the perfect balance between the two disciplines. I have to admit that with my indecisiveness and the variety of courses offered here at the university, it is at times a struggle to pick courses. Another aspect is that my classes are held at two different campuses which are considerably far apart. At first, this was an issue as the bus service provided by the university which travels between King’s and George Square was always jam-packed and commuting by foot took up too much time. However, this was no longer an issue when I got a bike. It is also worthy to note that some music courses are limited to single-honour music students only like Keyboard skills and Performance.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my personal experiences, I am sure my fellow course-mates have different stories to tell as everyone’s experience is unique.