Admission to Candidacy
All students are required to be admitted to candidacy to earn a degree as a Recording Industry major. Candidacy is required as a prerequisite to enrollment in most upper-division courses within the college. When applying to candidacy, students choose their concentration: Commercial Songwriting or Music Business.
To apply for candidacy, a student must have
- completed all learning support requirements;
- completed all high school deficiencies;
- completed 24 hours (not to include learning support courses);
- completed the math requirement (College Algebra or higher level math) with a minimum 2.00 (C) grade;
- completed all candidacy courses with a minimum 2.00 (C) grade in each: JOUR 1020/EMC 1020/RIM 1020; RIM 3000; RIM 3010 or RIM 3011*; RIM 3600);
- maintained good standing (not on probation).
*NOTE: RIM 3010 is required for Audio Production students and to take many Audio Production related electives
Students in the Commercial Songwriting concentration are guaranteed admission to candidacy if they earn a Candidacy Formula score of 35.5 or better. A limited number of additional candidacy slots will be open based on availability. Candidacy will be granted three times per year-after the fall and spring semesters and summer term. Students may not take other RIM courses beyond the candidacy requirements, with the exception of RIM 1230, RIM 3115/3116, and RIM 3650, until they have successfully completed admission to candidacy.
The application for admission to candidacy is an online application available here. Applications should be submitted by students during the semester in which they will have completed the above requirements. The deadline for candidacy applications is near the end of each semester and is announced via email each semester.
Candidacy Formula
Each student’s candidacy score is derived from the following:
Score = (inclusive GPA x 3) + (math grade x 3) + (candidacy course GPA x 4) + (total hours x .05).
Candidacy Appeals
A few of any available slots in the concentration will be awarded based on a faculty committee recommendation on an appeal application. Appeal applications will be accepted after formula slots have been announced early in the Fall and Spring Semester and Summer Term. Appeal recommendations will be based on exceptional circumstances and/or exceptional talent and/or diversity considerations.
Degree Requirements
| General Education |
41 hours |
| Major Requirements |
51 hours* |
| Recording Industry Core |
18 hours |
| Recording Industry Sub Core |
18 hours |
| Commercial Songwriting Electives |
15 hours |
| Minor |
15-20 hours |
| Major Support Requirement |
3 hours* |
| Electives |
5-11 hours |
| TOTAL |
120 hours |
*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the General Education curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill General Education requirements, the number of elective hours will increase.
Curriculum: Recording Industry, Commercial Songwriting Concentration
Curricular listings include General Education requirements in Communication, History, Humanities and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.
Students should see their advisors to develop their individual schedules. Certain prerequisites and sequences in particular major concentrations and minors require special attention.
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