<p>I'm currently a freshman at Williams College and thinking of transferring out. I play clarinet and piano pretty seriously, and I don't like either of my private teachers here. There is only one clarinet teacher and only two other piano teachers, so it's kind of a big deal. Plus, Williams is in the middle of nowhere, so I'd have to drive about an hour away to get lessons from outside teachers, and I really don't have the time for that. On top of this, I think I want to pursue music more seriously than I had originally planned. I'm thinking of transferring to a college near/in a city- easier access to and more teachers to choose from, amazing concerts within my reach any weekend, more of a music "scene" in general. Plus, I grew up in a small New England town, and I'm bored of the same old setting.</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 2250
SAT IIs: 800 (US Hist), 770 (Engl Lit), 720 (Math II)
HS GPA: we had a weird GPA system, but I had all A's and A+'s
HS Rank: 1/150
College grades: should be all A's/A-'s, maybe one B+ at worst
Applying to: Swarthmore (got in last year early write), U of Chicago (also got in last year), Harvard (rejected last year)</p>
<p>I have a bit of a mental block against transferring because I have two older brothers who went to Williams and loved it. I don't hate it here, but I think I would benefit more from going to a school in/near a city. I'm also a bit nervous bringing it up with my family because of the brother situation. I know they want what's best for me, but it's a little awkward. Does my rationale make sense? Any advice, chances, anything? Thanks!</p>
<p>If you're looking for non-conservatories, Columbia has a great music department. On the other coast, USC has an even more amazing music school (and really competitive clarinet studio) and solid academics. There are MANY gigs here in LA and you could make nice/easy money playing for films. If you're looking to do clarinet/piano seriously, I would definitely not recommend UChicago. Harvard and Swarthmore perhaps, but investigate clarinet/piano professors specifically and perhaps even arrange lessons with them.</p>
<p>I would recommend Columbia (joint program with juilliard), Yale, and Northwestern. All fine academic institutions, with highly regarded music departments and/or access to great teachers. Also, Harvard, of course. </p>
<p>Swathmore is a LAC just like williams, so you MIGHT have trouble finding someone you connect with there as well. UChicago probably isn't the best school if you're getting more serious about music. </p>
<p>best of luck, and don't feel shy about expressing your discontentment to your family. they will understand.</p>
<p>How about Johns Hopkins (Peabody)? Either directly to Peabody, or to JHU if you don't want to actually major in music. Then take advantage of the Peabody resources.</p>
<p>i don't really know how good the clarinet and piano teachers are at northwestern but nu definitely has good music "scene" and there are many opportunites to perform for non-majors. </p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to clarify, I'm not looking for conservatories. I don't even know if it's possible to transfer into a conservatory; if it is, it's probably very very difficult! I'm just looking for good private teachers.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, why are people particularly against Chicago? My reasoning was that the Chicago Symphony is one of the best orchestras in the country, plus Depaul has a fairly reputable clarinet program and Northwestern is relatively nearby. In regard to NU, the article on non-majors was intriguing, but I've heard stories to the contrary. Plus, on their music school's website, it says that most non-majors get lessons from music grad students. This is the case at Yale as well. I took some lessons with several Yale grad students when I was looking for a private teacher in HS, and I wasn't too impressed. They were very talented players, but not very good teachers, probably due to inexperience. So I'm a bit wary of NU's resources for non-majors.</p>
<p>Columbia sounds like a definitely possibility though, assuming I can manage to get in. Thanks again for the comments!</p>
<p>are you looking for only schools that are williams' peers though? if that's the case, i think you should still apply to northwestern. at least it's transfer friendly and would be a match. you can always visit later and find out the truth about its resources for non-majors. there aren't really that many schools that are in the top-20, in/near a city and have the musical resource you look for. in case you don't know, depaul is a 30-45-min subway ride from northwestern.</p>