<p>MBM, my son is at UMich and really enjoying his experience. He’s pursuing a different curriculae (Performing Arts Technology - Music/media stream, which includes electronic composition, scoring, recording/reinforcement and multimedia) but as such he also studies with some of the same professors as the pure composition students as part of his sequence, and in addition is quite a writer. One of the things he really enjoys is that his program is intmate (16 students, only 4 in his discipline) but benefits from a much larger SOM (1,000 students apx. including dance and music theater) with multiple degrees and as such, musicians/actors/dancers with which to work. Re: the earlier note – if you are not a major in the studio you’re taking, it is possible to have a GSI as instructor. This seems reasonable to me. If you are a major, my understanding is that you will have a faculty instructor. Some people don’t care for the fact that Michigan assigns its studios AFTER acceptance – eg. does not positively guarantee whose studio you’ll be in. I cannot reliably report whether this has later caused an issue as in my son’s case he’s always had the studio instructor he’s requested, first choice, and he’s not even a performance major, so on the face of it, it seems likely one might get who they choose.</p>
<p>Regarding applying, I also want to let you know that Michigan no longer recalculates the GPA to unweighted/academic only, so the AP transcript, if that’s what’s on his transcript, will be what is considered. If his ACT/SAT are equally strong and he is roughly top 10% of his class, he is a good fit for the school itself. However, since the School of Music is very similar to a conservatory, if he applies strictly to the BMus composition program (wherein he will have piano studio), he would only need academic clearance to audition, which I suspect he would receive handily.</p>
<p>It is possible, with the addition of a fifth year often necessary, to dual degree between LSA or the College of Engineering and the School of Music. To do so, be sure he applies to BOTH programs - each admittance is independent of each other. There is also a long list of available minors. Another route would be a Bachelor of Musical Arts, which is designed more for cognate pursuit and less specialized than the BMus composition.</p>
<p>With respect to academic class sizes – there are ways to ensure that you’re in a smaller class at UMich (eg. honors, or Lloyd Hall Program or Residential College program, all of which are more socratic in nature) but in general freshman and sophomore “weeder” classes such as orgo chem etc. are very very large, with smaller discussion groups. At the same time, UMich has one of the very best (ranked 2nd in the US) MFA programs in creative writing and thus has exceptional instructors in that area.</p>
<p>However, with respect to class size, I’d generally expect Northwestern and Oberlin to each offer a more intimate academic experience, but possibly in an environment less diverse with a smaller array of programs/courses from which to select (my son has friends at each and this seems to be the consensus). </p>
<p>If your son pursues/falls in love with/is accepted to Michigan and elects to attend, please feel free to pm me for details on ways to recreate a smaller/liberal arts academic environment if you wish. Eg. we’d be happy to send you a list of the small classes my son typically enrolls in outside the SOM. It takes a bit of doing to make that part work 
Cheers,
K</p>