<p>Late to the thread, but interesting conversation. I am familiar with Mason Gross School at Rutgers and I agree they have a very strong and competative program. Others that I am familiar with that you might consider are at Brandeis and Tulane. Brandeis has a very strong program, but might be a reach academically. Your SAT is OK, but the GPA would be outside their usual accept range. On the other hand I think they would be sensitive to accepting a unique individual with an interesting story as you have; they look at the whole person. The campus culture is also very intellectually stimulating and would be very supportive of an arts-based person. Tulane also might be a school to consider as they have a good program and strong academics, but a different more main-stream college campus culture. You really haven't talked much about the other aspects of college that appeal to you such as size, urban v suburban, state U v LAC. Comments about the academic qualifications for the list: I would say Rugers is a match, not a safety, FSU, PSU, CMU, SMU are all also probably matches. I would guess that DePaul and U of E are probably safeties. NYU and obviously Brown would be a reach. Good luck!!</p>