<p>My son is a Junior in his H.S. Humanities program. His GPA is 98.56 He is interested in a college that has a strong English/creative writing Depts. He also 'must have' a music dept. He's looking to stay on the East coast (no further south than NC). Any guidance, info, advice is very appreciated.</p>
<p>Try posting in the Music majors forum. (I know, it is a MINOR, but the crowd over there is knowledgable). Also, what sort of music minor? Performance? Theory?</p>
<p>Cornell has a strong english department plus an option for a music minor. The music department is quite strong at Cornell. The performing groups are great and the composition and musicology programs are some of the best in the country.</p>
<p>Rochester and Case Western both have engineering and music. As musica recommended, I would post on the Music Majors because I don’t know how easy it is to take music courses at those schools if you are not majoring.</p>
<p>I agree with Cornell and U Rochester.</p>
<p>I’ll rely on others to suggest the English/creative options, but offer a few suggestions towards what to look for in the music minor.</p>
<ul>
<li>a lot will depend on his musical focus, be it instrumental/vocal, or more towards composition or the music academic disciplines of theory, history, musicology.</li>
</ul>
<p>-genre will be important, if the focus may be more to jazz, classical, contemporary/popular</p>
<p>-depth and level of his prior musical experiences, years of (or lack of) training, ensemble participation, etc. Some minors MAY even be audition based, while some are not. Peer level may be very important, particularly if his experiences run to the higher levels. Many of the smaller programs may be lacking in depth and peer quality, and instrumentation unbalance can be a problem.</p>
<p>-the options available for ensemble participation, private instrument or voice instruction may or may not be available, in many cases at additional out of pocket cost, potentially not even with music faculty.</p>
<p>-institutions with “go to” music programs may severely limit course options and participatory experiences for non-majors, so it really requires and in depth reading of the music departments webpages (and often the undergrad handbook) to get an idea of what may or may not be available.</p>
<p>It’s really dictated by his musical wants and needs, but these are some of the more pertinent points to consider. Many find the LACs to provide the best options.</p>
<p>As for the English major…He does not expect to go out & write the next great American novel, at least right away, he’s mention creative writing & like the idea of speech writing (which can be one in the same…lol)</p>
<p>The Music minor…He’s played clarinet for 8 yrs., has been in our All-County Band (principal clarinet 2 x’s), played with orchestras, and in quartets. He wants to continue but does not want it to be his ‘career’</p>
<p>Cornell is already on his list…thanks for the other suggestions.</p>
<p>sounds like he’s looking for carnegie mellon.</p>
<p>excellent engineering (espcially cs) and music programs, although I have heard nothing about its english/creative writing programs.</p>
<p>^ I have to ask: then why would you say he’s looking for CMU if you know nothing about the strength of his intended major? On the basis of their engineering programs?</p>
<p>The majors are so different that you usually don’t find the best programs at both schools, so larger state schools might generally be a better bet. Off the top of my head I would say University of Southern Cal, Indiana University, University of Rochester, University of Michigan, University of Illinois, and University of South Carolina. The latter three are especially good depending on the type of engineering your son is looking into.</p>