<p>I'm a junior making my college list, and most of the schools I'm looking at right now are reaches (UC Berkeley, UCLA, and possibly Stanford and Columbia even though those are really a reach). I'm having trouble finding a safety school or match that I'd really enjoy going to, can anyone help me out? I don't know very much about colleges and I haven't heard of that many beyond the really prestigious ones and some state schools near me, which is why this is difficult for me.</p>
<p>My stats are:
-a 2260 SAT (800 on CR)
-about a 90 average, but will likely be higher by my senior year. My school doesn't do GPA
-US and Literature SAT II's (didn't get scores yet, will also take Math II and Physics)
-will have taken 7 APs by senior year
-good EC's (started a band, made it into prestigious music program, performed many large gigs, volunteered as a tutor to underprivileged kids, played 2 years of sports)</p>
<p>My criteria are kind of unusual: I'm a musician and although I have to leave behind my current band when I go to college, I'm looking to start a new band when I get there. So it has to be in a location with a reasonable music scene (doesn't have to be a big city like New York or LA, but it has to have at least a few bars and clubs to play at and maybe a record store.) I also would not want a school smaller than maybe 4,000 people, only because I'm worried I wouldn't be able to find and connect with any bandmates. If they would have rehearsal rooms or any kind of setup where it would be possible to get a band started, that would also be a huge plus. </p>
<p>Can anyone suggest a school where I might be able to find something like what I mentioned above?</p>
<p>What’s your home state and how much can you afford? I would say U Texas but if your OOS you could pay $50K+/year.</p>
<p>I’m from New York. That’s obviously really expensive but I’m planning to apply for scholarships and my parents are dealing with the financial aid part of the application, right now I’m just making a list</p>
<p>Is that in Austin?</p>
<p>University of Georgia has an awesome music scene, Athens. Thats where REM is from. so many clubs and band halls. You are above the UGA criteria so scholarships on scholarships probably. Definitely consider University of Wisconsin Madison as it is a great school and Madison has a great music scene. Other towns with awesome music scenes are Minneapolis, Cambridge Mass, and Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Durham so maybe look Boston schools (BU, Northeastern), Macalester for a smaller liberal arts right outside of Minn, Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. </p>
<p>@thepontinator thank you so much!! ah so many suggestions, I’ll look into all of those</p>
<p>Do you want to major in music, or something else?</p>
<p>I don’t plan on majoring in music, no. Probably journalism or something like that, since I need to have something to fall back on in case I don’t ‘make it’. That said, though, if they don’t offer music as a major at all I probably wouldn’t go there since it would indicate that people there don’t tend to care about it. I also might minor in it.</p>
<p>Philadelphia has a terrific music scene, and it’s much more affordable than some other cities. Penn could be a reach school for you. Temple is a public university, with good communications/journalism departments, at a decent price. Drexel is expensive, if you don’t get any aid, but has a good music business program. Your stats are good enough for a shot at a merit scholarship from Tulane, and it’s hard to beat NOLA for music. Vanderbilt’s a reach, but they should also be on your radar. Rhodes (in Memphis) could be a back-up. It’s a low-match for you academically; I don’t know about their scholarships. </p>
<p>It looks like you have the stats for full tuition scholarship at Temple - it could be a good safety</p>
<p>If you want to major in journalism, I’d start looking at scholarships because UT (yes in Austin) sounds perfect for you. They have an awesome live music scene and their communication program is one of the best. You also might look at NYU? I don’t know if that would be a high match or what but it sounds like you might like it. If you like jazz, you could look at Tulane. I don’t know much about it, but New Orleans is live music central. In Houston, there’s UH (extra safety and probably scholarships galore) and Rice, but I don’t think it matches your school criteria.</p>
<p>Wow these all sound pretty good! One thing I forgot to mention though is that i’m not really into greek life so I’m probably not interested in Tulane even though it otherwise sounds good. other than that though these all sound like schools i’d be interested in</p>
<p>There are always the CUNYs as an option. Stay in NYC and attend an affordable school.</p>
<p>Check out University of Southern California. Excellent journalism school and good music scene.</p>