I am an incoming junior, and I have been quite shaky on my college major for the last few months as I was debating whether to go into an academic major or hone my passion for the arts. I decided to stick with my performing arts interest and I have narrowed it down to two majors. Either
BFA/BA Musical Theatre or BA/BM Music (with an emphasis in music education.) I’ve been looking at schools, and have compiled a list:
◦ New York University
◦ University of Southern California
◦ Vanderbilt University
◦ Pepperdine University
◦ UC Irvine
◦ UC San Diego
◦ Santa Clara University
◦ Rider University
◦ Syracuse University
◦ California Polytechnic University: Pomona
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of schools to add and/or swap any of the ones on my list out for. I want to either stay in California to or go to school in New York or in that surrounding area. (Though Vanderbilt is on my list because of their exceptional program at Blair College of Music.) Thank You! 
Do you want a conservatory/school of music environment (BM) or a college/university music department (BA). The BM is 3/4-2/3 music and the BA is 1/4-1/3 music, with the BFA intense for Musical Theater.
Are you interested in a double degree? I would add Bard in upstate NY.
Is affordability an issue? SUNY Purchase is relatively affordable.
Do you want to teach in public schools, and which state?
For the West Coast also Lewis and Clark and University of Puget Sound. For NY Purchase, as I wrote, and Sarah Lawrence. Carnegie Mellon maybe. Skidmore, Vassar.
That’s just a start. You list schools that have conservatories/schools of music, and schools that don’t, so your list is confusing to me to start! As a result, my list is mixed too!!
Read the Double Degree Dilemma posted above in this music forum and clarify and maybe I/we can give more coherent advice.
Purchase does not have MT or an education program, so may not be the best fit in this case. The conservatory at SUNY Fredonia has good BFA/BMus programs in both, so is worth a look.
Good catch indeestudios! I missed the music education goal 
My son is starting this year at Fredonia in the BFA theater program. He got into Purchase as well but felt Fredonia was a better fit. We attended orientation and came away with really positive feelings about the school overall.
The campus is lovely but they say they get a lot of snow. We live in NY so S17 will be able to deal with it but as a California native, OP needs to be prepared. I will say that the upstate SUNY’s generally deal with snow on campus very quickly and efficiently, but good warm boots, etc. are a must.
The music education program is highly regarded as well. My friend’s son will be attending as well, in that major. They looked (and auditioned) at Ithaca, Maryland, Delaware, Binghamton, Indiana, Buffalo, Potsdam, the Hartt School (University of Hartford) and some others that I can’t recall and they chose Fredonia as well. My friend said that Fred’s program is in the top 10, but I didn’t check that out myself because my son isn’t doing that program.