<p>I also think you’ve done a very good job with your list.
I will add information for your consideration only because you mentioned recording, vocal performance and music theater in your thread, but not because it’s necessarily a better option than your top selections per se – especially since it’s not “in” a relatively big city. You may also wish to start checking out actual vocal performance teachers for fit while you’re at it, because that will or should influence your preference. So, in response to:
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<p>My son is at University of Michigan School of Music Theater and Dance (Ann Arbor, MI, pop 100k, 20 miles from Detroit, CMA 6 million) in a program called “Performing Arts Technology” which can be a) A BM (music) b) a BFA or c) a BSc (engineering). In “PAT - Curriculum A” there are students whose emphasis is performance on an instrument or voice, often of a contemporary nature, who also want to learn to produce/record their own sound, compose electronically, process/sequence tracks and integrate same into their live performance work, PLUS work in multimedia in some cases, such as electronic composition for film, video games etc. (Others go into psychoacoustics etc.)
It’s a really flexible style of degree, and several grads have gone on to do a variety of performance work and work across media, such as scoring video games, directing or composing music for film, etc. My son chose this program over Clive Davis, as much as he liked Davis. His rationale for choosing it over Clive Davis included may “fit” factors but also the actual DEPTH of music instruction itself at UMich versus less depth in Davis (eg. we talked to Tisch film program and the Davis kids really hadn’t been working with them on scoring or processing/editing sound; didn’t seem to do much theory; at the same time there was not a real integration with Steinhardt, etc. – but that may have changed and our information may have been unreliable. My son’s “desires” were different than yours in that he’s very interested in composition as opposed to performance. That said, I feel the recording/sequences curricula at Umich, when coupled with the business courses avail give a very similar feel to the Davis program, but of course, without the backdrop of New York, which in your case, might be a really big feature!)</p>
<p>I also don’t know what State you are from or whether you have concerns about finances, but I will tell you that NYU/Davis is not great in the financial aid department compared to UMich or USC, and that USC is a 100% meet-need school (while UMich is expensive for OOS, but not AS expensive as NYU.)</p>
<p>For you as a developing pro singer, I think you might find some very fine vocal instructors at UMich, plus lots of music theater opportunity as well, plus a very “open to contemporary” flavor as well as the full gamut of genres. There are just over 1,000 students at the SMTD.</p>
<p>Of course, you are in the upper end of academic achievement, and UMich can and does give academic scholarship as well as talent scholarship combined. (Gave my son one of each.) So sometimes it can be a good financial option for super-gifted students despite the high Out of State tuition (36k tution + apx. 9 - 11k residence, so about $10,000 cheaper than NYU each year).</p>
<p>Hope this helps in the event you’re looking to lengthen your list and maximize your options, but as I said in the beginning, you do have a very strong list already with awesome programs so you’re definitely ahead of the game. Cheers~ ;)</p>