<p>My second son plays clarinet in marching band and wants to continue that in college. He is only a sophomore, so he hasn't taken the standarized tests yet, but has a 4.0uw/4.7wgpa. He doesn't have much direction on major yet, but is apt to go into math, science, or business. He is interested in schools like Duke or Rice or others of that calibre, but doesn't want a campus that is too preppy.</p>
<p>Any ideas for him on schools to start exploring?</p>
<p>Cornell Univ</p>
<p>I'd prefer a list of colleges that offer merit aid, as my son is apt to qualify for that, but our family is not likely to qualify for need-based aid.</p>
<p>Any school, such as Ohio State, Michigan, University of Miami etc., with strong sports probably has a strong marching band. I imagine that Syracuse University would have a marching band as well.</p>
<p>USC</p>
<p>Arizona</p>
<p>Wisconsin</p>
<p>Brown & Stanford :) If you've seen them you'll know what I mean by the :)</p>
<p>If Brown and Stanford bands are anything like Columbia's (which i think they are, hence the smiley) they may not be what the poster is looking for. My S loved marching band in hs, and did a year of it in Columbia, and it was fun, and not much work, but it was not, to him, marching band. He didn't join again this year.</p>
<p>In case anyone wonders, these are "scramble bands", which are centered around funny scripts and require no marching and minimal music practice. Some kids love them, but they definitely need to know what they're getting into.</p>
<p>For classic marching band, I concur with the big football schools. Most have some merit scholarships (S was offered a big one from Michigan--great school and definitely not particularly preppy.) USC would also be a great possiblilty, also have merit scholarships.</p>
<p>A kid from our hs went to U Rhode Island almost free on a band scholarship.</p>
<p>Big Ten, probably any of them, but especially Purdue's "All American Marching Band" One nice thing about Purdue's band is no one is a music major, as there is no school of music. Everyone is in the band for the sheer love of it. Here's the website, <a href="http://www.purdue.edu/BANDS%5B/url%5D">http://www.purdue.edu/BANDS</a> (Don't let me start off with the band cheer.....)</p>
<p>Ohio State, and U of Michigan have terrific marching bands. Actually any of the big ten schools would have these as they have strong football teams/traditions, and the halftime shows at the games are as well regarded as the games. Also, University of Maryland College Park has a great marching band and many of the same players also play in the pep bands for the basketball teams. University of CT also has a great marching band. And people audition for the pep bands for their basketball teams!!</p>
<p>I would definetely recomend Michigan. The marching band is great, the school attacts all kinds, and therefore cant be considered preppy, and there's a real spirit surroudning the band and football team that you cant find anywhere else... then again, im slightly biased....</p>
<p>I was in marching band in hs and a Duke freshman, so I just have to endorse Duke's music program-it's great! The Mary Biddle music building is on East Campus, so you have really easy access to it as a freshman. Also, the music ensembles are a great way to meet cool people (aka former hs band nerds), and the ensembles and DUMB (Duke U marching band) is like a big family. :D Unfortunately, the football team isn't qiute as wonderful. :( However, you can also play in pep band for the basketball games (although you have to be in DUMB first). :)</p>
<p>Garland has the concept of the Brown & Stanford bands.</p>
<p>Seems to me strong, national level D1 football = strong bands, more or less.</p>
<p>Duke and Notre Dame at the big time sports programs otherwise might look at some LAC's in the Patriot League-Holy Cross and Colgate.</p>
<p>Arizona State
Florida A&M
U Florida
U Illinois UC
U Iowa
James Madison
U Kansas
Michigan State
U Michigan
Ohio State
U Oklahoma
U Texas Austin</p>
<p>U Mass Honors College - MinuteMan Band!!!</p>
<p>As everyone else has said, big football schools. Take a look at state unis with strong honors college programs, many of those will have good marching band, and while you have to try out for marching band, you certainly don't have to be a music major. Take a look at Vandy, Univ of Alabama (the Computer Honors Program attracts some high powered students) and if he is interested in international business, Uni of South Carolina. Those may not seem like first choice schools, but he may be in line for a free ride plus perks, AND still get to be in the band. UGA, too.</p>
<p>Many of the top bands, e.g., Ohio State, do not have woodwinds. Before your son applies anywhere, look at a picture of the band to see if anyone is holding a clarinet. If your son is interested in schools "the calibre of Duke or Rice", the options are limited. Start with Duke or Rice. Duke has a fairly traditional marching band for football and a very good pep band for basketball. The latter is the best way to get a seat in Cameron without camping out. The Rice band, known as the MOB (marching owl band) is rather freelance, as the name implies. The bands and Duke, Rice and similar schools are definitely an extracurricular activity. Bands at the football schools are serious business and require a significant commitment, sometimes limiting the ability to schedule laboratory sciences.</p>
<p>Try this link: <a href="http://camb.ucdavis.edu/camb/college.html%5B/url%5D">http://camb.ucdavis.edu/camb/college.html</a>. There's plenty listed!</p>
<p>My daughter did 4 years of HS marching band with a top 5 national level band. She knows several people doing the music/band thing in college. Not the caliber of Rice or Duke (my alma mater, gotta love DUMB!), but University of North Texas and Kentucky both have good bands that seem to be matching the level of their HS band (which is pretty hard to match).</p>
<p>Stanford's band is an embarrassment to the University.
UVA's band has recently been re-started because it too was an embarrassment to the University.</p>
<p>Agree on USC (self-proclaimed "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe"), where my son goes to school, and Wisconsin, where I work. Great bands. The UW band is revered on campus and has a marvelous director. Great showman. Their spring concerts are a long-time campus tradition.</p>
<p>For the USC band go to: <a href="http://www.usc.edu/dept/band/%5B/url%5D">http://www.usc.edu/dept/band/</a>
For the Wisconsin band go to: <a href="http://www.badgerband.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.badgerband.com/</a></p>
<p>University of Michigan! Great marching band, not preppy, intellectually challenging.</p>