<p>Hi - I've been accepted to several universities for the fall and have narrowed it down to Northwestern or St. Olaf. I have been accepted as a dual degree student to both schools, doubling in voice and most likely a psychology degree. I have a particular passion for choral music which makes St. Olaf appealing, but I am not religious and am nervous about attending a Lutheran school. Things like size and distance don't matter much to me - I like both schools. I am mostly concerned about which school will get me into a better grad school. I also have interest in study abroad and, obviously, performance opportunities are important to me. Any advice would be welcome! Thanks.</p>
<p>I have added the Northwestern and St. Olaf acceptances over at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1260441-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2012-a-48.html#post14144612[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1260441-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2012-a-48.html#post14144612</a> but it would be nice if you would tell us about your other music major acceptances as well.</p>
<p>I know a recent graduate from Saint Olaf who was accepted into their top choir after her first year. She had quite a few performance opportunities abroad with that group.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Millikin and University of Michigan for music. I was also accepted to WashU St. Louis, Cornell, and Oberlin (not in music).</p>
<p>Thanks. I will add the Millikin and Michigan acceptances.</p>
<p>I would not be the least bit concerned about the Lutheran thing at St. Olaf. While many students there are Lutheran, many are not. I know atheist and Asian students who graduated from St. Olaf and absolutely loved it there and would not trade the experience there for anything. The atmosphere there is largely one of genuine and deep respect for people from all backgrounds and beliefs. While I can’t comment on Northwestern, I think it would be safe to say that St. Olaf has a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for minority groups than would most public/state universities which seem to attract their share of rednecks unlike St. Olaf. I realize that you are not necessarily a visible minority, but respect for such groups tends to go hand-in-hand with respect for people regardless of their beliefs, gender, colour, etc… So whether you are agnostic, atheist, Catholic, Bhuddist, Muslim, Baptist, or Lutheran, you really won’t feel out of place.</p>
<p>Many St. Olaf students do a study abroad semester and the school has a variety of such programs to fit a variety of interests. </p>
<p>Both St. Olaf and Northwestern are strong schools academically, as I’m sure you know. I think that which school sets you up better for grad school will depend on your major. I know that for math, St. Olaf wins, but I’m sure that NW wins for some other majors.</p>
<p>In my research I found that Northwestern has a better academic/voice program (I’m going there!) than St. Olaf. BUT! If you’re looking for that choral experience, I’d go with St. Olaf… I know that NU does not put much work into the choral department… the choirs aren’t selective, and from what I observed, it almost felt like voice majors were “forced” to attend rehearsals. St. Olaf’s choirs, however, are extremely selective and have high-performance standards. They also tour lots of countries, something that NU’s choirs don’t do and that I am sad about. I have a friend majoring in choral music ed at St. Olaf, and she’s not religious, but is loving her time there. In the end, I think NU would get you into the better grad school. So I guess it depends on if you want the better end result or better journey to the result? I don’t think you could go wrong either way. :)</p>
<p>Let me know what you end up choosing, I’m sure we’d get to know each other if you end up at NU! Good luck! :)</p>
<p>I really dream of going to Yale for grad school - do you think that going to St. Olaf wouldn’t be good enough to go there?</p>