<p>RBase: Nice post. I must say, you seem to know yourself well, and you seem to be serious about your studies now. I can tell from your post that you are a good writer.
I would suggest that Swarthmore and Penn are extreme reaches; I think I would look at them again and think about whether you would be in over your head at those schools. I can think of one reach and one reach/sort of match that might appeal to you. SUNY/Binghamton has an outstanding English department and a national award-winning a cappela group. The SUNY's don't take a lot of out-of-state students, but I think they would be interested in you, given your talents and minority status (only 5% African Americans at Binghamton). Kenyon in Ohio would be a reach, but they actively recruit black males, and they have several wonderful a cappella groups. It is a lovely campus and a friendly place. Their English Department and the Kenyon Review are well known. If you put together an application that emphasized your interest in English and your musical talent, I think they would be interested. Best of luck!</p>
<p>last bump ..</p>
<p>There are some excellent suggestions on this site. I would take note of them and reconfigure your list.</p>
<p>Sometimes it is tough to combine music study and another academic program, so make sure you sort out what you want to do with your music and can do it wherever you end up.</p>
<p>Finally, though Temple does not get a lot of play on this board I think it is a very good choice for you and your interests. Good journalism and music schools, with some great jazz players on the faculty, including Terrell Stafford (trumpet) and Bruce Barth (piano).</p>