<p>Does anyone have any ideas for colleges/universities that meet the following criteria?
1) Offers BA in music, but not a BM and no affiliated conservatory
2) Strong music scene (a lot of classes, strong ensembles, a lot of concerts to hear, a lot of kids majoring)
3) Competitive academically (top 50)
4) Eastern part of US
5) Meets need, or good institutional grants</p>
<p>Thanks! I realize this is the above is probably a rare combination.</p>
<p>Ted</p>
<p>Yale. Williams. Vassar.</p>
<p>I suggest a book entitled “Creative Colleges” that has a section on schools with good music programs (as well as sections on visual arts, dance, theater, writing). I bought it online. It’s really helpful to look at the music departments’ websites.</p>
<p>Not sure why you are limiting yourself to schools with no ties to conservatories.</p>
<p>And don’t forget, once on campus, you can help to create or improve a music scene!</p>
<p>University of Chicago.</p>
<p>[Connecticut</a> College : Music Home](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/departments/music/]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/departments/music/) </p>
<p>See if anything interests you at Connecticut College (CT) a top LAC.
Free music lessons & need-based aid, very little merit aid available.</p>
<p>Skidmore, beautiful facilities, Saratoga is a great college town and they have strong faculty depending on the instrument.
Cornell (Ithaca College is on the other hill and many of their profs also teach at Cornell) and fun college town.</p>
<p>Gettysburg, even though it does have a conservatory, the conservatory is small and newer so your daughter would still have ample oportunity to participate. In addition, they do offer music ed so your daughter could add it in later if she decides too. From the tour several years ago, I remember that they also strongly encourage multiple majors so she could study music and other fields, too.</p>
<p>Maybe you mean schools that do not have a conservatory or BM program that is part of the school itself, as opposed to “affiliation.” Tufts, Harvard, Columbia and Barnard do not have conservatories, but do have double degree programs in which students go to both the college and a nearby conservatory over 5 years. On the other hand, schools like Bard, Oberlin, U. of Hartford, U. of Rochester, and BU have conservatories that are within the same institution. So maybe you could clarify what you mean, if that helps. Many state schools offer both a BM and a BA (I am not listing them below, but include UNH, UMass, UMaine, URI, UConn., U of Md., UVM, SUNY Purchase and Binghamton, CUNY system).</p>
<p>Top schools selected from “Creative Colleges” for the Northeast:</p>
<p>Connecticut College,Trinity, Wesleyan and Yale in Ct.</p>
<p>American University and George Washington in D.C.</p>
<p>Bates, Bowdoin and Colby in Maine</p>
<p>Goucher, Johns Hopkins in MD</p>
<p>Amherst, Boston College, BU, Brandeis, Clark U., Holy Cross, Gordon, Hampshire, Harvard, MIT, Mt. Holyoke, Northeastern, Simmons, Smith, Tufts (great music dept., also has double degree with NEC, was need-blind but may have changed recently), Wellesley, Wheelock, Williams in MA (many w/good aid)</p>
<p>Dartmouth in NH</p>
<p>Drew, Princeton, Rutgers in NJ</p>
<p>Bard, Barnard, Binghamton, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Hamilton, Hartwick, Hobart William Smith, Hofstra, Ithaca, U. of Rochester, Manhattanville, NYU, RPI, Sarah Lawrence, Skidmore, St.Lawrence, Syracuse, Vassar, Wagner in NY</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr, Carnegie Mellon, Dickinson, Drexel. Suquesne, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Temple, U. of Pennsylvania, Washington and Jefferson in PA</p>
<p>Brown, Providence College, Salve Regina in RI</p>
<p>Bennington, Marlboro, Middlebury, in VT</p>
<p>Outside of the Northeast, off the top of my head, Oberlin (has conservatory), Kenyon, Macalaster, Carleton, Lawrence (has conservatory). Others could add to this.</p>
<p>So as you can see, there are many schools that would fit the bill for you, at first glance. This list kept me busy while waiting for the plumber, hope it helps or at least shows you that there are many options.</p>
<p>What makes Oberlin, Eastman and Hartt different is that you can apply strictly to the conservatory and not have to apply to the college or university.</p>
<p>My D is a music (instrumental performance) major at Mount Holyoke College – she did not want a conservatory due to the stiff competition and since she did not want to pursue music performance as a profession – she is now triple majoring and still keeping her head above water. There are many performance opportunities at MHC, as well as at the other of the 5 colleges, in particular, UMass @ Amherst. At MHC there are orchestra, and various classical and ethnic ensembles, jazz band, and the jazz ensemble. You can take lessons in virtually any instrument, either at MHC or at one of the other colleges (my D takes lessons @ UMass). As a declared music major, lessons are free through MHC. UMass has an extremely serious music department with many competitive groups. There are concerts almost every weekend among the 5 colleges, many by pros, but many by students, many are free. MHC offers a full line of music courses with small classes and great, caring profs. And MHC is a top rated LAC offering courses in virtually every major on a really beautiful quintessential New England college campus with “dorms like palaces” (really). I think the food is really good, but one can never completely satisfy a teen-ager. By the way MHC is an all-women college – the oldest in the US, the first of the 7 (now 5) sisters. (If the OP is dad of a boy, sorry, but others might be interested.)</p>
<p>Wow, all these replies, I had not figured out subscribing.</p>
<p>Yes, we should not rule out schools with conservatories. I am looking for a school for my D who is very interested in music study/classical music, but wants to double major and does not want to audition. The Musical Studies major at Oberlin sounds like just what I am thinking about, and I will check out all of the above.</p>
<p>I’m just curious about the no BM/conservatory thing, so was that something you didn’t have much a reason for?</p>
<p>The school I’m looking at is U Mich, tuition is about $22,000 for out of state I believe, and it is a good (top?) music school. The college of arts and sciences there offers a BA in music, you can take up to 60 music credits (you can take more but they won’t help you fill your degree with more credits). It’s a strong and well-balanced academically. It’s not on the east coast but it’s in the midwest, so that’s the eastern half of the US? xD</p>
<p>Doesn’t seem like anyone mentioned it so thought I’d drop by ^^;</p>
<p>She should also look at the University of Rochester. Yes, Eastman is part of the school, but it is a separate campus. The main campus has a BA program in music with ensembles that are completely separate from Eastman. However, students are able to attend a huge variety of performances that are offered at Eastman and take lessons for free from graduate students.</p>
<p>Vassar has a very strong music department and music is valued there. Both orchestra concerts we attended this year (S1 is a junior) were excellent and almost totally full - maybe 10/20 empty seats! Students, patents, faculty and community people all come to support the musical concerts - it is a wonderful supportive atmosphere and the level of the music is very high.</p>
<p>We visited Hamilton College with S2 and heard their orchestra rehearse and they surprised us with a full student orchestra playing very difficult pieces musically. Not sure about the campus support of the arts because we did not attend a concert there but there is a huge arts following there.</p>
<p>We also attended Swan Lake at Skidmore which was a huge event for the school. The orchestra was mixed with students and others but very good and it was the first time the dance department and the music department had attempted such a large production. It was well done.</p>
<p>I have heard the new orchestra conductor at Middlebury is very good but have not heard any music groups there.</p>
<p>The College of the Holy Cross has a very small music department but very serious and the students seemed so nice when we visited.</p>
<p>Franklin & Marshall is also into giving their students challenging music to play - only heard a wind sectional rehearsal there.</p>
<p>University of Hartford/ Hartt School allows double degrees - I was one of their first - many years ago. Hartt School continues to be a respected small conservatory. </p>
<p>All the music I have heard at Williams and Bard has been excellent.</p>
<p>So we have visited and listened to many schools’ music groups in the college search process. Make an effort to visit the schools when the music groups rehearse so you will know if it is what you are looking for in a music program. After about one minute at Vassar’s orchestra rehearsal , S1 was smiling at me and I knew it was the right place for him.</p>
<p>If you are willing to widen your area a bit, look at St. Olaf in MN. They do not have a conservatory but have an excellent music department and meet the rest of your criteria.</p>