<p>Hello! For a while now, I have been trying to find the best college for music for me that is at most five hours away from my home state of Connecticut. I have a 3.03 unweighted GPA and as of right now, my SAT score is a 1660. (I plan on re-taking it). In terms of extra curriculars, I am in what is known as wind emsenble in my school, which is just advanced band really. I am in Odyssey of the Mind, the Quidditch Club :D, and I plan on taking AP Music Theory next year. I have been looking at Ithaca College because it has a good music program, but I would like to know if there is a better college out there for me. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Repost this on the music major board and I’m sure that you’ll get the help that you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Rochester, Berklee, Peabody.</p>
<p>Juilliard…</p>
<p>In NYC in addition to Julliard (which has like a 6% acceptance rate so it is a reach for almost anyone), look at Mannes College (The New School), Manhattan School of Music, Steinhardt (NYU - may also be a reach).</p>
<p>For that matter, Curtis would be within your geographic range, I think.</p>
<p>NYU Steinhardt with a 3.03 UW and 1660 SAT is highly unlikely. The average GPA is 3.6~3.7 and SATs are 1900+</p>
<p>IMO GPAs and SATs for these schools are secondary to the audition.</p>
<p>^^^^I imagine that is the case for conservatories. However, I think that schools which have a strong music department within a major university would pay attention to GPA/SAT (giving leeway for a great talent). But it is up to the OP to research each school/program to see if it is a good fit.</p>
<p>U. of Hartford, Temple U. …</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase is worth looking at as well.</p>
<p>I’ll add the College of St. Rose in Albany (despite its name it is a private, non-denominational school) and SUNY Potsdam.</p>
<p>Hartt is in CT.</p>
<p>Have you considered the “Jet Blue effect”, noted in the book Acceptance by David Marcus? The concept is that with JetBlue, Southwest Air and other discount airlines, you can fly cheaply to a variety of places in less than 5 hours. If you are willing to book ahead and fly no-frills, you could add to your list: Oberlin and St. Olaf. Oberlin is about a 30/40 minutes drive from the Cleveland airport. St. Olaf is about a 30/40 minutes drive from Minneapolis airport with air time under 3 hours, with total time similar to the 5 hour drive from Hartford to Ithaca. These may be reach schools based on your stats, but more weight may be given to audition.<br>
Hope this helps.</p>