<p>Davidson.</p>
<p>Didn't read thread, so I dunno if anyone said that yet.</p>
<p>nceph: I feel like I'm whoring Colgate, but it's the only LAC I know in this context. Anyway, Colgate's music theory is good. The program isn't that big (fewer than 10 music majors a year), but that means students get much more individual attention than one would have in, say, political science. The faculty is amazing, very nice, incredibly smart (I know this goes for just about every school out there) and if you're interested, I would definitely drop an email to the dept. head, Jay Swain, who mostly teaches beginning theory classes.</p>
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The department is very, very small, with several of the core offerings taught by part-time or visiting faculty (and there aren't that many offerings to begin with.)
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<p>Not to disagree in the least with your overall findings especially as they apply to a serious music major/young composer, but shouldn't we view the role of visiting or part-time professors a bit differently when the college or university is located in a large city with extensive local musical resources and, therefore locally available teachers compared to a school where it would be impossible to teach courses AND stay involved in, for example, a major symphony orchestra? It seems to me that this could be a benefit of colleges and universities in Boston, New York, Chicago, Phila, DC, Atlanta, etc., as would the opportunity for students and faculty to be connected to a major city arts scene.</p>
<p>Ecliptica - What's your experience w/ the Davidson program?</p>
<p>Nothing.
I just know that the program is widely heralded and the London Philharmonic is choosing Davidson to house them when they come over to America. All they told me was that it says a lot about their music program when this group chooses Davidson over any other school as their place to stay.</p>
<p>RaboKarabekian - Thanks for the Colgate suggestion. We'll look into it. It's not a school that has previously appeared on our radar, so we really don't know much about it.</p>
<p>MonyDad - I didn't mean to suggest that I would use limited anectodal evidence to override the Oberlin issue of non-music majors being shut out of music courses. I only meant that the school might warrant our further exploration too see how the problems might affect my daughter's course selection. Perhaps the problems mainly occur in certain courses? We are at least six months from really narrowing down the list, so for now we're just absorbing as much information and impressions of schools as we can. And we really appreciate everyone's suggestions and thoughts.</p>
<p>My comments were general, for anyone reading; not directed towards anyone in particular.</p>
<p>After you investigate, please report back to help guide others.
One piece of anecdotal evidence is not dispositive, but, as the numbers mount, the likelihood of a conclusion being valid increases.</p>