Of the 3 schools, NU is the only one that I’m familiar with. It’s one of my son’s top 2 choices (he’s a hs senior and also wants to do CS + music composition). We just spent the weekend at NU and again were very impressed with most everything. However, when we finally got to speak to a composition professor, we learned that the emphasis of this combined program is being shifted from composition to music tech (apparently this is not yet official but will be soon). This didn’t sit too well with my son, who’s seriously interested in composition. We will have to have some follow-up calls to see if he can get comfortable with this. I’d suggest that you also talk to someone there and make sure that the new direction will work for you. … Regarding NEC, my impression is that the cooperation has to do with NU students taking performance classes there, since NU does not have performance majors. And that’s something to keep in mind, too - no performance majors means you have to work harder to get your music performed. … If you’re more interested in the music tech side, I think NU could be a very good choice.