<p>Swarthmore music is strong in some areas and not so strong in others. Keep in mind that if you haven’t done any species counterpoint, the department will be reluctant to let you into second year theory. I was generally pleased with the one semester of theory that I took, though if you are a hardcore solfege/la-based minor person you might have some issues in musicianship (which is a required half-credit attachment to theory, and is numbers-based). There is a 5-semester theory sequence that is considered quite rigorous, and the music majors really bond over so many semesters of the same relatively small class being together. </p>
<p>I hear good things about composition for jazz and modern music, not sure about other areas. If you can visit, definitely try to meet with Levinson, who most often teaches Composition (which is a full credit, but not a class–you compose and meet independently with the prof one-on-one). </p>
<p>I am a Linguistics major, so I can tell you that the Ling department here is quite good–they are friendly and offer a decent selection of courses, especially for a small school. Double-majoring with music is doable, but not easy, especially as a transfer–music is a demanding major, but Linguistics actually requires fewer credits than many other majors. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the Swarthmore music major is comprehensive: you may want to focus on theory and composition, but you’ll be doing a lot of history and performance as well (major/minor requirements here: [Sophomore</a> Paper in Music](<a href=“Music :: Swarthmore College”>Music :: Swarthmore College)). </p>
<p>Best wishes, and let me know if you have any more questions!</p>