I’m a senior and I’ve just heard back from all the schools I applied to. I’m now choosing between Swarthmore, Vassar, Middlebury, Wesleyan, and Tufts, and frankly I’m a little overwhelmed.
I’m looking for strong academics and a good music department/program, as I’m a pianist and would like to minor/double major in music. My primary academic interest at the moment is English or math, but I’m really undecided. probably not something in the hard sciences though.
Can anyone speak more specifically to the differences between these schools, beyond the general demographic stuff? Like the social scene, culture, arts, rigor?
To answer the kind questions you are asking, I found Niche dot com to be particularly helpful. By first isolating then reading only the one-star reviews from unhappy students, you can begin to see a patterns form. For instance, if there are several negative reviews about horrible parking and you are living on campus without a car, no big deal. But other multiple complaints about different facets of a school can be a big deal. Vassar, for instance, has a number of negative remarks about the surrounding town of Poughkeepsie–as in sketchy, run down and nothing to do. This would be a red flag for me, however, I’ve never been there. Good Luck. I hope you find the answers you seek.
If you’re thinking of double-majoring, it’s not a good idea to go in undecided. Even if you’re just minoring, certain programs don’t play well together schedule-wise, and you need to ask about that at each school. For example, at my school, music ed. and the honors program don’t play nicely. I was the first one in four years to get through, and that was only after arranging to be in three classes that met at the same time. I don’t recommend the experience. You’ll want to ask about how strictly you have to follow the plan for your major. Some majors have a lot of pre-requisites and classes that are only offered fall or spring semester, or even every other year. How things fit together is different at every school. For that matter, you may want to find out if certain music classes are major-blocked. You may find that you can only take say, accompaniment lab, if you’re a major. Just so you know, you should be able to take lessons without being a major/minor as long as the studio isn’t full. You’ll also want to know if ensembles are open to anyone. At some schools, they’re not.
Once you decide what you want to do and ask the schools questions, you may have eliminated some choices that won’t allow you to do what you want.
You seem like a good candidate for the humanites, music and general fine arts programs of Wesleyan or Vassar. Of possible interest, these schools appear in this article on literary colleges:
Have you visited? My D is choosing Middlebury from 8 acceptances, some overlapping with yours. The way we approached it is we listed all of the important characteristics, to her, and then ranked each school in each of those. It all became apparent once it got on paper.
D is also interested in pursuing music as she sings and plays cello and piano. But she will likely major in foreign language ( her gift) and English(creative writing). Middlebury has plenty of music for her but not as much as at Oberlin, one of her other schools. Vassar has tons of performing arts. The Vassar campus is a stunningly beautiful arboretum. The town of Poughkeepsie is not great. Middlebury is idyllic. One thing that set Vassar apart was how they encourage students to not segregate into their comfort zones. Different years live together, no interest tables or interest housing, no greek.
Tufts has a strong music program. They also have a greek presence. It is a university which is significantly larger than your other choices.
These are all really great schools and I think if you make a list of what criteria are important to you and then fill out a grid of how each school measures up, I bet your choice will become clear. Good luck!
Thanks for all the advice! @aynrandfan would it be possible to elaborate on the music at Middlebury? I haven’t visited and I’m finding it hard to judge a music department simply by its website.
Also, I have visited all the schools except Middlebury, as it’s the most difficult to get to from my home.
@Clara54 I have limited information since we were there 2 summers ago and were gathering general impressions. What I remember about the music building was that it was modern, felt like it had plenty for D, was a vibrant active center - positive energy. Maybe you could ask to connect with a music major and/or faculty member for more data.