Thank you for your input, and although it’s not the forefront of CMU’s branding, I do agree that their arts and music programs are well-regarded. I need to talk to my viola teacher about the CMU viola faculty, as I felt like our trial lesson went well, but he has a very different technical philosophy from my current teacher, but I think it would be a good place for me to learn and grow.
I also liked Pittsburgh a lot better than I thought I would, and I think it’s a good size to have things to do without getting distracted by going out every night or anything like that.
I considered Peabody for their dual-degree program with JHU, but ended up getting waitlisted from both, so it’s not on the table. However, I do appreciate that at CMU all the different disciplines are pretty integrated, as the conservatory and university being super separate was something that I did not like at all about Peabody when I went to audition. If I have any friends ask for college recommendations, I’ll keep Duquesne in mind!