<p>I’m a senior in high school, and I applied to 4 colleges. There are 2 that I like less than the other 2, so I took those out. I’m down to 2. Here are the characteristics of each, in general and in comparison to the other, and then I’ll explain why I would choose one over the other, and see if that sounds like a reasonable way to decide! I will be majoring in piano performance at either one. Also, I’ll be doing another major and maybe a minor too, because my parents want me to have a back-up major if music doesn’t pay enough to live on. I’ll be doing a Bachelor of Music in piano and a BA in the other major, so double degree. I have several AP credits to help with this, like a year’s worth of college done with those. My parents just want me to keep thinking about these colleges because of the distance from home…</p>
<p>College A: 4 hours drive from home, in a cold weather area, easier to get home, they do a lot of music touring around US and internationally so that’s awesome but might miss class too much if I’m gone a lot idk about this, new music building that I really like, may cost less in the end (will have to pay for extra credits with the double major, paying per credit and taking summer classes. also may have to take an extra semester), should accept all of my AP credits based on the scores they require, many people from the state it’s in which is where I live also, some grad students which I may not like although they don’t have them in the music program, 2800 students, not that many people doing the whole double major/double degree thing as I would be doing, not as rigorous academically as the other college, students don’t have as high of ACT and GPA as students at College B, don’t like their library really much at all so not sure about where I’d study, dont like the options for upperclass dorms, not quite enough on-campus housing for everybody so may not get it every year, like it that there’s a dorm right by the music building for freshmen, very safe. </p>
<p>College B: undergrad students only, about 2100 students and I like it small because I’ve come from a small private high school of 600 students, further from home about 8 hours drive or probably will take a plane home instead, not many people from my state there, has a School of Music versus a Department of Music at College A so may be better for getting into music grad school at this one, amazing library, very high retention rate like 93-94% so I guess people really like it, really small classes, very rigorous academically, based on high school academic info everybody is really smart so I like that (I don’t deal well with people who are slackers at all!) and I like smart people, many people doing double majors/double degrees like I would be so I’d fit in with that and they seem to encourage double majors plus minors, not so ridicously cold weather, very high % of faculty with terminal degree, like the upperclassmen dorm options better here, ranked higher on college ranking guides, may cost a little more, lots of music majors, grand pianos in the dorms to practice on too sometimes, music seemed very important when I visited, like the class options better here for my majors, undergrad research opportunities, get piano teaching experience while in college for a career option later, strong alumni connection and they give a lot of $=liked their education/experience very well I guess, harder to get home however, harder to keep a good GPA because it’s more difficult academically, may take longer to get done because more credits required, might not accept all my AP credits depending on scores i get on them yet this year, not a significant amount of stuff to do in the surrounding city but I’m not a party person so this doesn’t matter much, the music building is slightly older looking than College A but it’s still well-kept and has good quality instruments etc., don’t offer summer classes so would have to take a 5th year to finish but then could work in the summer and save money too.</p>
<p>They both have excellent food (except B has more places to eat), study abroad programs, good piano professors that I’d be taking lessons with, small classes, cost is approximately the same (within a few thousand of each other), good scholarship at each, safe campus, small student population, campus is easy to get around there.</p>
<p>I like College B best because it fits me academically and I think they offer more opportunities academically (research, etc. and classes that I really like/sound interesting) and for grad school in music (piano teaching experience class) and I just felt like I liked it better there. Also, music seemed very important there, like everybody I talked to knew about the music program and talked about it, so it seems like it’s a good music cultural feel, which I like, being a music major. My parents think I’m overloooking the distance, and I know it will be harder to get home, but I really like it here better. My parents think I will become homesick easily because I can’t just easily come home whenever; however, I have experience being away from home the past 4 summers at a college for piano camp and i was always fine. I’m always fine doing things alone- my parents dropped me off at the large airport in the city we live in and I went to my audition at this school on my own because they were busy on the weekend i wanted to do my audition, and I was fine…other examples of this too, but basically, I don’t think I’ll get too homesick. This college also has made a great effort in talking to me a lot and making me feel wanted there. Between the time of my piano audition and when my acceptance letter came, I received 2 emails, a letter in the mail, and a handwritten note in the mail saying how they really wanted me to come there. </p>
<p>My parents said in the end, I’m going to go where I want to go, but they want me to consider the distance more…any thoughts on this, or anything else mentioned above???</p>