<p>Well, the stock answer is that no, it’s not obvious, as it completely depends on who you are and which one is best for your interests - “fit” is important.</p>
<p>The cheerleader answer is, yes, Stanford is the obvious choice. :p</p>
<p>Regarding undergrad teaching, there was a ranking before on which universities had the greatest focus on undergrad teaching, and I know that both Stanford and Dartmouth ranked high on it. Duke was probably in there somewhere as well.</p>
<p>You’re right that Stanford music isn’t at the level of Yale’s or Harvard’s, but it’s pretty decent, and Stanford is currently throwing a lot of money into the arts. For example, the [Bing</a> Concert Hall](<a href=“http://binghall.stanford.edu/]Bing”>http://binghall.stanford.edu/) will be completed this summer. There are already many facilities in place: the Braun Music Center in the central part of campus (White Plaza), music practice rooms in many dorms, 6-foot Yamaha pianos in every dorm, the Knoll (which houses the <a href=“https://ccrma.stanford.edu/[/url]”>Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics | CCRMA), and all the typical performance facilities like Memorial Auditorium. There are lots of resources, like a large collection of music holdings in Green Library, one of the top 5 largest archives of recorded sound, etc. There are also a great many performances held throughout the year through [Stanford</a> Lively Arts](<a href=“http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/]Stanford”>http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/). Stanford also has countless [arts</a> groups](<a href=“http://arts.stanford.edu/organizations/studentgroups]arts”>http://arts.stanford.edu/organizations/studentgroups) in music. Other links of interest:</p>
<p>[Music</a> @ Stanford: Undergraduate Studies in Music](<a href=“http://music.stanford.edu/Academics/ugradStudies.html]Music”>http://music.stanford.edu/Academics/ugradStudies.html)
[Grants</a> | Arts at Stanford University, Presented by SiCa](<a href=“http://arts.stanford.edu/grants/studentarts]Grants”>http://arts.stanford.edu/grants/studentarts)
[Arts</a> Intensive: Overview | Undergraduate Academic Life](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_ai_overview.html]Arts”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_ai_overview.html)
[Creativity</a> & the Arts | Undergraduate Academic Life](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_creativity_arts_CreativityandtheArts.html]Creativity”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_creativity_arts_CreativityandtheArts.html)
[Chappell</a> Lougee Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/sites/default/files/common/docs/uar_ChappellLougeeInfo_1112.pdf]Chappell”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/sites/default/files/common/docs/uar_ChappellLougeeInfo_1112.pdf)</p>
<p>Other than that, what are you interested in studying? What sort of climate are you looking for? Is access to cities important to you? Is exploring nature an interest of yours? What do you want to do in college in terms of extracurricular activities (outside of music)? Do you want to do research?</p>