Started talking with 11th grade DD2 about college and what she is looking for. Not sure of major so somewhere she can explore a bit before declaring a major. She thinks she would like a small town that is walkable from campus, medium sized, and opportunities to be involved in music and theater (most likely not a music major, so option for any students to try out or join concert band, orchestra, plays/musicals, and marching band). Within 4-5 hours from central PA. I didn’t realize how hard it was to find colleges with marching bands (not just pep bands - she likes the marching and show aspect of her HS marching band). She plays clarinet and has been playing since 4th grade, but also is terrified of auditions, so not looking for a super competitive band but loves the band atmosphere. So far I see mostly state schools, Gettysburg, Lebanon Valley, Shendandoah University, and Lehigh. Any other ideas? We toured Shenandoah with older DD and it’s a beautiful campus and I could see DD2 liking it, but it was one of the more expensive schools DD1 looked at. Lehigh and Gettysburg will probably be out of our price range as a donut hole family. Lebanon Valley is close and easy to do a visit at, and she knows some people from her HS currently there, but it may be smaller than/more rural than she thinks she wants. What else could I add to her list?
Some you mentioned are small.
In that light and don’t know your budget or the immediate area on some bit you’d be remiss to not check out Pitt.
Others with marching bands per Wikipedia - you’d have to check theater - these will have merit or lower cost if I put on the list.
Wooster
UDel - too big
Likely too far but Butler
Merrimack
UNH - nice size
Dayton
Robert Morris
ETSU
CNU
Marshall
It’s a starting point anyway. Didn’t have time to calculate distance and yes some will be too far but you might need to stretch to hit whatever the budget is. Good luck.
A lot of the options that come to mind are in the 20K-undergrads range. Is this definitely too big? A lot of these schools don’t feel huge.
UDel was already suggested.
James Madison was the first that came to my mind - walkable campus/town, nice undergrad experience, lots of options both academically and extracurricular-wise, and a great-yet-accessible marching band. (There are levels of participation; no audition for wind players to do the pregame show, but there are auditions for the smaller subset that does the halftime show and travels to away games: Marching Royal Dukes - JMU )
WVU could be another good option, but does require an audition: About | WVU Bands | West Virginia University
Towson, in Maryland, is another. TUMB Site – The World Famous Towson University Marching Band
SUNY Albany is in range too, and matches PSU in-state tuition for PA students. Has a nice honors college if she qualifies. UAlbany Marching & Spirit Bands | University at Albany (Maybe too urban but seemed worth mentioning.)
Rowan in NJ could be worth a look too: Bands
If you stretch your driving radius by another 1-2 hrs, you could also look at Appalachian State and Miami of Ohio.
It’s harder to find robust marching band programs at smaller schools, but it looks like you’ve already identified a few.
Guessing you’ve already looked at West Chester? Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band - WCU of PA It seems to fit the parameters quite well, and is a little smaller than the others I listed.
OP - you are early but do give thought to a formal budget figure.
Hopefully you can visit a few close by schools to see if the desire on paper matches in real life.
Good luck.
PS - here’s a link of all college marching bands - you can sort by state.
List of college marching bands in the United States - Wikipedia
Our oldest is finishing up 4 years at James Madison and has had the best experience. She is not in the marching band, but it seems to be an incredible organization. There are tons of opportunities to participate in lots of musical ensembles, acapella groups etc. It’s about 43k without aid, out of state, which I consider very reasonable. I would definitely have your daughter check it out.
Her older sister is currently a freshman in college, so yes, we have already started looking for schools in similar price range as what her sister is at (which is how I know that Gettysburg and Lehigh are probably out of budget for us as well as what Shenandoah came in at when we looked last year). DD1 did most her visits fall/winter senior year and it started to feel like all the schools blurred together, so I am hoping DD2 will be open to doing a few visits sooner! I also think she may not be quite as particular as her sister but we’ll see.
It might help you to do a match me, so we can see stats, rigor, and budget.
I don’t know what you’re paying for your daughter and where you hope to be at - $30K, $50K, etc.
It might be you find what you need in distance or you might need to expand the distance, etc.
A little further than you’re looking, but UMaine or URI.
Finally, got home to a map - some places are farther than I thought - like UNH and Marhsall and ETSU.
You said Central PA - I’m using Altoona - no idea.
Edited to note - U Akron is about $13K kids - and tuition, room and board is about $35K.
There are merit aid opportunities but they don’t say how much.
My son wanted small school, so marching band was impossible for him. Playing in a pep band, though.
Medium sized, walkable downtown, PA proximity, not a full pay private is doable, if by medium sized you are open to schools in the 10k-20k student range.
West Chester has a large marching band, especially compared to school size, nice little downtown, and in-state tuition for you. Really wanted my son to look there.
Towson is a similar size and has half traditional downtown / half mall by campus. Delaware larger but the “Main Street” is more college-centric. James Madison and Miami of Ohio also fitting within your parameters.
I believe SUNY Buffalo - I mean University at Buffalo - has a marching band.
Probably doesn’t fit your daughter’s criteria but in case others are looking, UMASS Amherst, UMASS Lowell, and UNH both have marching bands.