@mom4bwayboy gave you some terrific advice. I would just emphasize - if your goal is to work and live in Chicago and NY one day, it does not mean you need to go to college there. In fact some of the best MT programs in the country are nowhere near either of those cities (Michigan, CCM, Carnegie Mellon to name a few). As has been pointed out, Ohio and KY have some great options you should consider. I’d also add to the list Western KY University in Bowling Green KY. And Bowling Green State University has a BA with an MT specialization. So check those programs out too. We also have recently heard of a couple of people here going to Ohio University in music and theater. I don’t know much about it but you might look into it. My main point is, as you decide where to apply to school, keep in mind, you can get great training just about anywhere in the country. It’s going to be expensive once you do move to NY or Chicago. So keep your costs down while you can and strongly consider going to college somewhere affordable and save your dollars to live in the city for after you graduate and start your career. I know there are some threads here on CC that discuss which programs are most cost effective. Keep researching on CC and you will come up with a great list of schools to consider.