<p>easydoesitmom:
If your son is sincerely interested in a music major, but not conservatory-level, I’d encourage you to consider some of the bigger state universities instead of the LACs (except those noted for strong music programs - Ithaca for instance). The level of playing just sort of deteriorates a bit when you don’t have enough kids to really fill an orchestra or a great jazz band. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>By the way, the Music Major forum on here has some super knowledeable parents. You might head over there if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>EDM, (I didn’t think your post “reeks” of anything, other than trying to find a good fit for your son, but all that is a topic for another thread)</p>
<p>You are probably referring to the recent statement from the Pres of Dickinson that they will no longer cooperate in the ranking process. They had been sort of moaning about it on a regular basis and explaining why they dropped 5 places when in fact they knew they were a better school than the previous year, and so just recently they said to heck with it, we are out. We can probably find the statement with a little googling. </p>
<p>I thought it was a bold move, and it moved Dickinson up in my ranking, but we are a little biased. (wife is an alum)</p>
<p>I think of the really crunchy schools as maybe – Oberlin, Grinnell, maybe Carleton, Whitman, Reed. Other than this, you might try the University of Michigan (Residential College - very crunchy and excellent music) or other school large enough to have all types. Haverford is one of my all-time favorites - hard to get into but maybe not completely out of reach. What about Wesleyan?</p>
<p>Interesting… the only place I can find that article is on this forum! (collegeconfidential). Can’t find any statement on Dickinson’s own website or anywhere else. Anyone better at Googling than I?</p>
<p>True, if op’s son wants to do music ed, then West Chester might be a good option. However, with his stats, I think he would not be challenged in most academic classes. I also don’t think it’s crunchy liberal. </p>
<p>An interesting website to look at is studentsreview.com. There are a lot of negative posters but on the whole, you can get a feel for a college from it.</p>
<p>Is Haverford really preppy as kathiep suggests? My S is planning to apply there and I thought we had a pretty good prep-filter in place. But we’ve only visited in summer, so haven’t seen many students.</p>
<p>Haverford is different preppy than Bucknell. First, it’s Quaker, and Quaker preppy is solidly left-liberal and nonostentatious. Second, it’s very intellectual in tone and aspiration, much more so than Bucknell. Third, it’s very small and intimate. Also, it’s pretty close to an urban area – cross the street to a train station and it’s 25 minutes to Center City Philadelphia, with 2-3 trains an hour – and so attracts more people who value that.</p>
<p>But . . . I’m not sure it has a strong music program (although Haverford kids can take classes at Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, which I think have better music programs). And it’s very competitive, a pretty big reach for the OP’s kid if I remember the profile right.</p>
<p>Many of the hippiesque people from my class went to West Chester…my sister is pretty much a crunchy granola person and she narrowed down her field to West Chester and Millersville (latter because it’s v. close to home).</p>
<p>PA is tough, but as someone said, Ohio is not so far and Case comes to mind. It is in Cleveland which is only 80 miles from the easternmost border of the state and depending upon where in NY you live, not far at all. Know some very crunchy kids who go there who have a host of very like-minded friends, along with various other types of course. Merit aid has been known to be excellent. Case is affiliated with the Cleveland Institute of Music and although that is a conservatory with difficult admission, there are many joint programs for music majors, many performance groups which use the Intstitute’s facilities as well as Severence Hall (Cleveland Orchestra). It would be similar to the U of R in NY with its affiliation to the Eastman - rich exposure to music at all levels, some classes taught by members of the Cleveland Orchestra.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I think we have to get our stereotypes figured out. Is hippie the same as crunchy liberal, or does it mean slacker? Does preppy mean opposite of liberal or does it just mean someone that wears button down shirts? I’m so confused.</p>
<p>Frankly, I would just concentrate on the major and then visit the colleges to see if the vibe is there.</p>
<p>“There’s a whole preppiness continuum, it seems.”-" -Allmusic, post #30</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be interesting to plot that? X axis has “crunchy” on the left and “preppy” on the right. Because it’s not that simple, what should the y axis be?</p>
<p>Love the idea of Residential College at U of Mich–super crunchy and artsy, but OOS it’s super tough to get in. Don’t think that the stats in OP would work.</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing, kathiep. For instance, my older son may look preppy simply because he does not care about clothes, so all his clothes tend to look like Abercrombie because they are <em>naturally</em> freyed and distressed! He’s a computer and theater geek, cares nothing about prestige, and yet by appearances someone might think he was “preppy.” I think judging kids (especially their politics) by their clothing is kind of silly!</p>
<p>P.S. “prep-filter”?? I’ll have to warn my son that it may be a more dangerous world out there for him than I thought! ;)</p>
<p>We have visited Haverford–twice-- but both times in the summer. I agree judging a school on clothing is silly, but it can give a piece of info on fit (the school, not the clothes). Anyway, isn’t prep a little more than clothing? I’m certainly no expert.</p>
<p>Kathiep, since you mentioned that Haverford was preppy, were you just talking about what people wear? The Insider’s Guide usually covers the prep issue pretty well, which is why I was surprised.</p>
<p>By prep-filter, I just mean that it’s a key-word for my son that suggests a school may not be the best match for him. Greek life and emphasis on sports are two others. He doesn’t have a major yet, so we had to have some other ways to narrow down the search.</p>