<p>I have to disagree with Mythmom for the first time in a long time. From the OP’s other threads on the subject, it doesn’t sound like it would be a wash academically, at all. OP’s S was actively considering JHU (Peabody), NYU, Columbia as well as taking a a gap year in order to qualify for Oberlin’s conservatory. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to walk away from music entirely.</p>
<p>Wesleyan, among small New England colleges (remember these were traditionally all-male institutions up until the 1970s), was an early adaptor of the performing arts as an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum, thus accounting for the age of some of its facilities (film majors routinely refer to the original Kevin Roche designed movie theater as, <em>The Old</em> CFA Screening Room, in order to differentiate it from the two brand new screening rooms.)</p>
<p>Music pervades, the Wesleyan campus despite its tired, old mid-1970s facilities (honestly, some of us Old Cards have to laugh at the idea of a <40 y/o building being “old” – but, we’re not Williams, I suppose. LOL) Everyone from the disc jockeys at WESU to the president himself – to returning alum – seem primed to jam at a moment’s notice.</p>
<p>And, it’s not just the amount of music; it’s the way music informs other disciplines: Anthropology, East Asia Studies, Computer Science, a dance was created at Wesleyan by brainstorming with members of the Biology Dept: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/arts/dance/06lerm.html?ex=1172034000&en=14f4901e0dc1ac78&ei=5070[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/arts/dance/06lerm.html?ex=1172034000&en=14f4901e0dc1ac78&ei=5070</a> </p>
<p>Seriously, if were a matter of Wesleyan vs. Oberlin or Peabody or NYU, I’d be a lot more reticent about offering an opinion. But, Wesleyan vs. Bowdoin? That’s not a wash.</p>