Lists and Rankings

The Experts' Choice: Colleges for the Musician Who Doesn't Want to Attend a Conservatory

Conservatories are great for the musician who eats, sleeps, and breathes music. Other music students want a little more variety in their classes--and a little less of opera divas wailing in the dorms. These schools are for them.

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Top Choices

• Bard College (Annandale on Hudson, NY)
• Boston University (Boston, MA)
• Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)
• DePauw University (Greencastle, IN)
• Indiana University Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)
• Lawrence University (Appleton, WI)
• Miami University — Oxford (Oxford, OH)
• New York University (New York, NY)
• Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
• Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH)
• Rice University (Houston, TX)
• Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY)
• St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)
• University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)
• University of Michigan — Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)
• University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
• Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA)
• Willamette University (Salem, OR)

More Choices

• Appalachian State University (Boone, NC)
• Baylor University (Waco, TX)
• CUNY — Brooklyn College (Brooklyn, NY)
• CUNY — Queens College (Flushing, NY)
• Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
• Clark University (Worcester, MA)
• Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY)
• Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA)
• Loyola University New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)
• Mills College (Oakland, CA)
• Oklahoma City University (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA)
• Rider University (Lawrenceville, NJ)
• SUNY — Fredonia (Fredonia, NY)
• SUNY — Stony Brook (Stony Brook, NY)
• SUNY — University at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY)
• Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY)
• Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX)
• The College of Wooster (Wooster, OH)
• The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
• University of Delaware (Newark, DE)
• University of Hartford (West Hartford, CT)
• University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Champaign, IL)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)
• University of North Texas (Denton, TX)
• University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO)
• University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN)
• University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
• Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
• Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT)
• Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
• Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC)