Hi, I've been accepted into both North Texas and Brown and I'm having an incredibly hard time trying to decide between them. I know that UNT has a much more widely respected and well-known music program than Brown, but I can't help but feel like the Brown curriculum is much more flexible and would give me more opportunities to pursue my own musical interests. I enjoy jazz, but it's definitely not my main focus and I would have much rather gone to a popular music program like the one at USC (which I was rejected from) or Berklee (which I could never hope to afford) than a program that was solely jazz or classical program. Part of what attracted me to Brown was the amount of opportunity to study computer music, production, etc. with the MEME program.
Additionally, I was only accepted as a music BA student at UNT. I would have the opportunity to try to audition again to become a performance BM, but there are no guarantees. Being a BA student puts me on track to be a composition major, though, which I am open to. Recently I have been leaning more towards composition than performance anyway. However, should I decide to pursue performance in the end, that will be a huge obstacle down the road for me.
I also feel that beyond the music program, I would feel much more at Brown than I would in North Texas. I would much rather live in Rhode Island than Texas, and I would prefer to be in the more nerdy, quirky atmosphere at Brown.
The thing is, I'm paying for college by myself, and UNT is offering me a full ride, while Brown is a bit of a stretch for me financially. I would definitely have at least $20,000 in debt once I was done at the current price they are giving me, though I am trying to appeal for more aid. My parents are encouraging me to choose UNT, both for the scholarship and its higher-ranked music program, but I can't help but feel like I wouldn't be as happy and feel as at home as I would at Brown.
Does anyone here have any input on what they would recommend I choose?
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