Well, college hunting that is. Yesterday I went up to Northwestern with Akash and I really got a good feel for the University. The people were friendly, and I really could do what I want. I can either take a dual-degree or a double-major, which was totally new to me. However, I don’t think I’m academically rigorous enough. I guess I’ll apply anyways. I have a chance? And my audition can count towards it, and my essay and things. I mean, I generally get A’s, so it’s not bad. I loved the feel of the campus, the academic rigor. I mean, there is so much to choose from there. Let’s see what else I really discovered, because there was a Performing Arts college fair after at Bloomquist. So, that was a good opportunity to speak to some other colleges about their courses. I discovered some good and some not so good things. One, Peabody is looking farther down on my list. I was hoping I could easily do a double-major because that’s what JHU talks about and how it’s easy. But, Peabody seems to make it WAY more difficult. So, it’s a possibility, but it’s not looking too high up there. Also, CIM is lower on my list by a lot. It seems way too traditional for me. See, I was comparing their college catalogue to one that SFCM gave me. And it’s very different in a lot of ways. They just have set stuff you MUST take. There was no New Music Ensemble or anything of the like. So, on the other end of the spectrum: positives. Well, SFCM is looking high on my list. There were lots of opportunities and it just generally looked like a good place to expand my music horizons. Also, Berklee College of Music was a great place it seemed to do more alternative styles with my viola. So that’s a consideration. Also higher on my list was USC. I can do just about anything there. I didn’t have a chance to ask about a dual-degree or a double major, but I can email them. It seemed interesting. It’s a very high caliber string program. (I mean seriously, Midori teaches there) And Mannes was higher on my list too. I can do other things at one of the other colleges inside the University. NEC I can do a dual-degree with Harvard or Tufts as well. So, yeah. All this got me thinking. I certainly learned a lot. Now I have to compare all this to other things that I had been researching before. Yay college.