Schools that Rock

The RS guide to the best colleges -- if you want to learn about music or just live it

By JENNY ELISCU

When you're deciding which college to attend, there are plenty of important factors to consider: which school has the best academics, is the most affordable, has a favorable student-faculty ratio, a wide array of extracurriculars and so on. But what good will those perks do you if there's not a good student-rock ratio? You don't want to arrive on campus and discover that there's nowhere in town for a music geek such as yourself to get your ya-ya's out. With this scenario in mind, Schools That Rock: The Rolling Stone College Guide (Wenner Books) was born. The book, on shelves now, aims to help both college-bound music students and fans decide not only which schools offer esteemed and/or innovative courses but also which college towns have a thriving rock scene.

Schools That Rock covers more than fifty cities. The U.S. is full of great rock scenes beyond the obvious ones in New York and L.A. Below is a list of the ten best -- places where you're not just a face in the crowd at a Franz Ferdinand show, and that encourage you to indulge your passions, see shows, buy records and forget for a moment what the hell you're gonna do when you graduate. You might find that the cutie in your Psych class likes the Strokes as much as you do. That's the kind of thing you have to leave campus to learn.

1. SEATTLE

2. CHAPEL HILL/RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC

3. DETROIT

4. AUSTIN

5. NASHVILLE

6. ST. LOUIS

7. SAN FRANCISCO

8. ATHENS, GA

9. MINNEAPOLIS

10. PORTLAND, OR

(Posted July 28, 2005)