haha...somehow I knew you were going to say that. It would be nice to try a Conn, because I have never played one.

I'm with the non-sleeper here, where including the instructor in the process is concerned. If you're going to be at this university for the duration of your academic career, what happens there will affect the next career. And if this person is to be your instructor for the duration, then gaining a little advantage with him/her by letting them participate will make the duration a little easier. Yes, you'll be spending your own money to get your own sax, and in that you have the final say. Show them some respect. If it's on the transcript, an A is an A is an..... regardless of how it got there. Lefty

@ mingusfan what is a Mark IV? Can't say I've heard of it. I hear the Mark VI's are quite nice though :-) As for the original question, if you intend to play mainly classical saxophone I suggest checking out Selmer Series II. Ive tried a bunch of series II's and IIIs but i found that the II's get a really rich warm sound. I didn't like the new venting mechanism on the III. If you want to play primarily jazz, well then thats a whole different game. I agree with what everyone else has said before: try a lot of horns and get your instructor involved. Even different horns of the same model can play quite differently.