I would like to find a good school preferably on the east coast with a really good ceramics department. I don‘t like to drive so major city would be ideal, but I‘m willing to move anywhere if I have to.
Alfred University is supposed to be best. You can also check out the other schools on the ranking list. A ranking list like that may not mean that the top school is really the best school for you specifically, that depends on many other factors, but if you look into any of these school they all should have good facilities and a program which is active. Ideally you would pick a few favorites and visit if that is an option. You would get a much better impression whether it's a place you feel comfortable in and whether the town or city it's in is something you could live in too.
In arts programs like ceramics, the teacher(s) can make a huge difference in both the perceived quality and what you get out of it. A program that was founded or run by someone really good can become much worse if they leave. On the other hand, a very good person for many people may not be good for you because they strongly favor a style you hate or focus on techniques that don't work well with your stuff. Or they may be strongly opinionated and you don't work well under pressure. Take the time to visit several schools, look at the faculty work and the student work and talk to some students about their learning experience and what they like or don't like about it.
The Orton Foundation is the founder of modern ceramics. It is now located at Ohio. You might also whittle down your interest into a specialty (ceramics as related to aerospace, for example, might be more appropriate to go to a major Engineering school like U of Md) or design applications, interior design, traditional sculpture, etc. etc. This would help you whittle down the list of schools to a handful. Are you interested in carrying this on to get an MA/ MFA/ MS? Selecting a school with a better reputation and higher grad school placement ratio would be best. All of this information is available by looking into the handful of schools you eventually come down to. Best of luck to you!
