I have a student who was accepted to Berklee with no merit award and REALLY wants to be in Boston and be part of the Berklee community. Can anyone tell me if they had any success appealing an award there, or coming up with creative ways to afford their school. For instance, living off campus and taking several Berklee online classes at a third the price, work study, etc.
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Thanks.
First, congratulations on the Berklee acceptance! That’s great! I’m new to all of this myself, but I’m learning about the frustration of acceptances with not-so-great financial aid packages. Did Berklee award Pell grant, loans, etc., that bring you closer to being able to cover it?
Last year a young man my son knows was accepted at MSM, and he apparently did one of those Kickstarter or GoFundMe campaigns to help cover the tuition, etc. (I believe he sent CD’s of his music to those who contributed). I gather that it worked, because he’s there now.
I’ve heard that some financial aid offices can be flexible it you approach them about more money, but I don’t know how it works with Berklee.
I really hope that it all works out–keep us posted!
Congrats on admittance! I have heard they don’t offer any appeals. There is work study but you have to qualify financially. Did you fill out FAFSA? I don’t think you will save much(or anything at all) living off campus and really not recommended for a first year student. Your tuition will be the same for 12 credits or 16 credits. If you want to take classes on line then you don’t need to be in Boston. Wish I could offer you better news. Congrats and good luck!
My son attends there, and here are some ways we have made it work. First of all, his initial acceptance did offer him a merit scholarship, so we were lucky there, but it was not enough to cover what he needed. However, a few days later when he received the admission package in the mail, we discovered he was also awarded a generous grant which made a huge difference.
The biggest thing he has done to cut costs is work hard to earn enough credits so he is on track to finish in 3 years instead of 4. He went in with 6 AP credits and 9 CLEP credits, so that is an entire semesters worth done and eliminated a huge portion of his liberal arts requirements. The requirements to get those credits aren’t tough, but they do say CLEP credits must be done before you begin there or you need permission to have to have them count for credit, so I recommend doing them now, my son spent a couple days right after graduation cramming for and taking 3 tests, you only need to pass to get the credit. Then when you arrive in the fall, you take placement tests for theory, and Berklee awards credit for each class you test out of. His placements earned my son another semester’s worth of credits, and he is now on track to graduate a full year early. Spending time studying theory and music technology over the summer (the information on what to study is available on their website) can really pay off.
The final piece to our puzzle is that he is working while going to school. He went to the student employment office his first week there and they helped him find opportunities. He is not an official work-study student, but his job seems very similar, he actually works at the Boys and Girls Club, his schedule is worked around his classes and breaks, and he is paid through Berklee. It allows him to earn a little extra to help with the bills. He is also always looking for more opportunities, Berklee has a good online system (called “the hub”) which always has opportunities listed for gigs, contests, scholarships, etc.
Good luck to your son!
It never hurts to try an appeal, thought unless Berklee is different than other conservatories, almost all their aid, merit or straight financial,tends to be tied on the basis of need, and it sounds like they didn’t feel he qualified for aid based on income (when the OP said “no merit aid”, did that mean he received no aid at all?).
As far as living off campus, I don’t know Berklee’s policy, but a lot of schools require freshman to live on campus, plus Boston being the city it is, it is not cheap to live off campus (my son goes to school in that area, Back Bay, and rents in the area are not cheap). And yeah, UG tuition doesn’t change with the number of credits, if you are a full time student, it will cost the same
Like many on here,I would be loathe to recommend taking out loans, Berklee is expensive, and to come out of a program like that with 100k or more in loans doesn’t make much sense to me, given the tenuous nature of music.
I can’t speak of the online program, I don’t know the details of that, but it sounds sadly to me like the kid may face what many do, that their dream school is too expensive. If the program is otherwise not affordable, it doesn’t make sense to go out on a limb with loans to be able to go there, if he has alternatives.
Oh, and there is also a scholarship program for continuing students who did not qualify for a merit scholarship as freshman, so that is another possibility if you can manage to make it work for the first year.
My D was also accepted to Berklee with no merit aid. Its her first choice and we’re honored and thrilled she got in! She ended up getting a full-tuition scholarship to another school and tried to use that as an appeal to Berklee and was told flatly no but that she could defer admission and audition next year for scholarship consideration. That option is on the table but she’s taking the scholarship offer at the other school.
What level of musician is the student? Did they have a bad audition? Do they have a sense of how they compare to other comparable musicians? Do they want to go to Berklee for performance or for some other aspect of the music industry. How dedicated is the student to practicing and developing as an artist and a musician. Berklee can be a competitive place. And students who are just “coasters” who “think” they want to be a musician often do not do well there and struggle. If a student struggles and then has to take time off or drop out the money spent is lost. Loans still will need to get repaid etc…
Did the student apply to other conservatories? If so did they have any other offers? Have they ever attended a summer music program.
Historically Berklee is known for filling their classes (and the bank) with many students who are music-wanna-be kids. So the range of students at Berklee is quite large. The top students at Berklee are as good if not better than the top students at any of the best conservatories. The bottom are kids who you would not find at the top conservatories. And then there is everything in between. There are also many FULL PAYING extremely talented foreign students.
So I suppose the question is why Boston? Why Berklee? And is the students vision in line with the reality of the work they have cut out for them.
As a parent I would worry about sending this student to Boston to take online classes and work and try to find his place in the Berklee community, unless what you have is a VERY DEDICATED, COMMITTED, DETERMINED, MATURE student who feels that he just didn’t have the best audition and he believes he has what it takes to make it and succeed and he is going to work really hard to do just that. Life can be brutal and when you are dealing with an 18 year old I think it is better to put them in an environment where they can grow and develop and improve and be supported without feeling inadequate or constantly frustrated.
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StacJip’s comment seems harsh but all on the spot.
Sorry it seems harsh. But living in the Boston metropolitan area I have sadly seen many parents whose kids were struggling but somehow loosely involved in music go off to Berklee. I also see this with kids who end up in art schools. These upper middle class parents are relieved to have their child in some higher education program. But because the child is lacking in motivation and commitment to the career/educational path. These kids end up just partying. Or worse they end up getting depressed and feel as though they have failed and they give up.
That being said I am also a HUGE fan of late starters, underachievers and kids who are super motivated and have not yet “arrived”. I this is a kid who is like that and really wants to go to Berklee and make a go at music and working in the music industry, I believe they can and they will succeed. I don’t know this kid. It seems the original poster was a guidance counselor or teacher, and I guess the reason for my harsh post is I worry that maybe the teacher does not fully appreciate the challenges of what this student might face when he/she were to arrive in Boston.
It is better for many students who are not yet fully where they need to be in terms of maturity and discipline to land in an environment where they are a big fish in a little pond rather than be a small fish in a big pond. Trust me I know. Years ago I had a kid (not my musician) who was quite far behind his peers. Had he ended up in a big pond I doubt he would be the young man he is today.
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Thanks for all of your responses. I think at this point the student is planning on deferring her enrollment for a year and reauditioning for a scholarship next year. In the meantime Berklee suggested she take some online courses and try to get some of the general education requirements completed. Hopefully this will all work out for her. She is extremely motivated and fell in love with Berklee at their summer program where she made some wonderful connections with faculty members there. Fingers crossed for a happy ending.
Oh it is great that she attended Berklee over the summer and fell in love and it is wonderful that she is extremely motivated. I agree that deferring her enrollment is a wise idea. Especially because what ensembles you are in when you are at Berklee is extremely important. She will want to work hard and improve so when she does attend Berklee she gets put in very high level ensembles so she is with people who are as motivated and excited about music as she is.
But just deferring her enrollment is not enough. She needs a strategy for improving on her instrument. She needs to think about the teacher she is working with and evaluate whether it makes sense to try lessons with a new teacher or even add a teacher. She needs to work on ear-training, which she can do with apps and her phone. She needs to get as much experience as she can playing with others and playing in front of others. She will need to look at her practice habits and figure out if he is practicing effectively (that can be a challenge and it takes a good teacher to show her how to practice effectively).
There is no doubt in my mind if she is motivated and sets her mind to it she can improve. I can’t say how that will translate into scholarship since there are so many other factors that impact that. But she also can spend her gap year looking for outside funding as well. She should spend some time every week dedicated to finding funding and extra resources. More importantly you can tell her that doing that will be teaching her a very valuable skill. A skill ALL ARTISTS eventually have to learn. So it is not time wasted. It may end up being the sort of growth that will set her up for success later on down the road.
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I too have a daughter who was accepted at Berklee for Fall 2016. She studies with 3 vocal coaches in 3 different genres, and with a Doctorate-level pianist. She has had great theory, technique and ear-training. She is extremely ready for Berklee. Yet, there was no scholarship offer.
However, she has generous offers at other prestigious schools. The only Berklee scholarships I have heard about are going to instrumentalists. (Of course, it is a small sample of students, so it is most likely that it’s just that we don’t have the big picture). We cannot appeal their decision until the Financial Aid Packet is issued - no idea when that will be. From what I’ve heard, they don’t generally acquiesce to appeals anyway.
I’ve also been told that the acceptance rate for vocalists is under 20% this year. Their website touts that they have some $30M in scholarship funds available. I wonder if they understand what a kid feels when they know there is a large bucket of $$ available, yet they receive nothing? I know my daughter felt (feels) that it means they really don’t want her.
So, do we leave money on the table at the other schools? Does she defer and audition for the scholarship next year (with the obvious likelihood of not receiving anything anyway)? Or, does she turn her back and walk away from her dream school?
BugMomCA,
I would definitely appeal the financial offer especially if your daughter received competing offers at other schools.
One thing you can tell your daughter is that there are many variables that influence scholarship that are completely unrelated to talent and whether the school wants you. It sounds like Berklee is getting a very large number of vocalists applying. If that is the case then your daughter’s failure to get a scholarship might be because of something as silly as a dice roll (not that actually happens in admissions offices but you know what I mean). I see this all the time with college admissions. My son’s senior year in high school he knew a very talented guitarist instrumentalist who only got a partial scholarship while a few years earlier his brother got a full ride. Things change and shift. For all you know next year there might be fewer vocalists or maybe there will be more money for vocalists or they will want somebody whose voice is in your daughter’s range.
One other thing to consider if you have an imbalance in scholarship admission offers is to rethink how your child auditioned for Berklee. It is interesting that every conservatory has it’s style and if you ignore that and try to make a one-size fits all audition then you will have some misses. I know when my son auditioned four years ago his teacher coached him to do somethings at his Berklee audition that he definitely should not do at his MSM, NEC or Eastman audition.
She also might want to seriously consider attending one of the other schools that gave her a generous offer. Berklee is a great place but it is also a big school and it is easy to get lost. Being a big fish in a smaller pond as a lot of advantages especially for a singer because it means more opportunities to shine. So much depends on what her musical goals are. She could start at one of the other schools she was accepted at and then apply to transfer to Berklee.
It’s not that she is not ready. It’s just that she is not the only one that is ready.There are lots and lots of singers out there who are working hard. As you mentioned, she has “generous offers at other prestigious schools” Good for her…she has other options that she should explore and probably take advantage of.
Whether it’s in music or biophysics, categorizing a school as a “dream” hardly ever ends well. Graduating without debt—it doesn’t mean a lot to her now, but it will be enormously important later. Yes, she should turn her back on debt. Berklee is hardly the only path to success.
I appreciate all the ideas, and we do have a lot to think about. Her acceptances are across several genres: Classical, Jazz, Commercial, and Contemporary. She didn’t use the same materials at any of these auditions.
I honestly think it has much to do with how many vocalists auditioned. Interestingly, one of her acceptances is at the very school that is merging with Berklee this summer. Hmmm. Of course, none of the offers covers full tuition at any of the schools, so it is a matter of reducing the debt - and the financial impact on our family.
She wants to go to a larger school so that she isn’t the big fish - she wants to be challenged and be around some people who are “better” or more trained than she is.
BugMomCA,
I think the other thing to remember is that she will be FINE. Honestly. It sounds like she is highly motivated and willing to do the work she needs to do to make this her profession. I don’t know the whole Vocal scene but I do know that my musician son has often told me that voices mature in the early 20s.
If she goes to BoCo she will have access to everything at Berklee due to the merger I believe. Or am I missing something?
BTW, one thing that Don Braden, who runs the Litchfield Jazz Camp says to students, is you can make your scene anywhere if you are motivated and willing to push yourself. The key is getting out and making music with as many different people as you can. I love that…because it means that where ever you go you can find a way to grow and continue to develop as a musician.
The whole Debt thing is insane. I am not sure what anyone who is middle class is expected to do. I have a 28 year old child who is a nurse practitioner who has a good job at a leading hospital who is barely able to stay in the black financially due to her loans for graduate school. Rents are high, healthy food is expensive and she needs a car to get to work. At some point the whole system is going to collapse.
Heres my 2 cents - with a touch of humor.
Don’t tie yourself up in knots trying to figure out what it all means. I guarantee you in 4 years you’ll barely remember this difficult month. Your D got acceptances. She’s “good enough”. Just deal with the facts of what she has. You’ll never know the whys. BTW the scholarships amts “advertised” falls under marketing imho. The old bait and switch? Disregard. What advertising doesn’t make you feel bad and spend too much money?
Now it’s time to make a good financial decision that will allow your child NOT to be saddled with debt at graduation. Focus on the future. What life does she want at 25? She gets to dream again. Look at her income potential and make a choice that gives her flexibility to continue to grow musically after graduation instead of servicing debt. Being 25 and in big debt will stink. Guaranteed.
It’s about HER not the school name. Kids can grow in so many places. And trust me, there are no dream schools. Sophomore year usually takes care of that fantasy.
If anyone has given her money, they want her. They will pay attn to her. It’s free money! Sure it might not be perfect. But a no money dream school could be worse…with debt. Be sure this doesn’t fall into the category of “bad boy” appeal. Why are we always attracted to the bad boy who doesn’t care about us? Geez there’s a nice guy offering money!!! This is the guy you marry.
I really have no idea what’s best for you. There are so many factors that I don’t know. But hopefully a comment or two helps!
I love the “bad boy” analogy, @bridgenail . 
There is another factor of merit based need. We could not afford any of the conservatories even with their “generous merit”. My son chose a chose a school that was challenging and affordable. Even if your daughter got merit next year, would a 15k or 20k scholarship even make it affordable? Not for us. We do not qualify for any financial aid. We are full pay except at the second tier schools. But your daughter should factor that into her decision.