Berklee - Advice

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Sorry to rain on your parade guys but.......
I was at Berklee for a while and now I'm trying to transfer to a real school.</p>

<p>I believe I can provide a fair insight on what it's really like being there.</p>

<p>A few things to note:</p>

<p>. Berklee is a trade school. That is, unless all you are interested in is gaining (sort of) a specific skill, go to real college/university.</p>

<p>. Berklee claims they are something like a top-rated or number one institution for the study of contemporay music, but the truth is there's no such ranking to start with. Further, if you look up Berklee at any ranking like US News Best Colleges, Berklee shows up as "private, not ranked."</p>

<p>. They only added the general ed. a few years ago to make it where they can grant a degree, but still, their general ed. is equivalent to highschool-level courses. </p>

<p>. A lot of the teachers don't have degrees.</p>

<p>. I can't speak for Composition, Performance,etc. but the tech majors (Music Synthesis, Music Production & Engineering and, to a certain extent, Film Scoring) are not really about learning much theory or anything other than how to use specific software. Particularly, they make students buy software/hardware bundles and all you do in class is have a teacher "teach" you how to use your new software (they love teaching you how to use Native Instruments stuff).</p>

<p>. A great percentage of the grads end up working at Berklee and teaching the same thing all over again, due to not being able to gain employment in the industry.</p>

<p>. For most classes, no books are used whatsoever. As a matter of fact, most teachers will tell you that even if the syllabus states you need a book, you shouldn't get it since it won't be used at all. Some other classes might use meager Berklee booklets, written by the "Faculty", with no peer-reviewing whatsoever. </p>

<p>. Classes (but for the general ed.) are 2 credits (classes are technically 2 hours long tops, though they start at 10 past. so you basically have 1hr and 50 minutes, plus the 10/15 min of waiting for people to show up late- total: 1hr 30min). This is only important if you ever realize you should transfer to a real school (like me), because Berklee courses won't transfer anywhere.
(I already checked with 4 top-50 universities).</p>

<p>. On teachers in general: a lot of them will just tell you stories of their golden days instead of teaching. Some seriously don't know anything about the subject matter (makes sense, since they don't have degrees). Some have even showed up drunk or under the influence to class.</p>

<p>. If you have money you are in, really. They only start getting picky about how good you are at Jazz and Blues if you don't have enough money (meaning you'll be counting on scholarships and FAFSA).</p>

<p>Anyways, there's more things to say, but the whole subject just depresses me.</p>

<p>Point being, its is not a real school, and the academic level is really bad in general.</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the post. I'm not looking at Berklee (or rather any music schools) but I know someone who graduated from there, and your advice basically summed up what he's told me about it. I would however, like to add a few things he told me:
-If you graduate from Berklee, you will likely wind up in a LOT of debt, and also likely won't graduate with high-paying job offers.
-A lot of the successful musicians that went to Berklee didn't graduate from Berklee.</p>

3

<p>A lot of your complaints are valid. I'm sure many points are very relevant to many other people. I'm sorry your experience wasn't right for you.</p>

<p>However, having lived in Boston before and having become well acquainted with the music scene there - I can honestly tell you that there are many students there who can play their instruments with mind-boggling out-of-this-world ability, even in comparison to the classically trained and disciplined students of the nation's top conservatories. You may have been disappointed by the coursework offered and how they prepare you for facing the job market after graduation - but in actuality, there are really no music programs (both in conservatories and in universities) anywhere that can adequately place their graduates in the job market when compared to some of the other more conventional majors. That's just the nature of being a music major - facing uncertainties in the real world.</p>

<p>There are very few programs in the nation dedicated towards the study of contemporary mainstream music, and among those that do exist, Berklee has to be among the top of such lists. It's hard to find any other school that rivals Berklee in the level of students there, the reputation and long time history, the amount of well known alumni, and especially the amount of networking opportunities that exist there. </p>

<p>Molliegym, the reason why a lot of the famous alumni there didn't graduate is simple. For working in the contemporary mainstream music field, a degree doesn't really get you anywhere; it's more about ability, experience, contacts, etc. So when there is an option of staying further until graduation, or accepting a job offer to get their feet wet in the industry, most Berklee students choose the latter. There's a running joke that goes - "if you stay at this school long enough to graduate, then you've failed!"</p>

<p>Berklee happens to be a wonderful place to meet others, make contacts, seek gigs, and network yourself within the industry. Perhaps this is even more important at a place like this than merely what happens inside the classrooms. It sounds to me like the initial poster of this thread was someone who didn't quite take advantage of what the school had to offer, and is now bitter at the institution itself for his sour experience.</p>

<p>Bottom line - what may not be an ideal school for one person might be a gem for another. I wouldn't want anybody who have read this with an interest in Berklee to be discouraged from checking out the school further themselves.</p>

4

<p>steph, well said.</p>

5

<p>Yes, Berklee has been around quite a while now and should not be tossed out. It's just right for some students, and they will know who they are when they visit and seriously consider the school. We do know several jazz students from Berklee who have tried or are currently trying to transfer to NEC because of the sheer size of Berklee. For the jazz musicians perhaps there is not enough disciplined education to really suit them, and the playing opportunities become harder to find when the size gets too large.</p>