<p>Thanks for the reply guitardad. My son had originally applied for early action & on Feb 1st was told he didn't make the early action group but would be re-considered during regular action. He called after Feb 19th as they had asked & he specifically asked if there was any other info he should send when his app was being re-considered. (When he filled out the app they did not ask for letters of recommendation & once he had sent in his application and transcripts was given his audition & interview date.) So back to Feb 19th he also asked about letters of recommendation & they told him he could send them in but that they are not read nor considered & would prefer not receiving them. So he didn't send them in. We got our "rejection" email March 31st at midnight. We just have wondered about the different answers we have received each time we have corresponded through email & phone with Berklee. Your son should be very proud of himself & I'm sure he is destined for success at Berklee.</p>
<p>My D is in the same boat as your son, guitardad. She left for school yesterday morning depressed when she read the email. At first, she didn't realize that she was in at all, because she read the email in a frenzy. I had to "talk her down" and get her to understand the part about secured admission for the spring semester. She was still insulted, haha, but she's feeling much better now. She took the option of "remain on the waitlist, but secure admission for spring" and I called the bursar with my credit card for the deposit.</p>
<p>She has been accepted at an in-state university for vocal performance, and she's planning to go there for the first semester if she's not admitted to Berklee in the fall. If she likes it there, she might stay. I hope this is the right way to handle this.</p>
<p>gina225, we got the same answer you did about recommendations, and we sent none. I,too, wonder if recommendations would have helped, because we could have sent some great ones. Other schools gave similar responses, in that if they asked for one rec they only wanted one, and would even throw out any extras.</p>
<p>I have to heartily agree with the "in is in!" attitude ... the Berklee adcom folks made it very clear that though there is certainly a "numbers game" in terms of room in each semester's entering class, they will only admit the applicants they think are good enough and can hack it ... if they had a bigger-than-expected pool/yield among EA kids that was going to severely cut down the number of admits from RD. BUT the kids they felt were Berklee material would be waitlisted but also accepted for the January/spring term. </p>
<p>I also agree with the advice to make the most of these extra months to use them as a mini "gap year" ... financially if necessary, experientially, educationally. There are a slew of placement tests to take the first week of orientation that will determine your son's first and second semester courses and there is a lot of info about those (and sample tests) on the website. So this is a great opportunity for your son to focus on any areas where he may feel he needs extra work and get up to speed .. or just have fun with his music!</p>
<p>(And once he's there, let me know and my D can bring him a box of chocolate truffles as a welcome gift!)</p>
<p>Sorry to rain on your parade guys but.......
I was at Berklee until last term and now I'm trying to transfer to a real school.
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>. 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 they won't transfer anywhere.</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>Anyways, there's more things to say, but the whole subject just depresses me.</p>
<p>Point being, this is not a real school, and the academic level is really bad in general.</p>
<p>But how was the music? If you went to Berklee for the academics outside of the music experience wasn't that sort of missing the point? Not trying to sound harsh but the assumption among the students seems to be that, indeed, the "required academics" are a necessary evil ... either to be dealt with elsewhere (perhaps summer school, perhaps at other local schools like Emerson, perhaps by having several AP classes they can use for credit) ... to leave them the time to just concentrate on their music. </p>
<p>Oh well, not every square will fit into every box. So it's a good thing you've discovered it's the wrong place for you .. you can move on and go somewhere else and pursue another dream, while it will open up a space for someone who wanted to go there and might have been one of the many (like some on this board) who did not get in on their first try. </p>
<p>Everyone wins!</p>
<p>In terms of my leaving freeing up a spot for someone who'd love to be here, I guess you are right.</p>
<p>As to what was the music side like...</p>
<p>Here's the thing, all I said about the school applies to the music instruction as it does to the "rest of academics." What this means is:</p>
<p>ear training and harmony:</p>
<p>. its really up to the teacher. You could either get someone who really goes through the material or you could get someone that doesn't teach and, instead, tells you stories of his/her gigs in the 70s. </p>
<p>. in either case, a 1.40 hr class is not really enough to go through/do a lot.</p>
<p>instrument private instruction:</p>
<p>. same as taking private lessons on your own, but you only get 30min per week. You basically spend the first 20 min showing the scales/standard/exercise you were assigned the previous week, and the last 10min taking note on what to study next. That is, they don't really "teach" per se, but rather just assign stuff. It's up to you to play whatever they give you and/or correct any posture/technical skill/technique issues (that is, if you yourself realize you have any such issues, cause they won't really tell you anything as long as you spit out the chords).</p>
<p>ensambles:</p>
<p>. these are usually good, as they are dependent aprox. 80% on the students.</p>
<p>In general, the greatness-level of the music side depends on what students you hang out with and not on Berklee teaching anything. But that's sort of the whole point: people here tend to stay the same regardless of Berklee. That is, people that excel at Berklee do so due to their own merit and being good before Berklee. People that are so-so before Berklee, stay the same through and after Berklee.</p>
<p>I say this from personal experience and from discussing my experience with other students there. I was particularly good at my major, but I'd see a lot of frustration from other students in my classes and realized it wasn't because they were not capable, but because they were not really being taught (not-surprisingly, I tutored many of these students and they would tell me how much of a difference it made). I know, this last statement sounds pretentious, but if Berklee teachers were doing their job, I wouldn't even be able to claim this in the first place.</p>
<p>In general, I'm just saying that i think it's somewhat illogical to pay 15k a term for rather mediocre musical training.</p>
<p>On a last note, I agree that if all you want to do is play, perhaps most of my rant is irrelevant. But, on the other hand, bare in mind that when I was 20 I too dreamed of just playing and nothing but playing. It was only after I turned 23 or so that I started thinking a bit more about my future and how the whole Berklee experience would affect my ability to gain employment after college. Only after being there I realized I could just go to a state school, get an overall better education and still pursue music as a career, while gaining some other skills and knowledge along the way, which ultimately would only add to my assets at the time of gaining employment.</p>
<p>I don't know, maybe my first posting came off more as a ****y list of facts, but I'm just putting this out there for people to have one more perspective. I don't hate Berklee. I still have a bunch of friends from there.</p>
<p>I can attest to this as well. Over the past 2 years, I've been working with Music Production and Promotional companies in NYC. And they have flat out stated that they will immediately turn down anyone that applies for the job with just a Berklee degree. Many in the music industry believe that you can pay your way into Berklee. As my Orchestra teacher said "if you can afford the tuition, that's enough to get you in". And while although it is true that in recent years Berklee has cracked down on its admission policies with the mandatory audition and such, the perception has not changed in the Music Industry. </p>
<p>I can't attest in regards to performance. John Petrucci (a Berklee dropout and virtuoso guitarist), said that it is very easy to do nothing at Berklee, and that you will basically get what you put in to your training. It's a lot of self practice/studying, don't expect much teaching. That's all I can say in regards to Berklee.</p>
<p>So if my s wants a career as a music producer, what programs are available and where? can anybody help~~~~~</p>
<p>Well it depends. There are many colleges that have music production, but also have a performance requirement. If your child has formal training in any classical/jazz/contemporary instrument, he/she should be fine. But if your child can't meet the performance requirement at these schools, your list of possible schools shrinks.</p>
<p>Some Schools that offer music production: University of Denver, University of Indiana-bloomington. Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music. Peabody Institute/Johns Hopkins, University of Miami, Depaul University, Duquesne, University of Michigan, California Institute of the Arts, Ithaca College, SUNY Fredonia, UMass-- Lowell, Northeastern Univeristy, Stevens Institute of Technology, U of Hartford, Clemson, South Carolina,</p>
<p>I donât see any postings on Berklee since 08. Does anyone know what the acceptance rate is in 2010? Also, my understanding is that EA doesât give you any leg up. It just lets you know earlier. Does anyone have information to the contrary?</p>
<p>itâs been around 28-33%</p>
<p>Iâm applying EA and obviously it would seem youâre in a smaller pool of people and it shows your eagerness to want to attend. also you may roll into the regular action admissions to get a second chance if they want to review you more. it just seems logical if you really want to go there to apply as early as possible</p>
<p>shcisamax, you wrote
</p>
<p>That may well be true for this thread, but if you do a title search on Berklee, you will find thirty Berklee threads, about half of which have activity throughout 2009 to this year. </p>
<p>If you go to the last few posts of my thread <a href=âhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html[/url]â>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html</a>, youâll find links to a series of Master Lists showing acceptances and matriculation to Berklee from users of this forum over the last few admission cycles. You can search for post by username as one means of finding additional info.</p>
<p>I canât speak for the Admissions office with regard to whether EA provides a leg up (it can only help) but I assure you it provides a considerable advantage if you hope to get a room in a dorm. Dormitory space is extremely limited at Berklee and is dispensed on a first come first served basis. EA puts you closer to the top of the housing list list if you are accepted and act quickly. BTW if you are accepted, you can hold your spot with a deposit ($250?) which is refundable if you should subsequently have a change of heart.</p>
<p>hm, i thought the deposit was non-refundableâŠanyways yeah i forgot the biggest thing like you said was housing, itâs a ludicrous thought to to think my family could afford an apartment for me in Boston, so I pray if i get in i can get a dorm</p>
<p>Unless the policy has changed recently,the deposit was refundable if requested by a certain date. This was a specific issue for my S as he was accepted EA. Also, donât be too quick to dismiss nondormitory living. Getting a room in a dorm also obligates you to participate in a meal plan, and the combined cost is a significant number. Iâm sure you can find the current cost on the Berklee site.</p>
<p>Last year: The enrollment deposit (or whatever it was called) was $500 and it was refundable if requested before May 1. The housing deposit was smaller ($250, I think) and was not refundable.</p>
<p>If you apply EA, are accepted, and give the deposits, you are almost guaranteed housing. Last year the letter that came from housing said ALL AE students would have a space if they gave the housing deposit. It was worth it to us for security, even though my son did not end up attending.</p>
<p>yup, just have to think of everything as an investment ;)</p>
<p>and yes, non dorm living wouldnât be impossible or unmanageable and if you calculate costs it might end up the same, but for me personally moving from coast to coast and having to be self-sufficient in my own apartment would be pretty hard. especially if i was to find room mates who might not mesh well or be unreliable financially</p>
<p>what iâve gathered from berklee visits and speaking with admissions, EA DOES give you some leg up as far as admittance goes- they have limited audition space, admittance space, and housing. EA lets you know sooner, is non-binding, reserves you a spot in their housing (should you choose to do that), gets you an audition spot, and probably gives you a better chance of getting in because EA in and of itself shows desire for Berklee. Berklee isnât for everyone, I hear, but being a musician isnât about having people tell you what to do. Berklee is about freedom of expression and helping you get into the music industry with their vast networking. Maybe teachers donât teach, I donât know! but you have the materials to accomplish what you wish if you have the will. With every education, it is what you make it. A student can always squeeze information out of their instructors. :)</p>
<p>Hi sokrsofa ⊠this thread was last posted on a year ago. The poster above you (18karat) did get accepted to Berklee, but chose to go to a different school in the end for cost reasons. (But I would be curious to know how 18karat is doing.)</p>
<p>Glad to get this thread back up - EA apps are due in a few days and it did help to read through previous posts especially since admissions is changing everywhere year by year.</p>