<p>Looking for a fall back school for a friend's D (voice and guitar) if Berklee doesn't come through. Does anyone have any experience with Five Towns College in Long Island? any other suggestions? Also, is it true that Berklee does not do pre-screening?</p>
<p>Hi, nycm. Nice of you to help your friend’s daughter. First she would apply to Berklee, and then they would set a date for an audition. Berklee does go to NYC for auditions, but the specific dates aren’t posted yet. My daughter drove from Vermont down to Boston for her audition (4 hours). Another school to look at is the New School in NYC. It is smaller than Berklee but well respected. UArts in Philly is also something to look at. At Berklee, you have to audition on one instrument, so she would audition as either a vocalist or guitarist, but she could accompany herself if she was auditioning as a vocalist and wanted to play guitar for herself. If she ever goes to any of the workshops Berklee has, like the 5-week summer performance program or some shorter weekend workshops, some instructors may get to meet her, but there is no official pre-screening that I’m aware of other than the application. Good luck to her.</p>
<p>Not much previous, but it might be worth a follow-up pm to those that have commented.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/965986-lesser-known-music-schools.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/965986-lesser-known-music-schools.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/807639-five-towns-college-insights.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/807639-five-towns-college-insights.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/782506-advice-particular-schools-music.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/782506-advice-particular-schools-music.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/643349-i-want-play-guitar-college-can-i.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/643349-i-want-play-guitar-college-can-i.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/551313-suggestions-contemorary-music-colleges.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/551313-suggestions-contemorary-music-colleges.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/496483-musicians-institute.html?highlight=Five+Towns[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/496483-musicians-institute.html?highlight=Five+Towns</a></p>
<p>Pretty sure all regional audition dates have been posted for a while now. And no Berklee does no pre-screening, which I found surprising, but then again their program is so broad it would be difficult to have guidelines.</p>
<p>Yes, I know Berklee has posted most of the auditions places and dates on their website. They actually audition people from around the world and have audition dates in South America, Europe, and Africa, I think, in addition to different states.</p>
<p>Is she applying to Berklee Early Action? Does she want to stay in the Northeast? My daughter is also looking at Belmont and USC for popular music. Our local state university has a program, but their audition process is all classical – something she isn’t interested in at all.</p>
<p>Belmont University, perhaps, although honestly I doubt the minimum requirements are that different; a lower level will be required for scholarships at Belmont, however.
Berklee’s admission rate is in the 70’s; qualified students are very likely to be admitted.</p>
<p>Uhhhhhhh no…their admission rate is around 30 %</p>
<p>Yes, 18karat is correct. Berklee’s admission rate in 2005 was 57%, but they have instituted a more rigorous audition process that includes a live audition for 100% of the applicants. The 2008 rate was 29% acceptance, and it’s been between 29-33% in the last 2 years.</p>
<p>My apologies-- very old information. I should be more careful.</p>
<p>Just a heads up for anyone applying to Berklee- especially for guitar. We were at a meet and greet for scholarship students 2 years ago before S began his first semester at Berklee. The admissions director stated that the plan was that the guitar studio was being cut in half every year for the next 5 years. It has already become significantly more competitive. If you have original work, compositions, recordings of yourself improvising with other musicians, any supporting materials bring them along. There will be an interview and at that time ask to leave the materials with them for later review.
They told S that this is often how they determine scholarship recipients- if its between two students they often go to these materials for help in making the decision. Good idea to leave them if you have them.</p>
<p>I would take that statement with a liberal application of salt. That may well be what the admission director said, but I do not think it is what he or she really meant. If they were to cut the guitar department in half every year for five years, it would be one thirty-second of its current size by the end of that campaign and Berklee would not have anywhere near enough guitars to support ensembles for the rest of their students. Also, the combination of attrition and graduation would probably not accomplish the goal of cutting the studio in half until the second or third year, even if they admitted no new students. They would have to look for ways to get rid of enrolled students who wanted to stay to accomplish that goal in the first year or two.</p>
<p>Perhaps they meant to say that, for the next five years, they would be accepting only half as many guitar students as they did last year. That would still cut the department in half over that period, which may be more what they had in mind.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a safety, look at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY. They recently invested in a new music building and offer music scholarships.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to Berklee last year for guitar and used the space for a web link on the application to provide some extra goodies. I suppose it certainly couldn’t hurt to be armed with physical evidence, though.</p>
<p>Jazzguitarmom,</p>
<p>Wow, thank you for that tidbit! What do you think about leaving a full press kit that you would send a music mag or a radio station? Overboard? I got the impression from Belmont that they weren’t interested in stuff like that… My daughter’s band plays 70 to 75 gigs a year, has had their originals played on the radio in New England, etc. They are trying to weave that into their essays, but it would be so much easier to leave a one-sheet, music magazine reviews of the CDs, etc. all in a neat package. I know some people like links but others like physical copies, and the web site is more geared towards fans than college admissions. I know there is a place to put a link for Berklee, but I think she just put a link to the regular website.</p>
<p>RockBandMom</p>
<p>RockBandMom,
My daughter is at Berklee next semester (vocalist w/ piano skills), and besides her live audition, she also brought a folder to show that kinds of arrangements she had done for her college a cappella group. She also had in the folder a 1-sheet piece of paper that she used as a music resume. They didn’t take any of it, but they did look at it as part of the interview. After her live audition, my daughter offered to also sing/play the song she wrote, but due to time contraints, they asked her to send them an email with an mp3 of it, or to add it to her myspace page. She added it to her myspace page and re-sent them an email with a link to it, even though she already had pointed them to her myspace page in her application. I would say depending on the school, they may or may not look at it, but at least offer to show it. Good luck to your daughter … I’m interested to hear how it goes for her!</p>
<p>Berklee clearly states " Instead of bringing supplemental material to your interview, please provide a link to Youtube, MySpace, or a personal website when you submit your application."</p>
<p>although this definitely doesn’t encompass someones musical resume I pretty much covered everything I’ve done in their essay questions, i was extremely thorough so I think they will get the point</p>
<p>Snowflake and 18karat,</p>
<p>I read the same thing about the link so I didn’t think about something physical, but I think she might just bring something and put it in her bag in case… although, not sure about the audition process now. It would be great if she could audition with her whole band! I wonder if someone has done that before?</p>
<p>RockBandMom</p>
<p>Hi RockBandMom, I don’t know your daughter’s age, but if she’s 17-19, she could very well change a lot in the next several years. She may even progress at a different rate and pace than her band mates once she gets immersed in more music. While it’s tempting to drag her band mates into her audition, I would think she would want to show a music school that she can stand on her own. You can always ask the school, or perhaps she should ask the school herself so they know she can stand on her own. By the way, was she in Berklee 5-week this past summer? I remember reading about a group of students that went there as a band.</p>
<p>Snowflake,</p>
<p>No, she wasn’t at Berklee this past summer. She toured from PA to Maine (and Vermont – they played Higher Ground…) This is their second year really touring. As a result, they know full well what they will be getting into when they continue with music. No blinders. No false assumptions. They KNOW.</p>
<p>Her whole band won a summer session scholarship a year ago and they all did the Performance Workshop together as a band. It was the only one that they could all take together and have it make sense with their tour schedule. Both she and her drummer could have had half scholarships to the 5-week but couldn’t do them in years past simply because they had so many gigs booked already. (Believe me, if gigs hadn’t been booked they would have both loved to attend.) Her guitar player went (on scholarship) to the guitar sessions this summer and won a very large scholarship (the largest they gave out) for four years renewable. While, surprisingly, if you receive a scholarship you aren’t guaranteed admittance (don’t ask me) – he should be attending I would think because he wants to go… (Maybe it is an out for the school because of potential ax murderers? Who knows?) </p>
<p>A BU (Boston University) Music Professor saw them play at a fair in Northern VT this summer, he praised their musical abilities (all unsolicited - he came up to me and I had no idea who he was) and he said it was extremely unusual for a young band to all be so accomplished, especially the soon-to-be seniors. Usually there is one really good musician that carries the band and that wasn’t the case here. </p>
<p>They will have been together four years in February, an eternity for a teen band. I care for all of them like they are my own kids. While they do stuff separately (my daughter is Joanne in Rent, the guitarist does a capella at his school and sits in with other bands, the drummer sits in with another band, etc.), they really shine and are so tight together. So while she, the guitarist, and the drummer are all 17, they should continue to grow together, even if they aren’t at the same music schools for some reason. The keyboardist is only a sophomore. He may have to work REALLY hard to keep up. (grin) </p>
<p>She also plays bass and sings lead. It isn’t quite like a guitar or piano… I guess she could make a karaoke track of one of her original songs minus the bass line and the vocals if the whole band couldn’t do it… or even a medley? I don’t know, that is the next hurdle. Ultimately, it is up to her, but she will probably have to call and see what are good options.</p>
<p>RockBandMom</p>
<p>What a terrific group … please keep us posted on the directions they all go.</p>