<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>