<p>My son was accepted into the Berklee Five Week for this summer. Has anyone done this? If so, what did you/your kid think?</p>
<p>My son did this last summer. He really enjoyed it and has decided that he wants to attend a college in a city because of this experience (currently a junior). He felt most of the classes were fairly advanced but one was just ok (songwriting was a lecture class - he was hoping for more handson). The program keeps them really busy and the entire last week is performances and rehearsals. They are graded on their classes but nothing to worry about as long as you dont cut class. The kids audition live once they arrive. There were no issues while he was there other than him getting the flu - they required that he be seen after a few days and all minors go to Boston children’s so I knew he was in good hands. The nurse kept in contact with me so I knew what was happening. The dorm experience was great. Overall he would go back again and Berklee is on his college list for sure.</p>
<p>I highly recommend it. My daughter did it the summer before her senior year and got some experience as a backup vocalist up on the big stage with some big singers. You do pick the genre you want to focus (Jazz, rock, R&B, folk/country, etc.) for the 5-week. The placement tests at the beginning of the 5-week ensure you get put with kids of similar backgrounds for your classes and ensembles. The top kids that go there are from around the world; the kids at the other end may be there to have a good time (and they do). It’s up to each kid to push themselves in order to get the most out of it. My D is now attending Berklee full time. For an electric bass player, he will be in demand as ensembles need bass players and there are always enough guitars.</p>
<p>I did it last summer. As I understand, the 5 Week program has a lot of similarities with actual college life there, and although I came to the conclusion that music school wasn’t the right fit for me, it was great having the opportunity to try it out. Classes were disgustingly easy; I knew a number of kids who only played in ensembles and never went to class. As a jazz player, jams were really important, so most of the education takes place outside of class. All of this being said, I probably haven’t improved more in 5 weeks then when I was at Berklee.</p>
<p>HOWEVER: Berklee does one thing absolutely wrong. At the end of the session, there is a big “scholarship concert” where full rides and smaller scholarships are announced. It makes the program seem really competitive, which is sort of how Berklee works (talent is judged by how much money you get). The whole thing is wrong and very anti-musical, so you’ve been warned.</p>
<p>^“talent is judged by how much money you get” </p>
<p>I would have thought it’s the other way around, that the money awarded is based upon the talent you display. If I’m correct in my suspicion, then I suspect Berklee has this in common with a number of other music schools.</p>
<p>My son went through the Berklee 5-week summer program last year (focusing on jazz) and got a lot out of it. Currently, he is in his first year at conservatory and felt well prepared, in part, because of the experience gained via the Berklee program.</p>
<p>One piece of info I wanted to circulate is that prospective students can apply by March 1 for a merit scholarship. (Berklee has some full rides for their jazz workshop). Students need to submit a cd prepared according to the school’s specs. For those seniors preparing cds, anyway, for their applications, it is not that big of a deal. </p>
<p>See: [Are</a> there scholarships? | Five-Week Summer Performance | Berklee Summer Programs](<a href=“http://www.berklee.edu/summer/fiveweeksummer/are-scholarships.php]Are”>http://www.berklee.edu/summer/fiveweeksummer/are-scholarships.php) for more info.</p>
<p>If you are thinking of doing the Berklee 5-week program in Summer 2012, keep the scholarship process in mind.</p>
<p>Good reminder on the scholarships, Cambridge Mom. When my D applied for a 5-week scholarship, she had to get some references to write up a paragragh about how the 5-week would benefit her. I don’t remember the CD, but perhaps that is newer recently, but I’m sure she pointed them to her myspace. She attended in 2008 and received $600 from Berklee towards the summer 5-week, which at the time felt good to her because that was the first ‘scholarship’ she had received. It certainly didn’t pay for the 5-week, but it did help defray the costs of expenses during the 5-week. </p>
<p>As far as theorygeek’s experience, I’m wondering if you were placed into a level of classes that was just too easy, or did you already have so much music theory and other training that the 5-week itself was not challenging enough even at the highest class level? Based on your name, I would suspect you had more music theory than the average junior in high school. I can see how you would not have liked the scholarship announcements at the end of the 5-week, but I have to say for the ones I saw handed out, I recognized more than half the kids based on their performances over the various blow-out concerts, and they did deserve the recognition. My daughter didn’t get a scholarship that day, but looking back at where she was, she wasn’t far enough along at the point to stand out at the top end of the group.</p>
<p>Oh no, I think that Berklee is wonderful for the amount of money they give out in scholarships. However, the whole delivery was unconformable to watch, and I am surprised they’ll hand out as much money as they do after just a couple minute audition. There’s nothing wrong with scholarships, but putting the emotional process on wide display creates an unnecessary competitiveness in education.</p>
<p>But hey, the program lets you meet a ton of awesome musicians, so I’m all for it.</p>