Hello Everyone! Just wondering, What are the liberal arts classes and first year writing workshop like in BoCo? I’m worrying about it to the point of considering summer writing classes/intensives.
@dreampianist Other parents correct me if I get anything wrong…Freshman year, the kids take: Ballet (audition for level), Tap (audition for level), Jazz (audition for level), Vocal Lesson (private 30 minutes), Music Theory 1 & 2 (can test out, but must take final), Piano 1 & 2 (can test out), Musical Theater 1 & 2 (an ensemble choir class), Intro to Theater/Intro to Production (one week of tech for a show), Voice and Speech 1 & 2, Acting 1 & 2, and Movement 1 & 2. In addition to these core classes, the students take one liberal arts class each semester like “History of Boston” or “Contemporary Issues in Psychology”. In addition to that, freshmen take a History of Musical Theater 1 & 2 (which is definitely a writing course) and the freshman writing workshop class you mentioned (unless they test out via AP Language and AP Literature). It is a hefty schedule but the kids definitely manage. He or she will NOT fail out due to poor writing skills. The point of BoCo is getting a bachelor of arts degree in musical theater. The lib arts may lower your kid’s gpa slightly if they are not his or her strong suit, but as long as he or she does well in the other core classes, it will be just fine. Many students at BoCo are not academically inclined, although some definitely are. Many come in (and possibly graduate) without learning to write really well. That is not to say that BoCo is non-academic. If your kid likes to write or delve into things they will find academic challenges. That being said, on whole, it is not a school that focuses on academics. Not too much is expected of a student who really can’t write well. That being said, if you show the teacher your potential as a good writer or analytical thinker, then expectations are raised accordingly. My son’s experience is that each student is expected to write at his or her own level of competence. Tell your kiddo to do his or her best. Go to classes, keep up with reading, and make friends with a kid who writes well. Also, if your child has any college credits or AP credits that may transfer over, definitely send those during the summer and/or try to test out of music theory/piano. It won’t allow your kid to graduate early, but it will allow for some interesting other classes, having a paid job, practicing more, sleeping more, or whatever.
@MomofMTBoy I think you’ve given a very accurate description. Especially in regards to the “each student is expected to write at his or her own level of competence.” … And the substitution just never, ever seems to be “asleeping more” - more like additional classes or throw yourself into more exhausting activities! My D tested out of the writing and social studies requirements, but chose to replace them with non-freshman liberal arts classes, of the more challenging types - also tested out of theory but decided to take it anyway, and tested out of piano - unfortunately there were no higher level piano classes to take. But she’s a kid who debated academics and a conservatory and would like more balance. @dreampianist - I wouldn’t worry.
Thanks to the both of you for sharing. That’s quite a bit of information! I feel a bit better. 
@rampions How did your daughter test out of writing and social studies? Was it through AP/CLEP, or was it a BoCo administered test? Same with the music theory, could you please share? Thanks again!
My son tested out of both semesters of music theory and got 6 credit hours on his transcript for testing out (taking the BoCo test during orientation week). He never took an AP music theory class in high school, but he’s a singer/musical (plays a few instruments and had 7 yrs of choir). That being said, testing out of music theory is NOT the norm (usually it’s only done by the type of kids who can sight read vocally and on piano). The freshman class this year had a very few who tested out of both semesters. As for the 6 English credits that transferred over and allowed him to skip the freshman writing requirements, he had a Dual Enrollment class senior year of English that was essentially like AP Lang and AP Literature (but without the AP exam–it was a 6 credit college level course offered in high school). He was also given 3 credits of a social science (AP Psychology); 3 credits of a Math/Science (not sure if it was his AP Calculus or AP Chemistry or Dual Enrollment Physics that gave him the credit, but all those courses were used to satisfy his 3 credit Math/Science requirement). No credit was offered for AP Latin despite the 5 because there was no course equivalent. No credit was offered for his Dual Enrollment Theater History class because that was in his major.
@dreampianist My D tested out of the writing and social studies because she got 5’s on both of those APs. She didn’t take any APs in math or science.so needs to take a science class - which can be tough as they are often long classes once a week, and clash with the BoCo class line-up - she’s still trying to fit it into her schedule. Theory was the same as @MomofMTBoy - it was during placement - and she has strong sightreading skills from piano lessons and choral singing - was All-State NY chorus for two years. She just decided she would prefer to solidify her theory by taking it. I really wish they offered more advanced piano classes to BoCo MTs who test out – it’s frustrating not to be able to progress - when they are a part of Berklee, after all!
@MomofMTBoy and @rampions Thanks again so much! That eases my worries of not being able to cope with the liberal arts courses and writing workshop ;).
This is off topic now, but could you give insight on what the dorms are like?? I’ve been lurking around the different posts here at CC, and everyone seems to have a different opinion. I’ve seen posts saying that they’re terribly cramped and 12 people have to share a single bathroom/shower etc., and posts that say the dorms are so roomy/gorgeous and they have a private bathroom that only 4/5 people share. So which one is the truth? Or are they both true? :-?
My D is an MT freshman at BoCo, and I agree that @MomofMTBoy has given a great description of the course load. My D tested out of the writing class through her AP English/Literature score, and that’s been helpful to her w/her schedule. She loves to read and write, and I was a little worried that compared to our son, who is an English major at a liberal arts college, she would miss out. But the history of musical theater class has proven itself to be every bit as stimulating a class as a literature class would be and has afforded her the chance to deepen her analytical/writing skills and to think and write about music and lyrics in ways that I think will be very helpful down the road. Her teacher has communicated high expectations of her with every paper, and she’s appreciated that. As for the dorms, I have only been inside a few of the rooms, but I think they are special. They are a little worn, but they are beautiful old Boston walkups on the Fenway, and from what I’ve heard each room has real character (is different from all the others). My D was placed in a quad with one large room for all four beds, and a separate smaller room where they have two of the desks and two of the dressers, and a refrigerator. They have their own bathroom in their space for the four of them. After first semester one of her roommates transferred out, and they did not move another student into their room, so they have even more space now (and use the extra bed for visitors). They turned the extra desk into a “tea station.” The closet is pretty cramped, but for a dorm room I have to say it’s much nicer and more spacious than your standard college dorm room.
@dreampianist agree with @1bamom about rooms. When you get your room assignment, you can ask on Berlklee FB and BoCo FB parent pages if anyone has had that room. My son is in 24 Fenway and he is in a double and the boys share one half of one closet. We got a great narrow closet hanging drawers set from Bed Bath and Beyond for all his dance clothes. We got under the bed buckets (beds are all elevated). We brought up a small fridge. We got him (best purchase ever) an over and around the bed caddy thing (it’s huge and goes all around the back of his bed at the head). He hangs his stuff on the back of that and it gives him privacy and storage. A set of drawers are provided as is a desk (bring mildew spray and contact paper) and that’s it. His dorm room isn’t as Harry Potter-esque as many of the rooms. But it’s really spacious though for two people. The singles are terrifyingly small. The quads are awesome, but then you have four personalities instead of just two. My son got on the FB page and found a great roommate that fit him personality wise, neatness wise, attitude towards work wise, smoking/drinking wise, etc. They requested each other and it’s been great. The quad of girls down the hall is awesome. They all share a bathroom and sometimes there’s a wait but they figure it out. The hardest part is getting in. The dorms are really great. Can’t wait to stop paying for the meal plan that my son never uses though. Next year off campus and he’s so excited to only share a bathroom with one other person.
@dreampianist Similarly to everyone here, I had a thumbs up reaction to the dorms. My D had a quad, with a bathroom/shower attached to the room, for just the four of them. She did the summer program while in HS and had a similar room in another building, but for that one, the bathroom wasn’t attached and it was a bit of a hassle. Both rooms had a lot of character My D specifically wanted roomies from other disciplines (or at least a majority from other disciplines) and she got just that: one from the dance division, one from vocal performance and one international student (which she was also hoping for) in composition. She was glad she made the request, as it took her out of “all MT, all the time”. It was cramped and definitely at times confining to be in a small space with four of them, but it was also great. She was thrilled to move off-campus to an apartment of their own (shared with one other MT) - but I’ll tell you I was not thrilled with the increase in cost. I hadn’t been adequately forewarned about the cost of Boston apartments in that area. Steep. Yes, money is saved on the meal plan, but … it’s expensive.
Thank you once again @rampions , @MomofMTBoy , and @1bamom . That’s a lot of information, and I’m sure it will also help the other prospective students at BoCo.
Hi all - my daughter is considering BoCo for fall 2018; my question is I know that BoCo only guarantees housing for 1 year; 1) how easy is it to find off-campus housing and 2) any one know what the monthly rental cost range would be? I’ve heard that Boston is very costly - so very concerned about the housing situation; would appreciate any opinions and thoughts - thank you/
@samson1 Would also like to know this!
For 2017-2018 room was $11820 (for a double, and I think singles pay more) and the mandatory meal plan was
$6360 per year. This means I spent $18,180 for room and board for 8 months (roughly September to April). Now this also meant that my son had to vacate the dorms by noon on Saturday after a late Friday night final each semester, could not be in town over winter break, and at times could not get into the bathrooms when necessary. Also, we had to pay for 3 meals per day when he usually only at 1 maybe on a good day 2 meals on plan (and he sometimes ate late so he would need to pay for dinner at a local restaurant maybe about $200 for those meals throughout the year). So fast forward to this year. He easily found a roommate that he feel he will be compatible with, found a cute apartment 15 minutes from school (walking), will shop at the local nearby target or little Star Market. He will pay $1150/month plus I’m guessing $150/month in utilities. We will spend $2000 (or more) furnishing his room and kitchen. We will give him about $5000 for food for the two semesters. Save money for the payment of first month’s/last month’s/security deposit fees that come due second semester. But all in I think that we will pay for room and board $20,600 for sophomore year (not including furniture and security deposit). Freshman year we paid $18,380 for room and board (which was much less convenient because he couldn’t cook, didn’t control bathroom access, and had to leave immediately after semester ended). He will have a farther walk and won’t have easy access to friends but the trade off in independence is totally worth it. The dorms are cute, but dorm life gets old very quickly I think. So not that much of a price difference in my mind and an early push into the world of living in a city. If we want to save money later on, and he wants a bigger place than the very very tiny apartment he has next year, he may consider moving farther out and commuting in for classes. But for now he wanted to be closer to school and we wanted that too. I think apartments right on Hemmingway are a bit more money.
@MomofMTBoy Does your S have his own apartment? Or does he have a roommate? Just trying to get a mental idea of how much money needs to be saved…
My D will also be a sophomore next year and is moving into an apartment. Boston is the city of student living, and the system reflects that. I think almost all the students double, triple, or even live with four in an apartment. Most of the apartments, at least those close to BoCo buildings, are “splits,” meaning what would normally be a communal living space has been turned into a bedroom. My D and her one roommate will each have a bedroom (with four walls and a door), and share a kitchen and a bathroom. They won’t have a living room. We also expect room and board to run close to the cost of freshman year (maybe even save some $), with added convenience. One heads-up: many families use a broker to find an apartment, which means a broker’s fee, which is shocking to out-of-towners. Paying a broker a full month’s rent just for showing an apartment and overseeing the lease signing seemed pretty outrageous to us, but in the end we paid it (splitting the cost with her roommate), and our D agreed with us that we should only pay it once. I think moving into an apartment already rented by BoCo students means saving the broker’s fee, the apartments being vacated by seniors are at a real premium among all the students. The start of second semester was a bit stressful, with the combination of auditions (or decision not to audition) for summer stock and apartment searches and scrambles, but it all works out. By the end of March I think everyone had figured out their housing for next year.
@BoojieTheatre My son has the same type of apartment as 1bamom described (one of the bedrooms has a closet, the other used to be a common area but was turned into a room and whoever gets that one will have to buy a wardrobe). No living room, just a kitchen and a bathroom to share. We expect that, after saving money from not paying for 3 meals/day that he did not eat, and not including the money we will spend to furnish the apartment (because that will be his to use and keep for however long he wants), we will spend more or less the same amount of money on room and board freshman and sophomore year with the added benefit of having a place to crash over winter break and summer break. It may be a bit more expensive to rent an apartment, but the benefits of living on his own and sharing a bathroom with only one person and having his own room are totally worth any modest increase in costs. People who want to really save money rent farther out and commute in. There are significant cost savings to be had sophomore year if that is a priority. But we wanted our son to be 15 minutes away or less and were willing to pay for that proximity. So as far as budgeting, just budget the same amount as freshman year’s room and board but make sure that come January, your kid has a over one thousand in his or her bank account to pay the broker fees.
@rampions and @1bamom , were your kids able to see the room they would be getting before they arrived on campus? If you don’t mind my asking, which particular Fenway buildings were they housed in?
For future prospective students, the sophomore year fall schedule is At BoCo 12 classes and 18 credits: Voice and Speech 3, Movement 3, Acting 3, Musical Theater 3 (acting the song), Theater History 1 (Ancient Greece to Shakespeare), Piano 3, Music Lab (Theory) 3, Private Voice (30 minutes), Tap, Jazz, Ballet, and an elective.