@AsMother, Omg, I absolutely love hearing how well your son has done! I honestly feel that once my daughter doesn’t have to take AP courses in subjects that don’t excite her, things can potentially be very different for her. The kids who are at Berklee are surrounded by peers who are obsessed with music and professors who are musicians! I think that taking almost 100% classes that are music focused will both thrill her and liberate her. I hope so, anyway!
Did you say your son lived in a dorm? My daughter will definitely want to. She loves to be social and involved. I am hopeful that she will meet her people. She has been fortunate to have a small group of wonderful friends for many years now. Anyway! Again, I am so happy to hear of your sons success and that Berklee was such a positive experience for him!
@2022Twins , my son lived in a dorm freshman and sophomore year. Miraculously, he and his first roommate became the best of friends almost immediately, and they are STILL friends and roommates (off-campus now). The friend is Peruvian, and a couple of years (centuries?) ago my son got to spend New Year’s with him and his family at their beach house in Peru. It’s a really nicely diverse group of students, and I think that it’s possible to learn a lot from musicians who may play in very different styles (and very well) from one’s own, and who come from a wide variety of cultures.
Once he was able to get more deeply into the film-scoring community, he made a nice group of friends there as well (and he’s not exactly gregarious!).
I agree–an environment in which everyone is really passionate about the same thing (again, in wildly diverse styles), as well as (mostly) friendly competition, can be like heaven, especially for those who found it difficult in high school to focus on subjects that had very little meaning for them. (Not that it’s not good to be open to learning about a wide variety of things, but a lot of it can be lost on a student for whom, say, Chemistry, is like a foreign language that he or she will probably never use–especially if attention is a challenge to begin with.)
I think your daughter may be pleasantly surprised.
Just a quick comment that whether accommodations are used or not, it is wise to register with the Office of Disabilities. Two of my kids were extremely reluctant to use accommodations, but when absolutely needed, the accommodations made continuing (and even thriving) possible.
My pleasure. Sorry to have babbled on so much–I didn’t mean to hijack the thread! (I WAS just reminded this morning, though, that another of my son’s Berklee friends has ADHD, and I think it was a struggle for him at first to master theory, etc., and feel confident. But he’s doing really well now, and my son just sent me a clip from a gig he got at a local club last night–my son filled in on keyboards–and it was GREAT.)
I wish the best to your daughter, whatever she chooses to do, and to everyone else’s children who are either waiting for decisions or just deciding where to go.
Anyone know when decisions might be released from UMich SMTD for music performance? DS auditioned 2/3. He has since received correspondence from the professor and offers for an in person lesson but no actual acceptance yet.
@AsMother your son is thriving and I am always overjoyed to hear of others success! All the best to you and thank you again for offering your wisdom along this strange and exciting journey!
@compmom yes, I absolutely will. Our daughter did not use her accommodations in high school. She really didn’t wind up needing them. But I think college is a different animal; she will have to figure out all of the things without our guidance. And if she needs the accommodations they will be there for her. Fortunately, she understands that she might need them. She is open minded which has not always been the case.
DS and DH back from Baldwin Wallace this morning, which officially wraps up auditions! DS thinks BW audition went well, and DH was super impressed with everything/everyone there. This is the only actual audition day he’s gotten to do in person; they might all have impressed DH if there had been more
I know auditions are starting now - make sure your kids are dressing appropriately for the audition. Do NOT dress casually for voice/opera auditions. You are expected to be in recital attire. Hate to not make a good impression by being casual in dress.
Hi everyone- I thought DS would hear news- of any kind - this week but it’s been very quiet. Trying not to read into that …. but the concern would be that acceptances come earlier and rejections come at end? I’m referring to the schools that have traditional rolling or earl(ier) notifications. Any insight from the experienced people on this thread? The waiting is clearly getting to us!
