<p>We finally got the admission decision email from Berklee.... which told him he's being put into the regular admission pool and won't find out a final decision until the end of March. So, it's not a rejection, right? But it sure does feel like one to S. He feels like, as so many other people heard a firm Yes, it means he's not as good as they are. Of course, I can tell him that it is difficult to truly determine "good" from a 15 minute audition, but ...
So we are waiting. I have gone back through all the posts relating to this and I can't figure out.... does anyone have any "final" word on those students who were not outright accepted or rejected, but instead put into regular admission from early action? Did they end up getting accepted? Does anyone have any idea?</p>
<p>Is there any possibility that any part of the application didn’t make the early cutoff date? If so, the ‘delay’ to March 31st notification may not mean anything other than he is in the regular decision pool. Sorry that the wait is so long for you and your S, I know it is not easy.</p>
<p>Hi, shellybean. I’ve read several of your threads along the way. I know that Berklee is (or at one time was) the dream school for your son. Based on his interests that you expressed, it sounds like Berklee would be a perfect fit for him. I’m sorry that he’s been put in a holding pattern for now.</p>
<p>I’m curious. Did he end up applying to a handful of those others that he and you came up with over the course of your search?</p>
<p>I just want to try to assure you and your son that his Berklee prospects aren’t necessarily over. There are some kids who already received their Berklee rejections! Berklee thought enough of him to not want to let him go just yet.</p>
<p>Not having any personal experience with Berklee, specifically, I can tell you that many (likely, most) schools do draw from their regular decision pool when they choose their students. Chances are good, just knowing what I know about schools, that some students will be admitted from that pool. One of those might be your son.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there could be reasons beyond musicality that drove their decision to place him in the regular admission pool rather than the accepted pool. Maybe lots of other early decision applicants submitted their SAT scores, even though they’re not required, which may have rendered them more ‘known quantities’ in admissions’ eyes, whether admissions would want to admit that or not? Maybe the fact that he’s homeschooled makes him a ‘lesser- known quantity’ in Berklee’s eyes? These are total stabs in the dark, mere examples that just tumbled off the top of my head, and possibly way, way off-base. But what I do know about many colleges, even music schools, is that they like to go early for the most ‘predictably successful’ students … the ones that are pretty assuredly going to be successful in their programs, both academically and musically. Maybe they felt your son played very well, but a very small handful of others also played very well and had other non-musical stats that screamed, “this kid will have success in our program!” I mean this to sound like a ray of hope, not a put-down. His deferral into the regular admission pool may not be a reflection of his musical talent or his academic prowress. They may simply want to take a closer look at him, as a whole, to better predict whether he’s going to have success within Berklee.</p>
<p>That brings me to my other point. The overriding consideration in all admissions processes is this: Will this kid be successful in this program? That can be hard to decipher in a 10-15 minute audition, especially if other factors in the application are not as ‘known and quantifiable.’ Two good things about that:</p>
<p>(1). If they ultimately decide not to admit him, he can know that this is one admission panel’s opinion of one student’s entire life bottled into 10-15 minutes, plus application. That alone renders all of these decisions somewhat toothless – it doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t have the goods; it could just mean that the panel wasn’t able to decipher that he does have the goods with enough certainty to grant him admission over somebody else that particular moment. It doesn’t take much reading here on CC to see that some of these schools’ decisions seem nonsensical. They pass the Juilliard and Oberlin prescreen but not the (insert local, small, non-descript, private school) prescreen? It happens here with some frequency.</p>
<p>And (2). If they ultimately decide not to admit him, he will end up somewhere else (or taking a gap year and then back at Berklee), where he is bound to be a good fit, seeing as you two have done your research. If kids pick only schools that fit them, then no matter where they end up, they’ll be a good fit. Easy peasy. Every year, bunches of kids don’t make it into their dream schools. Of those whom I’ve personally known, the vast, vast majority end up happy in their other schools. My son didn’t end up at his dream school years ago. We knew it was a long shot—we were relying on unrealistically large scholarships from that school, didn’t get them, and so, he couldn’t afford to attend. He went elsewhere. He’s been extremely happy in that other school! </p>
<p>There’s not just one school for one kid. </p>
<p>So all is not lost … Your son may still end up at Berklee in the fall. He may end up somewhere else. If he does, it won’t be the end of happiness as he knows it.</p>
<p>(If he has any significant musical achievements or any other kind of big recognition between now and regular decisions, I recommend that he submit that information to Berklee piecemeal as it comes in with a short and sweet cover letter. I’m sure he can pull that off without being a bother. 
)</p>
<p>Shellybean, next to an acceptance, a deferral is the second-best news your son could get. This is good news, even if not the best news! He is not rejected. He is still in the running. My advice is that he continue to express strong interest in Berklee. He should contact admissions (they will record his every contact) by phone, email, and even send supplementary material, i.e., an updated resume, and essay about Berklee. Schools do take into consideration strong interest from students.</p>
<p>I do not think his homeschooling was a factor in the decision, having spent about years immersed in the homeschool-to-college community.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you Shellybean. Sorry that your family has to wait so long to get a definitive answer, particularly after they put you through the ringer on 1/31. That said as others have pointed out this is a positive outcome in many ways. </p>
<p>To me it says they believe your son has what it takes to be successful at Berklee, but however they scored his application it was in range where they expect other general deadline applicants to also fall and they want to be fair to all as they say they do not favor early decision candidates over general decision candidates. They had a record number of applications this year so i am guessing they are deferring more decisions than other years to give everyone who is applying a fair chance. </p>
<p>I did read a Q&A with a Berklee admissions advisor who was asked if it increased an applicants chances to apply in the early decision window. That person said no it didn’t because they don’t favor early applicants over general ones, and went on to say that the early application decisions were even more competitive since many of the most motivated/talented students apply in that timeframe. To me I read that as it is tougher to get in during the early action window, so if you are deferred to the regular action window it doesn’t mean you are less likely to get in than if you had applied to general application deadline in the first place.</p>
<p>I liked the suggestion about sending additional materials to admissions if they will still accept/consider them as an indication of strong interest. I would definitely recommend calling your sons admissions counselor to find out if this is allowed and/or potentially beneficial. Last thought is that this also likely means that your son has a good shot at getting in next year if you are declined this year. Another year of development plus knowing the ropes from the first time would only help. </p>
<p>Best Wishes.</p>
<p>Wow – thanks guys. Ya’ll have definitely given us some things to think about and it definitely makes him feel better.
Snowflake, when I first called, his admissions advisor was surprised he hadn’t heard because all of his materials were there and he did the audition well before the deadline. So we were good there (unlike at Denver/Lamont for which we almost missed his SAT scores).
SimpleLife, thank you so much. Yes, Berklee is still his dream school. So much so that he is seriously considering a gap year even if he gets accepted to the other schools (Denver, Five Towns, etc) Of course, if he got a good enough scholarship, he’d have to rethink that! We ended up applying at Cincinnati, Denver/Lamont, and Five Towns. IF he does a gap year, we will be doing the same, plus adding USC Thornton and perhaps Bennington and some others. The things you add about a good fit, etc… he read that with me and feels very much better. No matter what, he’ll still be playing and writing!
Glassharmonica, thank you for the information. I had always wondered if they noted who called, etc. He did submit his reverbnation and other online music he has out there. We thought about submitting his press kit which he’s used professionally for awhile now. With homeschooling, he doesn’t necessarily have “extracurricular” activities which some schools ask for, but he has a bunch of gigs (Including playing with Lynyrd Skynrd! :D)
Bonski, thanks for the info about the Q & A… that is very interesting. The message he got was worded to give the impression that they only did a very few from the early action.
Thanks to all of you. We will definitely be submitting additional materials if they would consider them, and we will submit everything next year if we have to take a gap year. I’m also thinking (even though they say it doesn’t matter) that if we have to do this next year, we will NOT do a regional audition, but travel to Boston.
Thanks again everyone!!</p>
<p>shellybean, I think you’ve had some fantastic advice - especially about making sure to update whatever material they may have. If anything can “help,” I believe that’s it. </p>
<p>But I also think there’s a possibility that whatever red tape error caused him not to get his decision by the “early” date may have prompted someone to just say… “oops, oh dear, oh well, just put him in the regular decision pile.” Meaning that, in your son’s case, being deferred really means they know they goofed and they don’t want to make a rushed decision. Then again, maybe I’m not giving them enough credit.</p>
<p>Also, I really don’t believe Berklee considers things like SAT’s or homeschooling vs. regular schooling or EC’s and all that stuff… not much anyway. I don’t think they worry too much about a solid musician succeeding academically, not if they’e made it through HS reasonably well - it’s very much about the music there. I’m not disparaging Berklee at all, mind you… they have it right in a way, particularly for the right kid (my son would have MUCH preferred Berklee’s music-related GE’s, etc.). So please don’t spend any time thinking about those things. </p>
<p>(I do however, agree that if you’re doing this again next year, do the audition in Boston - just so you’ll feel like no stone was unturned.)</p>
<p>Now we’re all waiting with baited breath with you!!!</p>
<p>It’s not my intention to derail this thread, but the OP indicates that he may broaden his search to include Bennington. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I’ve seen it mentioned in this context. I get asked frequently about places where one can study jazz and/or contemporary guitar and have never thought to suggest Bennington. I don’t want to short change Benn. but I also don’t want to misdirect people. Has Benn. added guitar faculty/curriculum since I last looked?</p>
<p>jazz/shreddermom, thank you. I had some similar thoughts when I heard the voice of the admission advisor. She seemed very puzzled that we hadn’t gotten a decision, then called right back after checking with the admissions board to tell us it would be the next weekend. I thought, wow, what if they lost his audition! This thought was somewhat prompted by the fact that they almost forgot to ask him to do part of the audition. After his prepared pieces and the sightreading, and the sightsinging/playbacks, they had him pack up. Then the guy came in to lead him to the interview and asked, um, did ya’ll do the improv? They hadn’t, so they asked him to unpack and then they did it. Now, my S’s best work is his improv work, so he was a little unnerved by all this. Anyway, that whole experience made me think, oops, what if they lost him!
halcyon4ever, Bennington was recommended to us and I read it on an old (I think 2011 or 2012) thread here. I haven’t truly researched as well as I usually do, but did read some of their catalog/curriculum which I found , um, interesting. I prob’ly didn’t check too closely for guitar, as S is also interested in composing and the CC thread was talking about someone there who wrote for movies, commercials, Broadway, etc. It sounded pretty cool, and I guess I just automatically assumed they had guitar.</p>
<p>Frederick Hand teaches guitar at Bennington: [Frederic</a> Hand - Guitarist and Composer](<a href=“http://www.frederichand.com/]Frederic”>http://www.frederichand.com/) There may be others.</p>
<p>Composition faculty include Allen Shawn, Kitty Brazelton, Nicholas Brooke, others.</p>
<p>[Bennington:</a> Music](<a href=“http://www.bennington.edu/academics/areasstudy/Music.aspx]Bennington:”>http://www.bennington.edu/academics/areasstudy/Music.aspx)</p>
<p>Students at Bennington do a lot of interdisciplinary and creative work. Grades are optional, and every student works out a “plan” of study with an advisor with whom the student works over the 4 years.</p>
<p>The college has a beautiful campus in Vermont, of white clapboard “houses,” classes in a red barn, and mountain views.</p>