<p>I've searched through the threads on this and can't find much concrete information. Does one stand a better chance at scholarship money at on campus auditions? Especially (MOST especially at Berklee) and is there any difference in scholarship awards if one chooses early action? Again, my question is mostly about Berklee, though we are applying to a few more schools now, so really just a general question. I want my son to have the best chances he can and if travelling and early action will help... On the other hand, if early action isn't necessary, I know he'd appreciate the extra prep time. And if we wouldn't have to travel, we could actually afford to eat between now and audition day - lol. 'Cause Berklee is over 1200 miles away.</p>
<p>Shellybean,
What matters most is having your son be the BEST he can be. I was grateful for my son’s teachers who discouraged me from having my son complete his audition tapes early or having him do any early admission applications. They said at this point most young musicians are improving steadily and every extra week or month matters. And they were so right. When I listen to my son’s prescreening tape, non-musical me, can even hear the difference between how he sounded then and how he sounds now. So extra prep time is important. I hated waiting. It drove me crazy that we were making his prescreening tapes in late November just a few weeks before the applications were actually due. But looking back I think that this strategy was one reason why our son was successful. His teachers were right, every week of practice was making him a better overall musician. </p>
<p>I was worried about regional versus on campus for Oberlin, but we just didn’t have the money to fly our son out there for an on campus audition. Nor did my son have the time. We figured if he got accepted we would pay to send him there to see the campus and evaluate the school. Our son was accepted and even given scholarship money. Again what I have heard is that it all comes down to how well you play.</p>
<p>shellybean, at Berklee, keep in mind there is a cut-off date for auditions that are eligible for scholarship consideration, at least according to their online information. My son auditioned in Boston primarily because the regional audition dates available closer to our home occurred after the scholarship deadline.</p>
<p>We applied to a couple of schools early just because that was the only way the audition schedule would work. When you have a list of schools, sit down and make a spead sheet of the audition dates, and when you have to apply by to get certain audition dates. For example, at the Hartt school, you had to apply by a certain date to get auditions by two particular weekend dates. My son waited until the last minute to do this, and ended up having his Berklee audition on Sturday of that weekend, and his Hartt audition on Sunday. He would have been better off putting in his application a little earlier and spreading the dates out. </p>
<p>In terms of actually going, I think that it is helpful to appear as interested in the school as possible, and that if you make the effort to attend an on-campus audition, you also get the benefit of seeing the school. When we were touring schools, we went one that checked all the boxes on paper, but when we got there, the campus was so ugly that my son didn’t even want to stay for the tour. </p>
<p>I would say for your top choice(s) at least, you might want to go for the audition at the school.</p>
<p>Thanks all. We’re working on a spreadsheet now. I spent all day yesterday trying to figure out how to get him to Berklee, finally deciding the 1260 mile (one way!) trip would be better on Amtrak and finding some places to stay in/around Boston for under 100 a night. Wow. I want them to know we are MORE than interested in Berklee, but I am not entirely sure it can realistically work. And now I feel I’m already failing him. Aaaarrggghhh! Ok, sorry for the outburst!
From what I understand, though, does Berklee actually send real “music” people to the regional auditions? They don’t videotape those the way other schools do, do they? Someone mentioned to me that sometimes colleges will have a dorm room for prospective students but I wouldn’t think Berklee would…</p>
<p>Sometimes getting one EA audition in the bag is a real help and scheduling problems might make it a requirement. D did one for her undergrad auditions and had an acceptance in her hand before Christmas, which took a lot of pressure off of her (Why do these kids always think that they’re going to end up out in the cold?!). She found that she was a lot more relaxed at her later auditions since she knew what to expect. Since Early Action isn’t binding, it’s a good option for a lot of kids.</p>
<p>Two things D3 learned:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>An early audition at a rolling admissions school can be a great confidence booster. As others have pointed out, having one acceptance in hand can really remove some of the stress later in the audition season.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t do your first audition at your top choice school if at all possible.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Berklee sends audition teams out to the regional auditions, the format is the same as on campus. Berklee may be unique in this area as they say it makes no difference where you audition. Be forewarned that Berklee gets many, many qualified applicants and is not overly generous with scholarship. They do not meet need with free money unless you get one of very few Presidential scholarships. They will assist you in acquiring loans etc to meet the nearly $60,000 bill. A suggestion we received was to get as many credits as will transfer elsewhere and then come in as a late 3rd or 4th year student to get what you need from the connections and music faculty. How much and what will transfer is stated on their website if you go looking around a little. </p>
<p>Keep looking at other schools as well, don’t hold Berklee as the only one unless you can pay for it. If you use the search function here you will find a lot of information. Look at the Master list of acceptances and the spreadsheet of $$ awarded, which is linked on the first page, to get a sense of the kind of scholarship $$ schools gave this past go round, and where students decided to go. One can not compare $ to $ at each school unless the cost of attendance is the same.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. stradmom and Mezzo’sMama, I will definitely have him do an audition at one or two of his lower choices esp. as he’s not used to auditioning. Though he LOVES to play solo at the gigs he’s done, so he’s not shy! lol I was always terrified, but he seems to thrive in front of people.
Musictwins, thank you – I was hoping it wouldn’t be videotaped, mostly for the above reason. He really turns on when he’s playing for an audience and having a guy with a video camera wouldn’t be the same. And I know it’s going to be a long shot getting the Presidential Scholarship, but I’m hoping we can stack enough scholarships that he might be able to go. And he would not be against loans if he can just go to his beloved Berklee, or perhaps to Five Towns or Belmont or CCM.</p>