<p>My S is a high school junior and we are near the beginning of his quest for college. We have an interesting set of variables. My S has Tourettes Syndrome and ADHD (non-hyper active). IQ-wise he is very bright; unfortunately his grades do not reflect this intelligence. His first 2 years of high school he attended a private school and his GPAs were a 2.7 and 2.9 respectively. This year, in our local public high school, he has a 3.5 to date. He is not taking any AP or honors classes, but he will receive an Advanced Regents Diploma (New York). He is much stronger in History/English than Math/Science. He has participated in sports all 3 years. This year he will letter in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. </p>
<p>He plays the piano, guitar and alto sax. Guitar is his instrument of choice, although he has much more experience playing the sax. He plays in multiple school bands and ensembles. He is experience with various genres, but prefers rock/metal. He plans on majoring in contemporary music, both performance based and industry(recording, production, etc.). The schools that we are looking at reflect these interests: Berklee, Belmont, College of Saint Rose and Humber (Toronto) are certainly the front runners, but we will be looking at others. Being a fluid process, this list could change over the next 6 months.</p>
<p>All of the schools that we are looking at require an audition. So preparing for the various auditions will be a large part of this process. He will be attending a week long guitar session at Berklee this summer. The camp should help prepare him for future auditions and also give him an idea of how his skill level compares with his peers. He attended a regional guitar camp last year where he was regarded as one of the better players. I am guessing that the competition at Berklee will be a bit more formidable. </p>
<p>He took the SATs on May 7th and we should have the results on the 26th. We are also beginning to plan some summer visits. </p>
<p>I have numerous concerns. Finding and gaining acceptance into the proper program is critical to his success. Smaller class sizes, individual attention, a more hands-on environment (rather than lecture only) are all attributes that I feel would increase his chances of success. His Tourettes is relatively mild at this point with mainly motor-function tics. He typically does not have tic issues while playing an instrument. However, considerable energy is used in controlling tics and this certainly is compounded by ADHD.</p>
<p>I have decided to journal our efforts for a couple reasons. The first is to solicit input from folks that have experienced similar issues and hurdles. The second is simply the hope that sharing our experience can help others.</p>
<p>It seems like you’re on the right track. Also research University of Miami’s Creative American Music program. It allows students to major in music business or production with a singer/songwriter minor and contemporary music lessons. The upward trend in grades may make this school another feasible option. Has your son considered auditioning for any jazz programs? I know of a few schools that have jazz programs with a more contemporary flavor.</p>
<p>If you need any input from someone who has been through the contemporary music audition/application experience with ideal results, feel free to message me or ask things here. I don’t have Tourette’s and my UW GPA has always hovered around 3.5, but like your son, I’ve struggled with ADHD-inattentive type. I auditioned at Berklee and got in, but decided to attend University of Southern California instead for their Popular Music program. Berklee is nonetheless a fine choice, and so are the others based on what I’ve heard about them. Best wishes!</p>
<p>27 Dreams, could you expound on the more contemporary Jazz programs thought? Which have you determined to be the most contemporary/flexible?</p>
<p>@jmd5505 - to build on 27dreams’ comments about Univ if Miami, the dean there (Shelly Berg, Frost School of Music) “has a mild form of Tourette Syndrome, undiagnosed until his mid-30s”</p>
<p>I will definitely add the University of Miami to my list although it seems more jazz orientated than rock/metal. Before this is over he is going to have to make a decision since there is so much more available for jazz. The rock/metal genre is very limiting. Thanks!</p>
<p>My S had a similar trajectory, though not the challenges with Tourette’s, he does have mild ADHD which probably affected his GPA somewhat. He is also a rock guitarist as well as a composer. He was accepted at both Berklee and Belmont and will be attending Belmont this fall. </p>
<p>He did the Berklee Guitar Session last summer. As a heads up, know that the top kids there do get invited to audition for a Berklee scholarship of up to $16,000. My S was not prepared for such an audition and did not get a scholarship (they awarded 10 out of about 80 that were invited to audition.) But it did give him a good idea of what a Berklee audition was like and it did let the faculty and admissions people there know who he was. It was also a good measuring stick for him as there are really top guitarists there. He was placed in the highest level group and ended up picking the songs his group played at the recital and even singing one. </p>
<p>He got a merit scholarship at Belmont, even with a 3.4 GPA. Could have gotten a bigger one with a higher GPA, but we were pretty thrilled that he got one at all. He also got a sizable need based grant and overall an excellent financial package from Belmont, even with no music scholarship. He got nothing from Berklee, and that pretty much made the decision for us. We did a ton of research and visited a lot of schools, and we are very happy with Belmont.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more information.</p>
<p>My son is a heavily jazz-trained guitarist who plays only rock in his extra-curricular/gig life. He entered USC Thornton as a studio/jazz guitar major but has since switched into the Popular Music program. He quickly decided that while he was “born and raised” in jazz, and that it’s given him an unbelievable foundation, it’s not where he wanted to focus 4 years of college. Both programs are fantastic and very selective, and fyi, small class sizes are the norm (as I would imagine they are in most music majors).</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son.</p>
<p>Well, we have his SAT results. His total for the 3 tests was 1530. Even though he did not prepare, I was hoping that he would do better. Now we need to come up with an improvement plan for the fall. I know of one case where the student had good success with a course on CD. So I may look in that direction rather than a traditional class. He is also entitled to extra time due to his Tourettes, but I am not sure if that would be productive for us. He hates anything that single shim out.</p>