I’m a music enthusiast, I write and produce a lot of music and I really like doing it (all self taught). One of my dream career is a film score composer (others are all STEM-related). At the moment I’m planning on studying engineering or natural sciences at college.
Is it a good idea to apply to Berklee if music is one of my career interests? I’m slightly concerned about the audition part if I do apply because although I do play the piano quite well, it’s not my main objective as I’m looking into music composition/production not performance, and I’m probably not as good as most other applicants auditioning with piano.
Thank you
You sound very much like my son, who will be starting at Berklee this fall. He did very well in high school and was also accepted at Northeastern, NYU, and some smaller schools, but in the end he decided that music was his passion, and his career goals would be best met with the education and connections he will get from Berklee. As for the talent portion, nothing ventured nothing gained. Yes it is difficult to get in, but you only have to prepare one piece and then you will be asked to do some sight reading, scales, etc. There is actually quite a lot of info on the Berklee website with exercises to help you prepare. If you have an opportunity to take AP music theory at your high school then that would be very helpful too. But there are also other great music programs in liberal arts schools that would leave open the possibility of a STEM degree if you are undecided. Most of them will still require an audition for the music program so use this summer to start prepping something. Good luck!
You might want to read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top of this forum. It details the various ways to study music as an undergrad. As an aside, quite a few schools do not require an instrumental audition for composers. Check the websites carefully.