Feel free to PM me for information about the conservatory programs at Purchase. S is a jazz studies major there. It is a unique place, and certainly not the best fit for everyone, but if it is a fit, provides an excellent education. We found the audition process there to be as organized as any other place, and moreso than some. The music facilities are good and well maintained. Acceptance rate for the music conservatory is about 20% (per their website).
You’re right where you need to be regarding planning! With luck, your D should be able to pare down her pre-screen repertoire to a manageable level. There seems to be lots of overlap of requirements, and spreadsheets help sort it out. I think S ended up preparing 7 standards for prescreens at 7 schools. He and I both look back on that year as a fun, exciting and especially close bonding time, although it seemed terribly stressful at some points. So hang in there, and best of luck to your D at Berklee!
thank you everyone. I appreciate all of the advice and also people’s experiences at each place. I think @diglass was just sharing her experience at one particular college visit but neither rave reviews nor negative ones really impact our decisions on where we may go visit. Everyone has a different experience at different places. We received the royal treatment at Frost school of music because we had a connection there that perhaps others might not. I think this resulted in an incredible visit for us there. Our visit at NYU Clive Davis was less than stellar, downright disappointing to be honest. They overbooked capacity causing people to sit out in a hallway during a presentation. That being said, I do know that it’s a top program for the right kids and the right fit. Just not a fit for us (despite D’s extreme desire to study in NYC). And the visit itself isn’t why we feel that way at all.
I think the music world is a relatively small world, especially in jazz so it’s really not too tough to work out who’s who on these forums if someone really wanted to do so. I’m not overly fussed about it personally and have made at least 4 personal connections as a result of these forums with other parent’s going through the same stuff. These connections have been great for me!
@indeestudios I appreciate your offer and will absolutely send you a PM! Thank you! I feel as though we are starting to hone our college list and change it up somewhat. Perhaps dropping schools on the west coast where D really has no strong desire to go and adding some on the East coast where she does want to be, Purchase likely being one we will add. I am hoping the process results in bonding and good memories versus extreme stress. It’s all very daunting to me at the moment.
I think I’ll put hubby in charge of the spreadsheets and me in charge of the wine fridge! Haha!
I think another thing to be aware of is that it is our kids’ privacy that needs guarding- it is not ours to expose. I ask my kids permission if I post anything even tangentially related to them. Otherwise, PM’s. Admissions folks read this thread too!
Sure I agree but when your kid’s name is in numerous press releases, news stories, websites and social media their name is already out there. I’d like to think admissions people have a lot more important things to do than search forums for parent posts. Just my opinion. Curious to know what facts make you certain that admissions faculty search posts about comments on college tours and even so what comments in the posts would in any way put a negative spin on any potential college admission for that student?
@SpartanDrew I agree with you!!! If admissions officers are on CC, they truly don’t have enough to do
@SpartanDrew Good luck to your daughter at Berklee this summer. My son just finished his second year and is also taking classes this summer. We are headed to Boston on Friday to visit him. He loves it.
@rockinmomab thank you! My D can’t wait! Should be a great experience. I’m going out on July 8 to check her in and back for 4 nights in August for the final performances.
Have they gotten dorm assignments yet? Also, if your daughter does end up attending, reach out and you can join my parent group. Have fun!
Looks like she will be in 160 Mass ave. Thank goodness. She was there last year and was sweating bullets she would get stuck in an older building haha! And yes for sure I will. She auditions this summer end of July. Fingers crossed
Great! My son spent his first 2 years in that building on 14th & 11th floors with great view of Fenway. Good luck!
It’s not about affecting admissions. It’s about courtesy, fairness, and privacy. If negative details reported here are objectivelyverifiable, I suppose it’s fine. I am glad someone came on the thread and defended Purchase (again I have no personal connection) to balance the discussion.
JMO, but I think this is exactly the right forum for discussing both positive and negative details, verifiable or not. This isn’t US News; we’re here to share our personal experiences. I think people come here to get those “real life” opinions/feedback instead of the glossy brochure-speak the schools send out or the scripted lectures from school guidance counselors. And, for every negative or critical comment made, there’s usually a response offering suggestions on how to deal with a bad experience or completely different perspective. Pretty constructive, I think. Anyway, my 2 cents on that.
One recommendation I got here that I really appreciate in hindsight is to not evaluate the music program based on the admissions or other administrative departments of the school. Speaking to friends whose kids go to various music schools, I think it’s safe to say that there will be disappointments and annoyances in that regard wherever you go. Rant and rave to each other, vent a little on parent FB pages, maybe write a pointed email or two… but get past it. I think this is where it really makes sense to let your kids form their own opinions based on the musical experiences they have in their visits, sample lessons, etc.
FWIW, my son loved the visit to the New School (jazz studies) and I really liked the admissions staff there. But he didn’t like the vibe during auditions and his interest waned when looking at what was coming out, what grads were doing, etc. I think it ended up being one of the first schools he declined.
@SpartanDrew, my son’s at Berklee. There are pros and cons, but there’s no denying that he’s playing a lot, meeting a lot of people, getting a lot of opportunities. I think it’s a great collaborative environment, which fits jazz/popular music well, but I think it would be an easy place to get lost in the crowd for kids who aren’t pretty self-motivated. (And I think this is when parents have to take a good look at themselves and be honest if they have a lot to do with their “motivated” child…)
@ScreenName48105 I could NOT agree with you more on pretty much every point you just made! First, yes I think these forums are there exactly for the purpose of sharing your own experiences. Our experience at NYU/CLive Davis for instance was really underwhelming. The guy running the tour could not have been less bothered to leave any sort of good impression. Likely because they don’t have any trouble recruiting top talent who can pay for it. My D went from NYU being one of her top choices (admittedly I think because of the name and being in NYC) to not planning to apply there at all. Again though, what we have learned through our journey is that NYU offers ZERO merit aid so that pretty much took it right off the table for us.
Your son’s experience at The New School is very interesting. When we were in the city in December my D wasn’t even interested in checking it out. After collaborating with some top musicians nationally recently that have TNS as their top choice, she has reconsidered. I’m honestly not sure it’s the right fit for her but it’s only going to cost us an application and a prescreen recording to find out. If she’s selected for a live audition she will likely get the information on fit she needs at that point just like your son did.
As for the pros and cons of Berklee that is exactly my biggest concern with her. Your last comment rang true with me in a very big way. We have had some major “discussions” about exactly that, how much effort she has made versus what I’ve been lighting a fire under her to do. I do worry she could get lost in the crowd there. That’s why I am making a bigger push for her to work hard to get into a smaller program like Frost. Although I will say after returning home from her recent experience at Grammy Camp I’ve never seen her more energized and motivated. I’ve never seen her happier than when she was there collaborating with uber talented kids like her every day. She came home and started spending hours charting music which she has not done before. She is in weekly private music theory lessons now with a local prof of music theory at a nearby university who is exceptional. She realizes she needs to up her game to be competitive in getting into some of these programs and I am finally able to take my foot off the gas pedal a little bit. Whew!
I think her summer at Berklee will do her a world of good and hopefully will both motivate her to take charge of her auditions and development as well as give her a feel for the college life there. 
@ScreenName48105, we had a similar experience at The New School. Also, it was the one program where the auditioning musicians had no connection to one another. At least Berklee puts everyone in a ‘waiting room’ together! Looking back, I think the audition day was pretty indicative of the various conservatory’s culture.
Has your daughter considered NEC? Teachers/students are wonderful and lots of freedom/cross-pollination happening there, especially in the Contemporary Improvisation program!
You know we had a visit scheduled when we were there last year but then she decided not to go. The thing is I know she doesn’t want to solely focus on jazz voice. We all think it’s a great major for her to really hone her skills musically but she also wants to be part of a contemporary music program where she can write her own music as well. I thought they only had a jazz voice major unless I’m mistaken?
VP is not my expertise, but two excellent schools with strong VP not on the list (potentially b/c they aren’t strong in jazz/blues/pop - I just don’t know) to consider would be Northwestern, IU, and UMich Good luck.
Thanks @beaglemom. Actually Western Michigan has a strong vocal jazz program and D’s private voice teacher is adjunct faculty there so she will for sure audition there although it’s not her top choice. I don’t believe UMich has a strong vocal jazz program. I’m not sure about IU but I think it’s more classically based? Our neighbor’s daughter heads there next fall and she is certainly a classical vocalist. My D wants to get out of the midwest big time so they could be the best in the world and she would overlook them to get on the east coast. Funny, I left the east coast to come to the midwest and now would love nothing more than to get back to the east coast again! We are never happy where we are…haha!
I wouldn’t say that IU Jacobs isn’t strong in jazz. After all, it’s where legendary jazz educator David Baker taught for 5 decades. My son spent two summers at Interlochen which has a strong connection with IU jazz faculty and really liked those guys. When we visited the campus, we saw a show put on by the vocal jazz department with Bobby Mcferrin. Hard for me to judge their strength but it was sizable group. Got the impression that it was pretty straight up jazz.
Michigan must have vocal jazz but, to be honest, I’ve never seen a singer perform with any of their bands or combos, which is interesting…
My son competed at an annual jazz festival at Western Michigan every year and has a couple of friends/combo-mates who go there for jazz studies. Seemed like their jazz vocalists are better integrated with the instrumentalists; we saw quite a few of them perform. They have a great latin jazz program.
Wow! I wonder if our kids were at Interlochen together? I suspect so. D was there 2 summers ago… bottom line for she doesn’t want to be in the Midwest regardless of how great the program is. I was the same way. Plenty of great programs to choose from on the east coast with Midwest as safety schools.