Just saw your last message now. Being a penny-pincher I do understand your feelings on the money for the meals however!!
I would be irritated about the meals at camp, too, considering the price.
As for the spreadsheet, Iâd recommend many of the same additions bridgenail mentioned, including
- ALL possible audition dates in one column and actual audition date in another once it is set. It helps to be able to see at a glance which schools' dates conflict, which are geographically proximate and have dates close to each other, etc. official dates probably won't get posted until Aug/September but you can get an idea based on last year's dates.
- Unless the prescreen requirements are identical to audition requirements at all schools, I'd make a column for audition repertoire, too.
- Due dates for various things (application, prescreen, etc). Note if there is an early action date - even though most music admissions require regular decision, some allow EA or ED or some require that you apply by a certain date in order to be considered for academic scholarships or the honors college
- Net Price calculator results (if you expect to qualify for need based aid), they don't usually include music merit unless it's a music school/Conservatory specific calculator, but they can give you a clue how much a school might expect you to pay.
- Testing requirements e.g. do they require SAT or ACT with writing, or SAT Subject tests, is it test optional
- Other application requirements e.g. head shot, music resume, repertoire list, essays, etc. S had to do different versions of his resume and repertoire list because some schools wanted things listed a certain way or in a certain order.
Spartan Drew did your daughter meet with anyone in food services or the camp staff about the migraines without proper food? Often there are accommodations available. Also, for others in the future, is it an option to not pay for board (and room for that matter)? That is a pretty steep cost. I would even put a kid up for freeâŠthe should have a program for that. When we visited Oberlin a church group had cheap accommodations offered online.
S18 is at U of Miami Fla for a summer music camp. He is having a blast, meeting kids from all over, participating in evening jam sessions, etc⊠Staff has been very attentive. He broke a toe second day there and they were all ready to rush him to the ER until they called me and I was able to handle. He had a voice lesson with a professor while there. Sounds like she threw a lot at him in the hour session but he enjoyed it. He said the campus is like a resort, the food is good, and the dorms are dated but comfortable.
@vistajay how long is the camp? I didnât even know they did any there in the summer because itâs so dang hot. We LOVED Frost!! Your experience doesnât surprise me. I think thatâs the difference between large and small. IT will be interesting to see what D thinks after her 5 weeks at Berklee but Iâm glad sheâs there now to get a feel for college life in Boston. She loves it there but there are a thousand plus kids doing this 5 week from all over the world so Iâll be interested to see how she stacks up. It will be a good reality check for us both as we move into audition season.
@compmom we did not meet with anyone from food science and now I wish we had. @diglass did and I think felt that her D would be well taken care of there for her needs. That was a miss on my part. I did send an email to someone within the faculty that I had been communicating with earlier so hopefully we can get things squared away so this isnât a continuing issue. She has very frequent migraines that are exacerbated by poor nutrition or not eating when she should.
@classicalsaxmom your info is SUPER helpful! I copied and pasted your comments and am emailing them to DH to incorporate into the spreadsheet.
Finally, @bridgenail again super helpful getting your insight and experience. I can say with certainty that D doesnât take great care of herself. I had been making protein packed lunches for her for school and dinners etc and when Iâm traveling for business all that seemed to go out the window. She will for sure have to learn to figure things out and fend for herself but the way you put it, being thrown in the deep end so quickly, may be a factor. That being said, if she loves Berklee (and gets merit aid) Iâm sure she will figure it out on her own.
Funny, she had a musicianship class today that she said was WAY over her head and she was completely lost! Turns out they placed her in a high level theory class (with no reason since she is very low on theory knowledge) so she went and asked to be dropped to a lower level. Sheâs learning I guessâŠitâs important to advocate for yourself!
I agree about audition rep, that is a biggie. One of the reasons is because at a glance you can see where they overlap, one of the keys to auditioning my S learned was to look at the rep requirements and see how you can minimize what you need to learn. For example, School X might require a 20th century piece, whereas School Y doesnât ask for a modern piece but wants a sonata. You could theoretically letâs say work on a Bartok sonata for School X that would meet Yâs sonata requirementâŠin boolean logic there is something called a Karnaugh map, that allows you to simplify a bunch of logic statements down to the minimum, this is kind of the equivalent:)
Oh man @musicprnt that all sounded like Greek to me! Hahaha! D will be auditioning for vocal jazz. Frost is easy, they require almost exactly the same thing for pre-screen that YoungArts wants, actually it is exactly the same. She has already recorded her YA auditions for the most part so Iâm hoping we can use some of those for Frost. Of course everyone else wants something entirely different. Nothing can be made easy. Oh wellâŠhere we go!
@SpartanDrew , The Frost summer program is 10 days. We could not do a longer program due to other things on his schedule. But it was the right price, and is a good mix between fun and study. He has a MT class, a jazz class, a classical class and a music theory class. But they also went to the beach, had an admissions sessions, played games, had a talent show, etc⊠Funny you mentioned a musicianship class. One of the reasons he chose the Frost program was the inclusion of a music theory class. His high school does not offer one, and it is a weakness for him. He was relieved, actually, when Frost put him in the intro level class instead of the advanced.
D doesnât have one at her school either. She just started taking theory privately with a theory prof at our local University so I hope that ups her game going into college.
When she attends school, make sure she registers with the disabilities office and meets with the dietary staff. Migraines can mean all kinds of accommodations, including single room, reduced courseload, excused absences, extensions on work. Much harder to deal with in a conservatory schedule. Getting things done in advance, and going to bed early are key as well as the food angle you mention. Meds can help- I assume she is on some.
I hope no one judges Boston by a summer experience. It is hot and crowded with summer students in Cambridge and areas of Boston. Just not the same vibe at all, and quite uncomfortable.
In regards to The Spreadsheets, I suggest leaving room for teacher options with contact information, as well as Admissions contact name plus contact info. Also, it was quite helpful for my daughter to set aside some cells for pros and cons. In our case, these were things like âundergraduate onlyâ or âheavily graduateâ and â3 main stage Operas per yearâ or âNot allowed to participate in Opera Theatre until Junior yearâ. Of course, your pros/cons will be quite individual, but you may find that at a certain point there is a huge jumble of information in your heads! It can be really helpful for comparing programs later on.
In some cases we added webpage links so we didnât have to continuously search the college websites for that elusive page!
@dramasopranomom yes to both your suggestions! we included links, as well.
On our spreadsheet I had a line that showed the difference between COA and what we could pay - this was the amount that he needed in financial aid/scholarships. This was to visually drive home the point to S that admission to a dream school was not the same as being able to go to that dream school.
Iâm doing the same thing now with my daughter for musical theatre audtions, although she wonât let me be nearly as involved as S did. âI"ve got it, Mom!â is a common phrase around here. 8-|
I think youâve got the important points covered.
Yes D is aware that getting in and being able to go are 2 different things but I like your idea of the column outlining what merit aid needs to be attained!
We had 2 of the 5 schools offer some form of merit that was good only for the first 2 years (on top of merit that was good for all 4 years), so I just started tracking total 4-year cost for everyplace.
Yeah, it can get wonky. My daughter will be starting college in a year, so presumably our per student aid will increase with two students in college. So we guessed at future aid since we would be willing to pay more sonâs first year if the costs went down in future years. We were VERY conservative with this. My point being there are a lot of factors affecting the total four year cost and itâs not a bad idea to look at it from both angles - whatâs the max you can do per year and whatâs the max you are willing to spend over four years. Great point, GoForth.
WellâŠthis is off topic but since itâs come up I have to vent. My D is having an absolutely beyond disappointing time at the Berklee 5 week. We are truly dumbfounded by it. She has been placed in truly sub par classes with very beginner kids who, in her words, âcanât sing at all and the piano player couldnât play a 12 bar blues chord progression at allâ. She met with her first ensemble today and itâs more of the same. I know @rockinmomab you have said not to judge a school based on itâs summer program but man itâs really really hard not to. For the amount of money weâve shucked out this is disappointing on a whole new level. She did a shorter program at Berklee last summer and loved it so we are flabbergasted.
The worst part of it is she just came off this Grammy camp experience revitalized and ecstatic. Surrounded by amazingly talented kids. She felt the same with every single one of her other summer programs that she was selected for in the past. She has always been surrounded by amazing musicians which energize and motivate her to up her game. I know they are there at Berklee now as well but she hasnât been placed with any of them in ensembles or classes. She is at Berklee on a decent scholarship (by audition) as well so we assumed incorrectly that they would place the scholarship kids in commensurate levels with other experienced musicians. That has just not happened. She has NEVER ever complained about a summer intensive before until now. Iâm at a total loss.
I contacted the associate director for summer programs and she met with her today briefly but it doesnât sound like much happened. I emailed her again for suggestions. If anyone has thoughts Iâm all ears. She is so utterly disappointed as am I. I feel deflated⊠
Scholarships would not affect placement. Placement is most likely through audition. I would like to clarify whether the program is subpar or her placement is disappointing, for others reading this who might consider Berklees summer porggram in the future.
One of mine had a disappointing experience one summer, but quickly did an attitude turnaround and helped others, looked for the positive in teachers she had access to, and made the best of the ultimate performance. This is a good exercise in the ups and downs of the music field and building character.
Well thatâs what we are trying to ascertain. She did a shorter program last summer at Berklee and loved it and others there are thrilled with their ensembles. She just ended up in a very beginner vocal jazz class and ensemble which is rough as she is very experienced. She has a meeting with the 5 week office today to sort out her schedules and placement. I donât know if the ensembles and vocal jazz technique class were based on placement or not from her audition but she felt her audition went very well and to be placed with kids with zero experience (if indeed she was placed versus just assigned) itâs not what we expected. She thrives in an environment where she is challenged and thatâs what we are looking for. I understand what you are saying when you talk about âhelping othersâ but spending 9K to do that when we expected a challenging college program that would get her ready for college audition season is unacceptable to me.
I was told by the associate director of the 5 week program that placements are made for the musicianship/theory classes. She oddly enough placed way too high for that and elected to drop back a level since it was over her head so she knows when sheâs placed to high and too low. Hopefully it gets sorted out today. I did look at the faculty teaching this summer program and they are all regular full time faculty with Berklee. Not summer stand ins.