@SpartanDrew Making connections is something that will inform her future career. Even though there are bumps in the road, it sounds like she’s in a great place!
@SpartanDrew - Hi! Your note about “being forced to reach out to these guys/girls and do this herself rather than having it done for her” is something we felt would be one distinction, based on his instrument/prof between Frost and UNT when S was considering schools. We felt like Frost would have given more guidance, and UNT would be more of a sandbox.
Two weeks in as well. Don’t know where we’d be without skype at this point. It’s a great help that the cats can see and hear him on the computer screen.
@winjammer I keep telling my D to go find herself an NYU buddy that she can go eat with in their caf for free! HAHA! We have been facetiming a lot and the poor dogs just lick the phone. So sad…
@SpartanDrew he eats constantly. I was happy to get him away from my refrigerator…but he’s eating through his meal plan like there’s no end to it. When we dropped him off on move in day, we were able to eat in the dining room with him which was nice…but cost him 3 swipes to the card! Like you we were glad we brought everything with us even though it sat on the sidewalk for a good while. He was embarassed, thinking he had brought too much stuff. But later we saw parents going out shopping and bringing back refrigerators, microwaves, etc…
Oh man @winjammer that “stuff piled on the sidewalk” experience was insane!!! Then frantically trying to cover her amp when it started raining! Good times… Eeek! And when we headed to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond and saw those crazy lines and how picked over everything was we were SO GLAD we brought everything! People looked at us like we were nuts with all of that stuff but she has used every single thing we brought and we even schlepped the area rug from our Target at home. We got it on sale and it was much nicer than any of the picked over stuff we saw at the stores in NYC. Honestly with that Land Rover crammed FULL with barely room for her in it, all we brought back and returned was the bed risers! I was shocked.
Does your S not have an unlimited plan at NYU for food? When we were toured at New School by the admissions guy who was a New School grad himself, I asked how he was able to eat there and he said “I made friends with NYU students and ate on their unlimited plan!” Haha! So I thought that could be a good strategy for D lol. Hopefully we can waive the plan for spring and just give her money to buy groceries and eat out at cheap places. There is a great little Thai place she loves right on her corner that she can eat Pad Thai for around 7 bucks. Certainly much cheaper than the 20 bucks she spends every time she has lunch at TNS cafe.
Just back from Parents Weekend! Did not get to catch a music school performance but had several nice meals with S18, met his friends, caught a ball game and helped him take care of a few financial matters and supplemental dorm decoration. His friends so far skew to the academic side but he is getting to know more music students as he gets deeper into his ensembles and studio. His accompanist has been a pleasant surprise. He has to hire an accompanist to assist him in preparing for his private studio sessions and for the sessions themselves. She is older and very experienced, and gives him all kinds of useful tips and criticisms, in a Russian accent too! Considering the time she puts in and her suggestions, he is getting a lot for his money there. He is getting more comfortable in his studio, and loves his voice teacher. S18 is also participating in a research program, and was recently selected to assist a PHD candidate with research into Shakespeare’s use of music to denote characters as monsters and villains in the Tempest and other works. He is excited about that!
Sounds fun!! Some accompanists will work as “coaches”. Since second semester Freshman year, my D had a teacher, a coach (who was a professor in UG and a professional with an opera co in grad school and after) and an accompanist (the final one in UG wanted to be a coach so her official coach worked with both in tandem). She had studio time and coaching time weekly. So lots of people helping out. I never knew about all these roles prior to college. Currently my D sees her coach more than her teacher.,bc of course these relationships continue after college. I’ll admit that I have never been completely clear on all the roles…but all have been beneficial. In UG my D had to pay for her accompanist. In grad school, she did not. Still all schools and studios can be different…so all that matters in the end is that he is happy and learning!!
Oh and today S18 found out he is one of 8 finalists in the Classical Singer Magazine Summer Online Competition, University level-Musical Theatre category!
We moved our daughter into the dorms this weekend. Bittersweet for us but she is thrilled. Her roommate is as a VP major and they are in the same studio. She is making friends and exploring the LA area. Music theory test was brutal and she was placed in a “fundamentals” class. It may delay her graduation as she will be a little off track. But no worries. For my wife, dropping off the first was the hardest. For me, dropping off our youngest has been the hardest. Of course we miss them both but the change represents something different for each of us. It helps to know that she is happy and was ready to leave. Really. Ready. To. Leave.
She has to take 9 quarters of choir but decided to sit out this quarter. She is hoping to do two years of piano study and is starting that her first quarter. She may be on a five year plan. Given that it is in-state tuition, I am okay with it. Plus, it will give her more time for her voice to mature.
I am grateful for all the advice/information I learned from this board. Now it is time to hover less over this process and watch (from a distance) how she develops. While I care for her development as a musician, I am more excited about her opportunity to be an educated member of society. Music has already opened an educational door for her that neither she, her mother, nor I could have ever imagined possible! Toi, toi, toi…
It’s not uncommon for vocalists to not pass the initial theory test particularly if they didn’t have AP theory in high school. At my D’s UG, those kids could graduate in 4 years. One of her friends did not start college level theory until 1st semester sophomore year (only time it’s offered is first semester not second) and she was at graduation. I think after some basic theory they could do theory and literature at the same time. Not sure in your D’s case…but you don’t seem concerned…so I would just sit back and see how she figures it out.
It’s not a bad idea to “ease” into Freshman year. Congratulations and enjoy!
So fun to hear about all your musicians getting settled into college/conservatories.
I have a question. Our daughter has her heart set on going to Berklee School of Music for jazz performance. She went there this past summer and loved every minute of it - in particular her bass instructor and her program director (both full-time faculty). Now - the issue is that she was given a summer pre-admit for the Fall 2019 but the scholarship ($20k) still puts it out of reach for us financially.
Does anyone know anyone that has received financial aid from Berklee? There doesn’t seem to be any information about it anywhere. Our EFC is very low (given that my husband is on disability and we will have 3 in college next year) - but just wondering if anyone knows a student that has received financial aid from Berklee and how that works?
What about any other jazz performance programs and financial aid? (the only one that I know that even comes somewhat close to meeting need is Oberlin).
Thanks all!
(I’ll try doing a search on Berklee - but as I recall, there was nothing that I saw).
Tripletmama
@tripletmama - Berklee scholarships are very selective and don’t typically cover all expenses. To get any $ is quite the accomplishment. Don’t despair though - there are ways to still obtain a Berklee education on a lower price tag. Speak with the admission counselors - they can recommend some strategies such as deferring enrollment and taking liberal arts requirements at community college while continuing private lessons, getting credit via AP or CLEP, audition again in one year for increased scholarships. The amount of credits that will transfer before matriculating at Berklee are substantially more (ie-transfer credits are limited once you are a Berklee student). BAL!
Thanks @Coronado - she is going to audition again to hopefully increase her scholarship. They encouraged her to do so during the summer. The good thing is that she knows what they want during the audition - so she can “study for the test” so to speak.
The issue might be that she has hope as the bassist at her school got a full ride for this year - and two musicians in her ensemble this summer. So hope springs eternal. We pay $20k a year for her to live and study in LA this year so I hope that strategy pays off! The other issue is that her triplet brother has a full ride to a ballet school in NYC so she is hoping it happens for her, too… She works very, very hard so I hope she makes it work. If not, then she is also interested in the New School (seems like a mini-version of Berklee in a great music city!).
Great idea about transferring in! The two ensemble members in her group this summer are doing just that.
Here’s a question for the group - she’s not sure if she should do her audition in LA or back in Boston. Any thoughts on that? Actually - I think I just answered my own question - I think for Early Action they only do those in Boston.
Is Early Action auditions in Dec. preferred for Berklee?
@tripletmama - my daughter was admitted EA for vocal performance. She auditioned in Orlando Oct 2017 so I don’t think the timing or location make a difference. Although my daughter ultimately chose a different program (acting) she continues having voice lessons with a Berklee professor that she met during follow up campus visits. It was difficult to pass up this opportunity but she still gets a little piece of Berklee training.
@Coronado and others - btw - I’m referring to financial aid, not merit scholarships. Apparently Berklee does have financial aid in addition to merit scholarships.
Correct me if I’m wrong:
Auditions in Boston are true live auditions whereas the regional ones are essentially ‘recorded auditions’ (no music faculty present; just officials from the admissions office taking videos of the playing as well as the interview), in the case of which I suppose the former would be preferred.
Both on-campus and regional auditions qualify an applicant for EA, as long as the EA deadlines are met:
’ Early Action Application Deadline: November 1
Auditions Take Place: August through December
Admissions Decisions Issued by: January 31
Regular Action Application Deadline: January 15
Auditions Take Place: August through March
Admissions Decisions Issued by: March 31 ’
For anyone interested, here is the Berklee website explanation on financing education there and the financial aid offerings https://www.berklee.edu/paying-for-your-education
@tripletmama and @Compojazzmom - my daughter doesn’t recall being filmed at her Berklee regional audition. But she can’t be sure because she was so “into the music”. She thinks it was because there was a microphone (a requirement of the audition). She hadn’t practiced with one - so it was a new experience on the fly. So I suggest practicing with one for sure!
There definitely were two music professors adjudicating her singing audition. They also conducted the portion that tested clap back/rhythm, improv/riffs, and major/minor cord identification. The interview was done by an admission counselor who remembered her during her visit for accepted student day. That counselor had an undergraduate degree in musical theatre (vocal performance or similar) from another university. So I suspect a musical background might be part of the counselors’ expertise.
Per financial aid — Berklee doesn’t give “merit” aid, which is based on grades and/or test scores (that was a huge bummer because my daughter was given a lot of merit aid at other schools). The scholarships they award are solely based on talent. Vocal performance is the most competitive (per admission counselor). They do list your eligibility for federal aid (Stafford loans, Pell Grants) with your acceptance letter. The Parents Plus loan was not listed for us even though we qualified. Our FA counselor said he doesn’t list it because the parents have to fill out governement applications before being approved and he doesn’t like to infer pre-approval (or mislead/overextend families). In order to be eligible for federal loans and grants, a FASA must be on file (perhaps that is why you haven’t seen “financial aid” offer yet).
Thanks @Coronado et. al.
Our daughter wanted to audition with her own pianist and drummer so that’s why she was thinking a Regional Audition. I’ll advise her to research it further.
Funny - I always thought of “merit” in the music world to be music ability (not academics). Where did your daughter end up?