First, the student needs to be playing at a very high level with a lot of experience. Second, they need to KILL the audition. Third, they need to have merit offers from other schools. Then, they can pit the offers against each other, and if the school wants the student enough, they’ll increase the offer. Who knows, Oberlin or NYU might up their offer too, and it will be a pretty high class problem for the student. We’ve seen this happen too.
Also, you can always just ask. Berklee doesn’t give a lot of need based aid per the financial aid officer who spoke at the open house that we attended. They want good musicians, and aren’t as concerned with a “well rounded” class as other schools might be.
Any early action decisions today? S’s classmate got his acceptance today from his October audition and accepted immediately. Don’t know yet if he got any merit, I’ll get my son to ask…
My son applied EA. Auditioned mid-January (last year) & found out at midnight on 1/31 that he was accepted! He just finished his 1st semester & loves Berklee!
Back Bay is super fun. Great restaurants & everything is walkable. Most kids apply to their major sophomore year. Graduation varies based on how quickly they get through the core classes. For example, my son tested into Ear Training 4 as a 1st semester freshman. After only 1 semester, he’s totally done with ear training. May take some kids 4 semesters to complete all 4 levels of the course.
My son lives on campus & is considereing trying to enter the lottery to live on campus again. Why??? Well, some of his classes are in his building. He has rehearsal for an ensemble from 9-12a in the basement of his dorm in the rehearsal space. Super convenient!
Great to hear! I was wondering why several students we spoke to had to go to school in the summer or do a 5th year, which can get pricey. Is your experience that is the norm or the exception? We also heard there were issues with studio time for audiio production majors, which you only apply to after one semester there. Tia!
Agreed that a 5th year would be pricey. So many factors go into graduating in 4 years, such as levels they test into for core classes, number of credits per semester, whether they get into their major the first time, are they double major and/or have a minor? For example, my son tested into Level 4 of Ear Training. He finished that first semester, freshman year, so he got credit for all levels of ear training, 1-4. He also tested into some Level 2 of other core classes & transferred in 1 AP class. Credit wise, he’s almost a sophomore.
I can’t speak to studio time for audio production majors. My son is film scoring. I can tell you that one of his ensembles rehearses from 9p-midnight on Mondays.
Have you heard back yet? I remember those days leading up to January 31st were so stressful! His portal was updated just after midnight!
When he tested into level 4, was that an online test at home or during the orientation week? Also, has he found it easy to sign up for the classes he needs? Betklee is one of my son’s top choices, but he has many questions!
thanks so much for sharing this! He has not heard back yet. Our counselor contacted admissions and they said the notirifction date is Jan 31st and that in some years some students get earlier notice…was up in Syracuse this weekend. anyone look at the Setnor School up there? It’s small like 200 kids
They will test over the summer. It’s made very clear to not use any outside resources because the placement test is to see where you belong. He was retested the first week of classes, in person. He just finished his 1st semester, so hasn’t had much experience with registering for classes. There was one class he wanted but didn’t get in, so he just took another of the zillion classes he has left, lol!
Berklee was my son’s first choice & he absolutely loves it there!
I’m happy to answer all of your questions!
Good luck to your son!
Thank you!
Another question: How easy was it to get housing? Did he get his first choice? Is it by lottery or first to sign got preference? Did he have a roommate in mind or use a roommate match type thing?
OK, don’t get me started about housing. So…he had 2 roomates lined up & was paired with neither. We were told there was a new housing system or program they used this year. I’m not sure if that’s true but the Berklee parent FB page was busy with similar posts to my son’s situation. It sounds like kids in a LLC get placed with more success.
But…he ended up in his 2nd choice dorm & he loves his roomates! Things have a way of working out.
Participated in a week-long summer camp. Auditioned mid-Nov.