Berklee EA result may come in this week (before Berklee winter break) but many EA applicants will receive on January 31st. Berklee’s result will come with a financial / scholarship offer. Good luck!!
@JeJeJe I’m hoping for before break! The waiting is killing me.
S received an acceptance from Berklee but unfortunately without scholarship. excited but it’s bittersweet.
Bummer, @arkham! That was our experience as well. About half of the Berklee admits do not get scholarships, according to the admissions office. We were surprised, as he had gotten a full scholarship to the five-week the year before. But perhaps there was an overabundance of saxophones that year.
To be honest, even if money hadn’t been an issue (it was!), not getting merit aid soured my S on Berklee. In the end, the admit was good for his ego but created some anxiety until the “real” offers started coming in.
@arkham I hear that voice and guitar are the most competitive majors in jazz, if that is any consolation.
@akapiratequeen @raincat thanks for the perspective and support. i’m assuring S and others (including myself) that we’re still early in the game.
btw @raincat congrats on your son’s admittance too!
@jim33h My son attended the 2-week Summer Vocal program at University of British Columbia (UBC) twice and loved it. You get great exposure to some of the UBC faculty and department heads, plus all of the instructors are from UBC, well-known conservatories and/or are professional opera performers. https://music.ubc.ca/summer-vocal-workshop
So, I wanted to post that D was accepted to Berklee with full tuition. She is. thrilled and surprised. She had no idea she would get an acceptance let alone a great merit package. She is going to let it sink in. Then we will have some discussions and make some decisions about moving forward (or not) with auditions and applications.
@arkham I have been reluctant and indecisive about posting because I understand how this feels for you and S. D is not my first child to apply to college. D1 had three acceptances before the place she is going and none of them gave her a dime. The 4th place, which was her top choice came through with a merit scholarship. These are still early days.
@Musicmom2two That is incredible, wonderful news!! Happy dancing for you here in NJ! Your D must be flying! Was that her first choice?
In regard to your post to @arkham I agree 100 percent. It’s early days. Most of us will suffer disappointments as well as enjoying triumphs along the way. My son got one free ride and two exceedingly generous offers by the time all was said and done. I believe that every kid finds a place.
Meanwhile, I hope we can all celebrate together when things go right as well as sharing our frustration when they don’t. We are all in this together!
@Musicmom2two that’s extremely considerate but also we’re all adults here and never against each other. I’m very glad to hear your news - full tuition is amazing! congrats!!
i appreciate you relating the experience with your older daughter as well, and know my son will find the right fit too. he’s bummed at the moment because knows what the lack of scholarship means for his ability to attend but he quickly pivoted his top music program to just one name on a list. looking for the right overall situation and still has a bunch of bfa acting applications in play too. he’s gonna be fine!
@arkham I’ve hung around here waaaaay too long…but sometimes it’s for these moments.
Tis the season for heartbreak followed by fear. Happens every year (12/15 - 2/15) to amazing talent. There are always a few absolutely mysterious rejections or no scholarships. The student then goes on to great acceptances. I remember a kid rejected by SMU early that got into every other (more selective) school… and ended with a full ride tuition I believe (very high academics). I may be slightly off with the facts…but the point is…I’m sure being rejected early made them worry! But in the end it was simply a bump in the road.
Note the rejections often come first. It can really shake confidence. But that’s a part of this journey. So put your seat belts on…and vow to fight until the end. Because sometimes…it’s not until then…that the great opportunities show up. It happens every year.
Congrats to others getting great acceptances now. You are very lucky. For those having to lick wounds you are lucky too bc you are learning valuable lessons that will come in handy in the future. Onward!
@Musicmom2two Congratulations to your D! Amazing! Full tuition at Berklee is a total unicorn! Can you remind us of her instrument?
@arkham Congratulations to your S on his acceptance to Berklee. @akapiratequeen is so right about the scholarships at Berklee. There are so many students who receive no scholarship money. His acceptance says much about his talent and I’m sure many other offers will be rolling in!
S received his acceptance to Berklee yesterday as well with a generous scholarship. He attended the 5-week and received the same scholarship at the end. He is ready to accept the offer and withdraw his applications at all other schools. Berklee has been and remains his top choice.
My son got his EA acceptance letter from Berklee yesterday… 1 day later than previous years. Was worried on Dec 18 but so happy that he does not need to worry about college application during holiday break!
Immense relief.
@DramaMama603 D’s instrument is voice, Soprano. She also plays, guitar, violin and banjo.
I posted in the other thread but thought I would post here as well for those following the Journey thread in the future. S was accepted EA to Berklee yesterday with a full tuition scholarship. It was a shock, he was worried about just getting in!
This makes Berklee a strong contender as we really need merit. He is still waiting on three pre-screen results (Frost USC and NYU) and was working on a few other non-audiion apps. Berklee has many of the things he is looking for so I don’t know if those other apps will get finished.
Congrats to everyone else that got in to Berklee. It will be interesting to see where all our kids end up!
Congrats! Great news @raincat
@raincat My piano player also had a similar experience at the Berklee audition and was also accepted EA with a full tuition scholarship. Congrats to you and your family, and all others who are receiving goods news!
Ironically we had received some disappointing news about a pre-screen at another highly competitive program, so those veteran posters who warn that the bad news often comes first are absolutely right!
@MusicSchoolSeeker it is SO true that bad news often comes first–my son’s very good friend, last year, got a rejection from a favored school first, which of course was very hard, then went on to great acceptances with money from other top programs. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, but I also think it’s true that different schools need different instruments in different years, and we just don’t know the particulars so it seems random.
Congrats on Berklee. Can I ask what type of piano, is it classical or jazz? Is your S interested in any of the other offerings at Berklee, like production, film scoring or music industry? Those are a big draw for my S, and the ability to take courses in these areas in addition to performance. Also the 24/7 access to practice rooms lol.
Congrats to
@Musicmom2two
@raincat
@DramaMama603
& @arkham
for acceptances to Berklee! (sorry if I missed anyone)
Those full scholarships are very rare so extra cheers for those! Getting into a top-notch school like Berklee will hopefully act as a nice boost early on, even if there wasn’t a scholarship attached. I know some very talented musicians who did not get in over the past few years so getting in IS a big deal. My daughter (vocalist) did the early audition last year and did get a nice scholarship which really pumped her up, but she knew our financial limits going in and saw that it didn’t quite meet our needs so she kept her expectations in check. We didn’t count it out totally but they aren’t known to honor appeals so we left it in the mix to consider when all offers were in, but had to be realistic as far as loans and potential debt. It was her top choice before the audition, but it was interesting to see her open her mind and heart to other schools as we went through the process with other visits and auditions. We were confident she’d find a good fit and had hope she would get some decent offers that put things more in our “comfort level” price range-and we were right! She is really happy at Loyola in New Orleans (she can’t imagine being anywhere else) but none of us felt that would even be in the top 5 when we started the process.
So take a deep breath and be patient (easy for me to say. lol) For some, the end result will be predictable but for others you may be very surprised when April rolls around. Best of luck as you await those pre-screen notifications and start scheduling more auditions. Despite some of those “dragging on and on” moments during the wait, the process does go fast so buckle those seat belts!
@raincat All of the above, as far as genre goes, lol! Classical, jazz, funk, r&b, really a little bit of everything. Private lessons were classical first and then jazz. Other interests at Berklee include composition, production, songwriting and possibly study abroad. The 24/7 practices rooms are a HUGE draw! We were at Frost for EA auditions a few weeks ago and the associate dean, as well as our student tour guides, were pretty honest about admitting that access to practice rooms can be a bit of an issue.