Berklee College of Music

Absolutely FANTASTIC!!! Love the program, the professors, and the entire experience for my nephew! Couldn’t have been better, I am so grateful that Berklee exists and helps spread music and love around the world!! Highly recommend! Congratulations to all of the 2023 graduates!!!! Go Shady!!! And congrats to newly honored Dr Usher!!

As a former alumnus, I have nothing but positive and appreciative things to say. It has given me the proper musical foundation for my career now and I have truly learned so much from my time studying there. The more you put in, the more you’ll get coming out. They have all the resources you need to succeed at Berklee as long as you network and put in the hours.

It's a tourist attraction for musicians and music major students. Just take some pictures and visit the bookstore.

There is almost no variety of subjects. Only jazz connected or music buissiness learnings

Nice dorms. Food at the Cafe was good too! Decent selection. View from 16th dorm floor.

I dropped by for a quick campus tour and everyone was very friendly. The library has a great selection of books 📚❤️🥹

I don't have any such talent to play, I can only listen and experience life with the albums you guys are making. thanks a lot. I am so lucky that i am going to visit this campus soon. Lots of people's dreams could be studied here, at least I am able to visit this campus. I can't wait to visit the place.

It's a dream come true visit for me. The entire street seems to be musical. Just imagining the legendary musicians who walked through the steps gives us goosebumps.

I attended both a summer program and a real semester and I have to agree with what's been said already: this is a serious school for top notch musicians and many great musicians get burned out here. I agree with the comment that many students find they no longer are enthusiastic about music when it becomes a serious subject that requires day in/day out study (I've heard this from other former students as well). I had the time of my life during the Summer Performance Program and did not have a good time during the actual semester of classes I attended. I was young (17 turning 18) when I attended and this may have had something to do with my experience of being overwhelmed. I'm looking to go back to school to earn a Bachelor's degree after a long time out of school (I have an Associate's degree) and I thought about returning to Berklee. I emailed a friend who attended both the same summer program and actual semester as I did and she replied that she thought that Berklee is a hard school to be young at and that she would probably have gotten more out of it had she been older and more experienced/disciplined. I agree with her.

Daughter received Masters degree and high praise for programs and faculty. Online program. On site in Boston for graduation.

I went there for one year and left. Way to expensive for what you get. My goal is to be a performing musician and do some production work. Berklee helped me very little with this. Teachers seem very disinterested in teaching. Administration is totally unresponsive. Housing and food are poor. The only thing Berklee did for me was introduce me to some other students of similar ability and drive that I am now playing with and have some good opportunities. But I think I could have done this on my own by being in the Boston area and saving $70K a year in tuition. You don't need Berklee to become successful in the music business. Most well-known performers did not go to music school. Save the tuition and invest it- or play music and go to a school where you can at least get a degree you can fall back on. Berklee is not worth it.

Had a great time watching percussion on Stave Sessions. This building was on 160 Mass Ave. Very nice new building with a very nice acoustics. I enjoyed listening to a percussion band call Tigue. I think the students have a good place showing their talent in this space. It is also very professional outlet was very helpful students showing professional stage courtesy.

The best music school in the US. All of the professors are so nice and inspirational.

I took a few classes "for leisure" several years ago when there were not any other options I could find for online music classes. Although the classes were ok, I was doing this for personal enrichment and did not realize that they would be reported as college courses. They permanently affected my college records - so beware! The instrument classes are fast paced, and if you cannot master your instrument and complete all the assignments in the time frame you will end up with a permanent ugly mark on your college records. Only take these classes if music is your profession (in my opinion). There are now lots of music classes on other platforms that you can take for free, or buy for much less, and you can do at your own pace without risking your academic record.

I met the president of this school at a grocery store yesterday. I pooped in the middle of the one sixty caf yesterday. Anyways, I enjoy playing giant steps on the pinano instrument in the one fifth tea mast ave pracktise room. bye bye. I met this weird homophobe c*le v*k*ssi*n.

If you are a serious musician, then this is NOT the school for you. Most of the professors are lackadaisical. Unfortunately, most of the professors have the idea that if you are just good at playing your instrument OR good at research that makes you a good teacher. Being the best musician does not automatically make you the best educator. If you want to be just an improve artist then maybe Berklee is for you but if you'd like to become a well rounded musician then their are much better choices for schools at a better cost. As you first look into Berklee the faculty and staff make you seem like you are special but as soon as you pay your bill they couldn't care less for you. As a professional musician, studio owner and music teacher I do not recommend this school.

I attended and graduated from Berklee (magna cum laude), but I wouldn't do it again. Berklee is the best contemporary music school in the world, and there are tons of opportunities to make great music there. It could be a great time if you are independently wealthy, and money is of no object (or if Berklee, mom or dad, or whomever besides you is paying for it), but if you are going to pay for it yourself (or with loans), you probably shouldn't be going there. It is probably one of the worst investments you could ever make. In addition, if you want to make money coming out of college you shouldn't be going to Berklee because the best steady job someone who graduates from Berklee can get is to teach at Berklee. In fact, 95% of the Berklee graduates that I know that are working in the "music industry" are teaching guitar lessons. So, in short, great music college, horrible career counseling, horrible investment.

There is a lot of talent at the Berklee College of Music. There is a HUGE wealth of information to be learned from the accomplished staff, and from the diverse and VERY inspiring students, playing and having musical conversations with people you otherwise never would've met. The film scoring major is great. Songwriting is great. You can find expertise and dive deeply into any and every area you want. It's just about as expensive a college as you can find, and it's like pulling teeth to even get a dime for scholarship. Berklee has a 3 out of 4 dropout rate. Only the strong survive. The connections you make at berklee can be deep and significant. It's a wonderful college. I am blessed to have been able to go there.

This place changed my life, for better and worse. Arguably, the best contemporary music school in the world, far and away the best institute for music technology in the country, Berklee College of Music offers an education geared toward a (more or less) practical application of music in the modern industry, based on an understanding of theory taught from a jazz perspective, rather than classical, which most other music schools and conservatories prefer. Be warned, Berklee College of Music has a notoriously low enrollment to graduation ratio, that is due in part to the intensive nature of the curriculum. Most incoming students enter with the misguided idea that they attending some sort of grown-up "school of rock" or maybe even "the Hogwarts of music" as one of my teachers put it, but instead they find Berklee's courses difficult, the level of competition among peers very high and are faced with perhaps for the first time in their life the challenge of mental shifting their attitude about music from something that used to be pleasure to something that has to become very serious work. That, I found, to be my greatest challenge, but once it was overcome, I appreciated the college as a dynamic, diverse microcosm of the music industry where I was lucky enough to forge life-long relationships with friends and supportive mentors that (despite Berklee's high price tag) I consider invaluable.

This school is extremely expensive. It's definitely not worth the money. The curriculum is so-so, and they focus mainly on performance majors. Most of the teachers are so-so, and while they may be awarded or whatever, they are still so-so. Overall, it's nothing special. Don't get convinced that this school will do anything for you - it won't. Simply put, the ability you have is yours - not Berklee's. You either have it or you don't. You can develop it at a school that will mostly rip you off and not care, or just go out an make it happen. My honest suggestion would be to simply take an online course in whatever you need to learn and move to a city where your community exists (LA/NY/London). Move to these cities and work a part-time job, network, and you'll get 100+ times farther than anyone who goes to Berklee and get's a degree. Most successful CEOs and founders like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates dropped out of college entirely. College is definitely a broken model at this point and 10x so for a music school. YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO SCHOOL FOR MUSIC. Seriously! Stop! You can play the music or produce yourself. If you're reading this right now, let me save you. Don't make one of the biggest mistakes that could screw your life up by getting into debt or wasting precious time. You won't meet anyone important here, they're all stuck up on "Berklee Prestige". "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you'd like to like." - http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html Peace & Love.

Take my review for what its worth since I am a parent of a former student and not an actual student. I agree completely with those that say you get out of it what you put in. I also agree that the contacts you make for networking will be useful as well. I also agree with one statement complaining about the performance opportunities there. There are thousands of music students with one major performance center which the overwhelming majority of students will never get to play on. There were more performance opportunities in high school. Now for the reality part. Kids with good traditional college degrees from good schools are finding it difficult to find any jobs today (2011). College grads are lining up for retail jobs and jobs where you traditionally did not need college. Berklee is great to teach you about the music industry but should not be considered a college because it has the minimum amount of core requirements of a normal college and the education is not well rounded enough for the real world. This is important because the vast majority of graduates from Berklee will not have long term music careers and will need to fall back on something else, and Berklee will not prepare them for anything else. The degree is almost worthless except for a very small percentage of low or non-paying jobs. Berklee administration will tell you about all the new creative ways of making a living in the music industry, but ask yourself if those opportunities are realistic enough to warrant an investment of $40K+ per year. Berklee will be great for some people, but that percentage will be very small. The name should really be Berklee School of Music because it is not really college. You really need to think hard about investing over $40K per year and 4 or more years of your life because most won't be able to afford to go back to school after Berklee. If you are getting a full ride or close to it, then go for it. My child got a decent scholarship of $7K/year but it was still a bad choice and bad investment. After high school, I was all in favor of my child going to Berklee and I chose to ignore similar warnings from others. In looking back, it was the worst financial investment I ever made.

Like anything in life, your experience of Berklee is dependent on what you put in to get out. Most of my teachers were amazing, talented, caring people who taught me a lot about the industry and about music itself. The few that weren't, well, were overshadowed by the majority that were. I was constantly amazed at the talent and the drive of so many of my fellow students. Just being at this school where you have an automatic conversation starter of, "So what's your instrument?" or "What kind of music are you into?" was like an instant bonding experience, the fact that everyone is there for the same reason, their shared love of music. I even fondly look back on the arguments I had with the hard core jazzers who thought jazz = the only kind of music ever worth of being recorded or played. Good times. There were also quite a lot of burnouts...not sure if that was due to the whole college factor in general, or because it's a contemporary music school, or a bit of both, but there was quite a lot of substance being done that I saw, dudes who apparently thought they were already rockstars. The greatest thing about Berklee is the resources, if you use them to your advantage. I made friends pretty early on with a lot of MP&E majors (music production and engineering) so I always had guys wanting to use me as a guinea pig for their projects, thus getting lots of free studio time and semi-professionally recorded songs. Also having a bunch of musician friends around who were all rabid to play, for free, was such a cool thing. If you jumped in with both feet and networked and put yourself out there as a musician you got back a whole lot of opportunities. The one thing I would complain about is the lack of performance opportunities. Being in the vocal program I saw how heavily politics played in the choosing of singers for the few shows Berklee did every year. But I suppose it's that way in the real world as well. There just weren't enough opportunities - I recall Singer's Showcase, Singer's Night, and then recitals if you were in the performance program. Outside of that, there wasn't much if you were looking to get your feet wet outside of your classes. Berklee was an absolutely amazing experience for me. In truth, I did suffer a bit of burn out after a few semesters of analyzing pieces of music to death, being critiqued on my songwriting, and basically eating, sleeping, and breathing music for several semesters in a row, but I learned so much, in a wonderful city, and wouldn't trade my time there for the world.

As one reviewer outlined "tuition is rising 8% next semester. The members of the Board and the President all have 6 figure salaries above $300,000, combined they earn almost 3.5 million dollars." President Roger Brown has gone crazy in an effort to expand including opening a nearly useless "branch" in Valencia, Spain. He is also taken on a facilities expansion for the Boston campus. Much needed, but with multi multi-million dollar project, they didn't think to include a recital hall/ performance venue. A once-in-a-life-time expenditure and expansion, and the President doesn't think to build these facilities at a college of music? Note the other reviews that mention the wretched performance/recital situation. The poorly treated faculty has among the highest teaching loads in the country. Berklee exploits its faculty by creating a uniquely high threshold for fulltime employment which leaves over half of their faculty with the distinction of part-time classification. Part-timers though they are teaching above the full-time loads seen at virtually every other school in the country. These same overworked underpaid faculty also do not qualify for sabbatical nor do they have offices. In several instances, the "offices" are some twenty cubicles in a giant room. Nowhere to do ones work or meet or have use of a piano. Again... A music college where instructors don't have use of pianos or privacy to use the piano and meet with students. The President enjoys a salary that rivals that of the highest paid Presidents in the Boston area, and for some reason, thinks that his faculty not receive commensurate pay and working conditions. My father is a professor and after talking to some my teachers there, I realize the disparity. New high salary administrative positions being added, and the situation for the faculty doesn't improve a bit, and yet the cost of tuition will be going up again.

I attended this school and graduated, and have not regretted it for a minute. However, don't even consider it if you are not completely sure that you want music to be your life. You need to be completely self-driven and highly self-motivated. No one will hold your hand to get you through. This is a practical music school for people who want to actually work in the field of music. Music is a highly competitive field and Berklee focuses on what you need to be a working musician. If you are sure that you want music to be your life and you have a strong work ethic, you will succeed at this music school.

I am the parent of a junior at Berklee. It has been a really fantastic experience for him both musically and personally. I was a bit concerned about it being a cutthroat and competitive environment that would shut him down, but he has found a great core of musical friends who are extremely serious and driven, like him, but also very supportive of one another. When I visit him and we walk down the street he runs into tons of students he knows, and they are all cordial and friendly and have their lights turned on. I'm sure there are lots of drug-taking near burnouts, but if your kid is serious and eats/lives/breathes music (maybe the jazz kids are different) they will likely think they have died and gone to heaven. Berklee has a large international group of students as well which adds to the broad experience it offers. Boston in general seems to admire and appreciate the Berklee kids, and it is a wonderful city for a college kid to experience. In response to another parent who was complaining about performance opportunities, there probably aren't as many chances to perform in more organized fashion but lots of chances to do gigs and the students seem to give smaller concerts. I haven't heard any complaints from the kids I know, probably the parents are more into the big performance thing than the kids are. It just hasn't seemed to be a big issue to my kid at least, and he does like to perform and is in performance degree. Yes it is an expensive school, even with a scholarship, but I don't completely see it as an investment in his "how much is he going to make" as the first major step in his life and development as a person. We are far from rich, and he does have a decent scholarship, and I do believe that musicians can make decent money doing private teaching in conjunction with other stuff. Are these kids looking to be rich? not if they love music and just can't imagine anything else. They do have an undergrad degree when they come out and it isn't useless, and from what I hear if you are good there are a lot of masters scholarship opportunities so you can parlay your Berklee undergrad into a Masters scholarship and teach in college. I am really pleased with the experience he has had, and while I do worry a bit about his future, I'd worry more if he was going to be a corporate america drone!

I took summer workshops here when I was in high school. I learned a lot, like that I didn't want to go here after graduation. Seriously though, I am definitely a better musician for having gone to those workshops, but most of the kids I talked to that were enrolled in actual classes told me that since they had come to Berklee, they hate music on account of that is all they could eat, sleep, or breath day in and day out. And that, in my opinion, is not conducive to growth as a musician or a person.

I took the online Music Production 101 course and in my opinion it simply wasn't worth the money... Perhaps a few hundred but certainly not $1500. The information taught is incredibly basic and the instruction was lack luster. I had Peter Bell on my instructor and while he was very nice this feedback was basically useless. He rarely gave any constructive feedback and only responded to roughly 50% of my questions and some answers were so devoid of thought he may as well have not responded. I was so unimpressed I will never attend another Berklee course nor could I possibly recommend it to anyone.

This is a review ONLY of the Berklee Bursar's office. They are TERRIBLE. Need to talk to the Bursar's office about your incomprehensible statement so you can pay them tens of thousands of dollars? Get ready for a long wait. You'll be on hold for an average of 20 minutes. Oh, and if there's a mistake and it turns out your payment is incomplete? Well, then, it only takes them a millisecond to slap you with a $250 late fee. In my case, the bill was wrong, so even though I paid it in full, they determined we were short $300 (from a total bill of approximately $15,000. The result? A $300 late fee.

I graduated from Berklee in 2014, and felt that my experience was worthwhile; but had some caveats. First up, the general feeling around the campus is an overwhelmingly positive one. Everyone around has similar interests to your own, they are all reasonably intelligent and have a broad variety of talents. Everyone has put in a lot of work in one way or another, or else they wouldn't be here (well, almost everyone). There are some of the most prestigious players around, both among the student base as well as within the faculty. It is a humbling place to be, and provides for a great environment for inspiration. However, there are a lot of very deluded people at this school as well. A lot of people under the impression that they're going to be famous the minute they leave the school and barely put in any work while they're here - assuming the degree is going to do all the work. This mentality can be found everywhere and it is incredibly frustrating. You'll often find 17 and 18 year olds who talk down to teachers and older students, it is disheartening. I also had some absolutely awful classes. "Technology, Self, and Society," for example. Classified as a "math & science course," I was under the impression that the professor would be reasonably insightful; but, instead, he would say things such as "I hate science," and "scientists are liars." I had a few classes of similar quality (though I also had a lot that were amazing). The biggest problem with Berklee, though, is the administration. For one, tuition is far too expensive (I was lucky and got a scholarship - I also worked for two years to afford rent and the rest of my tuition), and I don't feel you're getting what you pay for. The education is good; but the facilities are not. I was an EPD major, and the studios were fairly good; but there were no quiet places to meet with friends and study. I often found myself going to MIT or NEU just to do some homework because there were no places in Berklee to do it. There are a lot of caveats to attending Berklee, and I do not feel the need to list all of them here - apologies if this review has been rather rambly, I am typing in a stream-of-consciousness mindset. Truthfully, if you know what you want to get out of your education, then by all means attend Berklee; but if you have doubts, or if you are on the fence, wait to enroll. Otherwise you'll be out a lot of money and perhaps won't even get anything out of it.

If one truly desires to be a professional touring rock, jazz or pop musician... then hit the road and do it! Don't waste your time in a classroom pretending to take it seriously. Your late teens and early twenties are precious and should be spent writing, practicing, playing shitty gigs, opening your mind to new music, making connections and getting better at your craft. I'm pretty sure most Berklee professors would agree. But if you're going to go to a music school, Berklee's good, but very expensive.

ONE HELL OF AN EXPENSIVE SCHOOL! I have enjoyed my time at Berklee mostly because I was employed by them and they pay me to come to school now. It is not unusual for teacher to be late to class and for the majority of the students to be treated unfairly. There is so much talent at Berklee, but only few students get many performance opportunities or showcased at all. Liberal Art classes are a joke; not because of the teachers, because of the students that don't care. In general... I had a great time at berklee, but I feel like there is a hierarchy of politics going on.

Any personal growth you experience here will be because of individual faculty members who are there because they enjoy teaching and aren't just looking for a job to supplement the money they make on gigs. Berklee as an entity is almost indifferent towards students, unless they can use you to advertise. Most of the students here are so caught up in music that they ignore anything else of personal or intellectual value ("Oh my favorite book? The Real Book, of course."). As of right now, any sort of guidance department is nonexistent, have fun dumbly stumbling around from office to office while the employees there try to answer your questions with the same handbooks you already have. The moment you get there you're inundated with Berklee's concept of networking. Apparently, the students interpret this as "Shake a lot of hands and horde Facebook friends." If you at all have a sense of humor, Berklee may not be the place for you. If you don't take yourself and music painfully seriously at all times, Berklee probably isn't the place for you. I'm not complaining about the level of work, it's a great learning experience. You have tons of resources at your disposal, and if you keep slamming your head into the wall you'll eventually figure out the Berklee bureaucracy. If you want to experience the music industry fresh out of high school, come to Berklee. If you're serious about music to the point where you ignore your own personal growth, you should be here. It's just really unfortunate that so many people here are shallow glad-handed tools.

The online school is terrible. You're much better off taking lessons locally. The support staff does not answer emails in a timely manner, if they even answer at all. Another reviewer states it as it is, "as soon as you pay your bill they couldn't care less for you" I couldn't agree more.

Professional, innovative, and supportive. Amazing contacts and an impressive and diverse curriculum. A++

Berklee is a wonderful school. I graduate in 2014. There are so many great teachers to learn from and so many students and peers to network with. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in. It is not your average school. You really have to stay on your P's and Q's and work hard to attain as much as you can. The 4 years may seem like a long time, but after you are done will feel grateful for the time there. Put yourself out there. That's how you will grow. Berklee has many opportunities, but you won't see any of them if you are sitting in your room all day. The staff will do their best to help you in any way they can, they are very kind for the most part. Berklee is great and a really fun place to grow as a person and musician.

If you're looking to learn how to read music, dive into theory, play with accomplished musicians and move forward in your chops consider taking one of Berklee's summer programs. The jolt of information and talent is incredible.

Great American songbook... The music of Bob Dylan. With Al Kooper, Special guest. Sweet.

It's the best school of contemporary music in the world so yes, it is expensive. Any school like it will be expensive. It's weird people seem so bent on the cost being worth it or not. I never hear people judging Julliard or the Sorbonne by what their graduates make. The bad reviews seem to be sour grapes from people who didn't have the ambition to actually go. And yes, there is something to be said to go out and just play, particularly if you are a rock musician. But, that is just one career path and we all get old someday. If you want to teach, work as a session musician, compose, score films or whatever are all options you'll have rather than getting an entry-level office job as an aging rocker after you are done touring for years. As far as preparing people for the real world or being a real college, I graduated and have a BA. I got jobs where I needed to have a college degree. Let me assure you, when you get into the real world, a BA is a BA is a BA. Employers look for a degree or not, and the further away from college you get them more your work experience matters. There are plenty of history and English majors working in different fields, too. I don't think a degree from a college outside of the Ivies opens many doors. I spent four years doing what I loved, which was worth more than saving money and going to a community college to me. The education is excellent and you can't put a price tag of what it means to spend four years in contact with your fellow students, who happen to be some of the best and most serious musicians in the world.

Irresponsible staff, terribly unorganized institution. I'm not sure how sugar-coated the previous reviews are, but this is not the school you or your student should look at as a serious music institution. Most of the teachers are lax and uninformed. Literally any other music school in the area is a MUCH better choice for your dollar. They absolutely stop caring once the check has cleared. I had problems with class registration from Day One until graduation and it's been FIVE YEARS since I graduated and I am still begging Berklee via phone, e-mail, office visit, and letters to add the classes I registered for and took for semesters to my schedule. Horrible college. Doesn't matter how talented everyone is if the school can't meet the basic requirements of being a college. If I could have given them 0 stars, I would have. It's ridiculous to register for classes at the beginning of the semester only to have them disappear at the end with no warning / knowledge... very expensive waste.

When Berklee was $1200 a semester, it was great school with quirky professional musicians on the faculty. When Berklee raised it's prices, it was still a great school with lots of older quirky pros on the faculty. Unfortunately, Berklee has become a very watered-down version of it's former self. But what sucks, is that Berklee now costs a real fortune and the average graduate will be hard pressed to EVER pay back the Sisyphean debt-load they accumulate over the course of four years. Of course, they could always just forget about ever buying a house or a new car... The college has been taken over by a bunch of greedy two-faced business wonks, and they are running wild with all that tuition cash: New buildings, Berklee in Valencia, Spain (WTF?), six-figure salaries for the properly anointed administrators...I've always thought that Berklee bought the old State Street Bank on the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston St so they'd have a place to keep all their money! And don't believe all that crap about "Vinnie C went there" and "Bill Frisell went there." Most of the big names associated with Berklee didn't stay there very long, and the few who did knew how to play when they got there. Berklee's advertising is VERY deceptive in this respect. If you want a degree, go to a State school. If you want to learn to play, get a good teacher or two and practice. If you want both, go to a State school and get a good teacher on the side. Don't go to Berklee. Josh Redman didn't. Mike Brecker didn't Stevie Ray Vaughan didn't In fact, MOST great, famous musicians DIDN'T go to Berklee. Get over it.

My son attended Berklee College of Music. He loved the school, but after graduation, there was no help getting jobs in the industry. It was a lot of money for no job outcome. Unless you have endless funds, I wouldn't recommend going there

I an an alumni class of 86. It felt more like an eclectic Jazz school at the time. We would see the likes of Jaco Pastorius playing basketball at the lot walking from the Mass ave building to Boylston. I grew up in a small town in Florida and after 3 years playing in the army band was so fortunate to get a scholarship to Berklee. I became a band director . The faculty was awesome. Greatest experience of my life. Thanks to Jeff Stout Herman Johnson and many others. this country girl got to be a pretty darn good teacher and help others . Berklee is a great experience no matter if you become a grammy winner as some of my classmates did or start a band or become a teacher known for being out of the box. I don't know what it is like today as I am retired. I only speak from my experience.i know I went to school with some top performers and artists who went on to make their mark in the music industry. Highly recommended.. One of a kind experience. In my hometown newspaper there was a picture of Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock awarding my degree.. Huge deal for a country girl.. GO BERKLEE!!

I write this review as a recent graduate and scholarship receipt. I've played the guitar and been involved in music for over ten years and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend Berklee. I still play and teach music but I'm pursuing different career and business opportunities. The staggering cost of attending this college for a music degree in today's troubling economic times is not wise. I understand how hard it is to tell your son, daughter, or friend with a burning dream that it's not the smartest decision in the world because I was once that person. Please take the time to explain the hard facts and do the math. It is not worth the financial hardship to put yourself $250,000 + in debt to follow your passion. You can still play music professionally while holding a steady job with a good salary and benefits. While it is possible for a smart self-employed musician to make excellent money, realistically speaking through private instruction; the fact is most people don't have the discretionary spending to pay $150-$200 a month for private guitar lessons or classes. Let me say this...my girlfriend is in her final year of optometry school in Boston at NECO down the street from Berklee. She's paying LESS money to get an education to become a DOCTOR who can earn a six figure salary with benefits directly out of school. The total cost for 1 year at Berklee (NOT including expensive Boston rent, utilities, food, transportation, etc) was raised to OVER 50k in fall of 2011. That is what you pay for the Berklee Brand. Go to Berklee's website and do the math if you don't believe this. Also, I would like to add that construction of a new campus in Valencia Spain was recently completed. Let's not forget to mention the continuing expansion of the college around Mass Ave in Boston. Great way to treat American students and their families in the middle of our nation's worst economy since the 1930s. Let's charge more money for tuition but offer another campus in Valencia Spain for our European students and our "graduate" students while continuing construction on buildings we don't need. Absolutely ridiculous. Now here's some info about private instruction. Even though Berklee attracts a lot of great players who can teach, the cost per semester for private lessons is laughable. The cost of 15 half hour private lessons for the semester is $2370 (generally one lesson per week for 15 weeks plus the exam week). That boils down to $158 for a HALF HOUR lesson, not to mention the times instructors didn't even show or call to reschedule my cancelled lessons! The average cost for a half hour private guitar lesson in the USA is roughly $20-$35 per hour from a good teacher. Most lessons at Berklee are a half hour, and you are billed TWO CREDIT hours for the lesson which meets ONCE PER WEEK! I would also like to mention for one year, I paid a guitar instructor at Berklee cash under the table on campus for a private hour long lesson and the cost amounted to about half the amount paid for the half hour lessons I received college credits towards graduation. I must agree with the parent of a former student on this forum. Every day college grads are lining up for minimum wage retail jobs and jobs where you traditionally did not need college. He was also dead on correct about the academics. The actual core academic requirements at Berklee are sub par compared to most state schools that cost much less. For most Berklee majors you don't need any math or science courses. If a student after graduation decides they want to go back to school and pursue another career to try to find a real job, they will have difficulties with the pre-reqs and credit tranfers. In the end, I will say that no college education is worth $250k unless you're aspiring to be a doctor...and even then it's STILL a crazy amount of money. Spending that money on a music degree at Berklee is pretty much useless in the real world and ridiculous. You can go to a less expensive college, get a better education, find a real job with benefits and competitive pay, and still pursue music on the side and make it a GREAT source of non-linear income. Heck if you live close to Boston you can still study with Berklee teachers on a private basis and save a FORTUNE. If money isn't a concern for you, go ahead and enjoy Berklee. However, if you are concerned about your future and don't have the money to go back to school, then stay away. In conclusion, I would not recommend Berklee College of Music as an institution for higher education due to the lack of preparation and future opportunities, the HIGHLY inflated cost, weird billing methods (.5 guitar lesson billed as a 2 credit course), and numerous other points not addressed. Sorry to offend anyone with this post but this is my opinion as someone who graduated and worked very hard to complete the curriculum and to better myself as a musician and a person. Thanks

My daughter just finished her 4th semester at Berklee. Initially, she felt that it was the best place on earth. As the second semester approached, she felt differently. As a teacher myself, I am horrified by the performance of most teachers she has had. Most do not show up to class, others don't get around to grading or posting their grades! Feedback is necessary to know where you are and where you are going! Her arrangement teachers were horrible! When you look at the teacher ratings they are poor, yet Berklee still keeps them on staff! She has gone to faculty office hours for help, yet they just have a frustrated, "I can't be bothered" attitude. For the price of this school, and the high drop out rate it amazes me that so many ill informed people audition! The housing situation is a joke. I realize Boston is a crowded city and there is limited housing- but their way of choosing who gets to dorm and who doesn't is ridiculous. The new dorm at 160 Mass Ave is beautiful but not for anyone beyond 2nd semester. She dormed her first year at Mass Ave and her room and floor was infested with mice- housing did nothing except come and pick up the dead mice that had succumbed to traps. The cafe at the time was in the bottom if the 150 building- food was terrible and not many wished to eat while watching mice scatter about. Too many current and former students share this same attitude and I feel it should be publicized more- perhaps the necessary changes can be addressed AND changed! I warn students to not seek admission to Berklee- a huge waste of money and when you finally realize that fact, dropping out leaves you with student loans and credits that are worthless to any other college. In a nutshell, her love of music has been silenced- she won't be returning for her 5th semester and 2 academic years of her life have been wasted and are now worthless! Stay away from Berklee- they certainly do not care about their students or their graduation ratio!