r/Berklee

I posted here about a month or so ago regarding going back as an adult (38M) learner to finally get my music degree. After many back & forth emails with the advisor and admissions offices, I felt like this would be something I could do. I wrote up my personal statement, got my recommendation letters, and as an extra I submitted two songs I wrote this year in Logic. I got the email back saying they accepted me for the Songwriting and Music Production program!

I'm super ecstatic about this! This honestly was a school I always wanted to go to but for various reasons didn't believe it was anything more than a pipe dream. Granted its online (kinda wish I could get a redo the college life phase of my life), and part time but I'm still a bit in disbelief that I was considered as anything close to being qualified enough to be accepted to Berklee. I am so freaking happy!

I'm halfway through music for beginners atm (took it as a personal remediation class before I started to think about going back) and will start as an official student in June taking Theory 101.

I've been trying to reach out to other students to make friends, connections, network, etc with minor success, and that has been the hardest thing. I'm both kinda introverted but also online schooling ups the difficulty of meeting other classmates and making meaningful connections. But the online program looked pretty robust and something that had a lot of work put into. I don't live anywhere close to MA, so visiting is not something that I would be able to pull off easily w/ a full-time job, but I'm thinking that next year I may go to the On-Campus workshop that is held every year (cant recall the name atm). Unable to go to it this year, unfortunately.

So if anyone wants to connect (be you an online student or a campus student), lemme know and I can shoot you a DM with my contact info, school email etc...

I honestly wish I had seen reviews like this before using them.

As a college student during move-out week, you’re already stressed and trying to figure everything out quickly, and this company completely took advantage of that. They make the pricing sound reasonable at first, but once they already have your stuff, random “extra item” charges suddenly start showing up and the total becomes WAY higher than what you originally paid.

The most ridiculous one was getting charged $140 to store a poster tube. Literally a poster tube with some cheap posters inside. When we complained and asked if they could just throw it away instead, they said the disposal fee would ALSO be $140. That’s insane.

They were also super misleading about pickup. They advertise “door to door” service, so we specifically asked if they were allowed to come up into dorm rooms, and they told us yes. Then on move-out day they suddenly couldn’t come upstairs at all, so we ended up carrying everything ourselves anyway in the middle of move-out chaos. If we had known that from the beginning, we never would’ve used them.

Customer service was also exhausting to deal with. It took so much repeated messaging just to get actual answers, and even then a lot of the information ended up being wrong. At one point I literally asked them, “Is this AI?” because the responses felt so weird and unhelpful.

Overall the whole thing felt really predatory toward college students who are stressed, busy, and just trying to store their stuff for the summer. Please be careful before using this company because the final price can end up being WAY more than what they make it seem like upfront.

My niece is attending Berklee in the fall. Looking to gift her something that might be moderately useful either for the college or Boston in general. Any suggestions from people who've attended?

hey guys I’m an international student currently in my Junior year at a US high school. I’ve moved and transferred schools twice during high school—I did 10th grade in Rhode Island and moved to California for 11th grade. I’m planning to apply Early Action to Berklee this summer, but my GPA is currently around a 2.8. I have my own original music (songwriting/composing), and while it’s not "pro-studio" level yet, it’s definitely not amateur or low quality. I’m really worried about how much my grades and academic standing will impact my application. Will I get screened out or rejected easily because of the 2.8 GPA? 😭 does anyone have similar situation beforee, im stressing the f out now because of the grades😭

I want to be a music business major without any doubt about it.

I have been accepted to both on campus (study abroad program in Spain) and berklee online. I wasn’t awarded any scholarships for on campus and given no financial aid with an appeal so I’d be paying for it essentially with fully with student loans, I’ve heard of students being given good scholarships while inside other than the thrive that I heard doesn’t cover enough.

I’m looking on advice on what to do.

Should I go on campus and hope I’ll eventually get enough to pay for the school? Or should I just opt for berklee online?

I was very excited to go in person especially with the study abroad program. Is it worth it?

I have essentially a day to decide so any advice helps. Has anyone had any luck winning decent scholarships while already enrolled?

Does it also really matter if I go in person for my degree, will I really be missing out on much?

Berklee guitar students, I am struggling to figure out which professor i should take lessons with in the fall. I’ve already take lessons with Norm Zocher and he was absolutely amazing, and I already know who a couple of the other guys are people like Sal Difusco and Scott Tarulli, but Jim Peterson has caught my eye. I love his playing style and I want to sound like him! The thing is, his rate my professor is horrendous. They say he is rude, doesn’t care about students and isn’t inspiring and will knock you down if you don’t do what he wants you to do. That is obviously not what I want going into a music school. I’ve already spent 2 years at a university and so far rate my professor has been pretty much dead accurate. If anybody has any suggestions for a PI, or even something to say about Jim Peterson if you’ve taken lessons with him, i would really appreciate it! I like to play Fusion, but sometimes I also really like rnb, jazz, and rock.