http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html Life at BCM - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html You Don't Need Berklee College of Music. I graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2006. After taking out student loans because I thought that I would be able to pay them back with a job that I ... Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:57:41 GMT StudentsReview 562-58055 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 562-58055 562 26 Music - Performance Female Undergraduate Alumna Class 2000 Advice You Don't Need Berklee College of Music.

I graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2006. After taking out student loans because I thought that I would be able to pay them back with a job that I would be able to get with my Professional Music Degree at Berklee. After two years of trying to find a job anywhere I figured something out. Not only was a Music Job few and far between; and I live near N.Y.C. But unless you were one of the lucky ones that found a Music Job other than Private Lessons. Your degree from Berklee is useless in the real world. Nobody needs you to sing or play an instrument for 8 hours a day. So that leaves you with finding a real job. When you get out of Berklee all your most or all your skills are in Music. In the real world you need real skills such as clerical, book keeping, finance, etc., to get a job and pay the rent.
After Berklee if you don't have someone very close to you like a Mother/Father in the Music Business already it is near impossible to get a Music Job no matter how talented you are. And moving to New York City or L.A. is not going to help much if you don't have someone to bring you into the Music World.
My Opinion is if your thinking about going to Berklee College of Music DON'T! You can become a successful musician just by practicing and performing and promoting. Berklee is a waste of money and the skills you achieve at Berklee will not help you in the real world unless you have a close contact that will help you out in music; which in any case you don't need Berklee anyways. It doesn't matter if you went to college for Music. People in the real world won't care. A Berklee Degree is just as good as a High School Education. After Berklee you will be struggling to find any job to pay back your student loans and because you might only have music skills you might even struggle to get a job working at a restaurant.
For one or two people that were successful when they came out of Berklee they're are many people that have come out of Berklee that are not.
My advice is to try to go to a four year college and Major in a "Real World" degree like Finance, or Therapy or something that people will always need. Because they're are two many musicians that are out of work that need a job. When you get out of Berklee and you can't find work; trust me you might be working a job for 8 dollars an hour flipping hamburgers. And is that why you go to college and spend all that money? To work for 8 dollars an hour? College is supposed to get you jobs based upon your training and experience with higher paying salary and benefits. That's the point of college; when you get out you are supposed to find a job with a competitive salary and benefits. You go to Berklee; after you get out you might not be able to find that.
You might be a super talented Musician but if you don't have anybody to get you that magic job you will not be able to work as a musician.
I have a lot more to say but I won't.
Don't Go To Berklee College Of Music. The biggest waste of money and time I and many other people have spent. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:57:41 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html I never actually attended this school. I went to another school down the street for two years... and somehow, all (seriously, all) of my friends ended up being berklee students. This is what I have to... Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:33:11 GMT StudentsReview 562-56445 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 562-56445 562 53 Other Female Undergraduate Alumna Class 2000 Advice I never actually attended this school. I went to another school down the street for two years... and somehow, all (seriously, all) of my friends ended up being berklee students. This is what I have to say: out of my closest 15 friends who went there:

4 - dropped out (one after a year).
2- have a "song writing" dream but no real talent.
3- are in majors like composition and music therapy and have potential.

and 6 have graduated (only 2 of these are actually in a band that's gaining importance).

anyway, there's some food for thought. Most of the people I know who go/went there had a fun time but think it was pretty much a waste of money.

I personally think you should go to school for something you can make money doing while you simultaneously persue a musical career. Because in the end the main thing that got my two friends ahead was the connections of one of their band members and his daddy's money. The other ones with talent are now stuck working at coffee shops and book stores for $8/hr.

then again, who knows how things will go?
oh well, that's life huh?

Whatever you choose: Good Luck! Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:33:11 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html You get out of Bezerklee Pool of Mucus what you put into it. There is a 50% drop out the first year because frankly most of the people there are NOT musicians, they are posers. Berklee has a ver... Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:17:28 GMT StudentsReview 562-51197 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 562-51197 562 61 Engineering Department Male Undergraduate Alumnus Class 2000 Positive You get out of Bezerklee Pool of Mucus what you put into it.

There is a 50% drop out the first year because frankly most of the people there are NOT musicians, they are posers.

Berklee has a very tough 1st year which weeds out the wanna-be's.

DO NOT depend on this school making you a great musician. In fact, count on them ruining your style with too much thinking.

That being said, it is AWESOME for learning theory. Then walk away from the theory and let the soil of time cover the seeds, then the seeds sprout and you simply KNOW how to play, no thinking needed.

And DO NOT expect the degree to get you a job and place but Japan. ESPECIALLY in Boston.

Internships, networking, gigging out, connections are the key.

I was a so-so student at Berklee, but I understood the value of internships. And so I had a job even before graduation. The hot shot student engineer??? He was unemployed and had to go back to Germany.

My path at Berklee led me to where I am now. I didn't expect it, but I would not change it.

Good luck! Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:17:28 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html For perspective students, playing music is different from studying music, so think twice before you come to Berkleem or you will be lost.... Thu, 01 May 2008 11:53:18 GMT StudentsReview 562-46626 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 562-46626 562 25 Music - Composition/Theory Male Undergraduate Class 2011 1st Year Advice For perspective students, playing music is different from studying music, so think twice before you come to Berkleem or you will be lost. Thu, 01 May 2008 11:53:18 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html There more you give to Berklee, the more it'll give back. It is a fantastic school where the MOST important thing you learn is how to be humble. When people get to Berklee they arrive thinking the... Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:13:09 GMT StudentsReview 562-46537 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 562-46537 562 25 Music - Composition/Theory Male Undergraduate Class 2010 2nd Year Positive There more you give to Berklee, the more it'll give back. It is a fantastic school where the MOST important thing you learn is how to be humble.

When people get to Berklee they arrive thinking they are the most fantastic musicians ever. But then they find themselves surrounded by a myriad of talented people, and you really see how and why some people succeed in the music industry and why some don't.

Berklee is a contemporary jazz school. If you don't play any jazz you might still do OK, and also if you only play 40's be-bop you won't be the most in-demand player. But if you are versed in many different styles within the jazz idiom, and if you can open up to other things outside of jazz as well, you'll find yourself at home here.

I'm having the time of my life in this school and I am learning and applying things that at one point I thought were completely out of my reach. But then again, I spend 3 hours in a practice room every single day. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:13:09 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/MA/BCM_comments.html