The Berklee College of Music
StudentsReview ::
The Berklee College of Music - Extra Detail about the Comment | |||||||||||||||||||
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Educational Quality | A- | Faculty Accessibility | B+ |
Useful Schoolwork | B+ | Excess Competition | A- |
Academic Success | B | Creativity/ Innovation | A+ |
Individual Value | A | University Resource Use | B+ |
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty | B- | Friendliness | A |
Campus Maintenance | B | Social Life | A- |
Surrounding City | A+ | Extra Curriculars | B- |
Safety | A- | ||
Describes the student body as: Friendly, ApproachableDescribes the faculty as: Friendly |
Lowest Rating Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty | B- |
Highest Rating Creativity/ Innovation | A+ |
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Major: Electrical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
I had a largely positive experience at Berklee. I was a Music Production & Engineering major, and I recently graduated this May.
While at Berklee, I was exposed to several different kinds of people with various lifestyles. I learned as much about life from my college friends as I did from my teachers and classes.
The classes were challenging. I enjoyed being able to take around seven or eight classes each semester. It was also nice to gain a solid knowledge of music theory along with my technical recording studio classes.
It's not all jazz. It is jazz heavy though - especially the way that the harmony classes are taught. It also seems like 90% of the performance majors are there to hone their jazz improvisation skills. While I was studying in my department, I was exposed to a larger sampling of musical styles. My production teachers never forced a certain "Berklee" style on any of my work. The only fault I would mention with my department (style-wise) would be that many of the older faculty approach production and engineering from a 1970s classic-rock angle. I was able to take a few classes from some of the newer faculty though. Those teachers brought a much more modern view of the music industry. The students I knew in the Music Synthesis department were heavily into electronic styles, and I knew students in the Film Scoring department that were more classically-oriented. Overall, there is musical variety - if you make a small effort to look for it.
The counseling center was great (for personal issues). They had walk-in hours, and they would set up weekly meetings with a therapist (if needed). I wouldn't use the CC for career advice though. If I wanted that, I would schedule a meeting with one of the professors in my department.
Registration for classes was somewhat difficult during my first semester (Fall '04), but all subsequent semester were easy since they switched to an online registration format. It was very expensive. The laptop deal is good, and the MP&E software/hardware bundle is great to have once you're out of school (…and away from studio A..). I'm also glad I lived in my own apartment slightly outside of the city. Most of the affordable apartments are rat-holes in Back Bay Boston.
If I had to do it all over again, the only change I would make would be to major in both MP&E and Songwriting. I had so much access to studio time in my last three semesters - it would have been the perfect environment to record my own material (in addition to my department projects).