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.