My son is seriously considering Berklee for jazz saxophone and getting somewhat conflicting (or "misleading", I can't really tell) information about who his private saxophone teacher may or may not be for freshman year. I'm hoping someone with actual experience may be able to provide some insight into how it **really** works at Berklee for freshmen.
When my son was accepted, he got a "welcome and ask me any questions you have" email from someone in the woodwinds department who indicated that studio placement would happen based on auditions at the beginning of the year. He emailed (or called, I can't remember) that person, asking who potential teachers might be (the Berklee website lists 7 or 8 sax faculty) and got a rather puzzling "I have no clue and I'm not the right person to ask" answer. He then emailed the teacher who he would want and asked whether he was available to freshmen and, if so, whether it would be possible to schedule a lesson/meeting before the May 1st decision date. We live in Michigan, so clearly a significant trip. The teacher emailed back suggesting a lesson on a certain date, certain time, $150 an hour. My son inferred (perhaps wrongly) that this indicated that he would be available as a teacher assuming he accepted my son.
I was just about to buy the expensive last-minute plane ticket but decided to call the dept chair to confirm my son's assumption, in case he should maybe stay a few more days and meet other teachers. Got a completely different story from the dept chair, who directed me to a separate dept website that lists 14 saxophone faculty and told me flat out that there's no chance that the teacher my son wants would be available to a freshman, because the studio selection system has a seniority component that would rule out incoming students from getting a spot in the highly coveted studio.
I guess the obvious route is to "trust the system", and let the chips fall where they may -- and I'm really fine with that. I have this sense of Berklee in that it's mostly a mill, but if you have what it takes to be the big fish in the big pond, then the system will work for you. My son seems to want that challenge. My immediate question, though, is whether there's any value or advantage to be had in him going out there next week for a lesson. My "visits & auditions" budget is tapped out at this point but if there's any chance that it may ultimately influence the studio assignment, I'm willing to do it.
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