How good do you have to be to get into berklee school of music?

Question

Obviously people aren't as good when they go in as they are when they come out, but they have to know what they're doing.

About how many years of music experiance would someone need before considering them?

And what skill are neccesary?

Has anyone out there attended?

Also how would the requirements of different instruments differ? and different types of majors? (comopistion, perfomance, production,ect)

Sorry, I know this is alot of questions.

Answer 1

You have to be wicked good to get into Berklee.

You have to not only know how to play your instrument, but you have to be able to play in a combo and to sight-read.  And I think they make you sing and play the piano.  My old guitar player went there, he majored in guitar performance.  They had all kinds of majors.  Imagine people around you every day talking about music.  At lunch, at dinner, on the subway, everywhere.  Jokes about 2-5's.  Crazy.

Playing in bands around Boston, you can always tell who are from Berklee.  They all have this "well-polished shine," so to speak.  They all know how to comp really well, and they all solo really well, and they all communicate on stage really well.  But the point is, you can tell, specifically, when someone went to Berklee.  It rubs off on them.  Look at a list of Berklee players and you'll see what I mean.  

But yeah, you have to be all about your instrument to do remotely well there.  Which is hard, because Boston's such a fun city.

Answer 2

the chance of exceptance is about 34%, so its tough. you should be accomplished in playing your instrument and must be able to read music!! (a friend of mine earned a degree from berklee and three of his friends were rejected, as they could not read  a sample piece at the audition) these are the formal requirements, as listed on the webpage, but keep in mind that when they say the minimum of formal study is two years, they do expect more and by formal study, that must include more than just lessons from some old lady :)

Admission requirements for applicants include a minimum two years of formal music study on their primary instrument and/or significant practical experience in musical performance, a diploma from an accredited secondary school with satisfactory marks in college-preparatory courses, Test scores on either the SAT or ACT are optional while the TOEFL (for international students) is required. In 2007, a live audition was added as an admission requirement. This is a change from the school's open-admittance policy it used for many years. Berklee's acceptance rate for prospective students is now 34%. In 2003, Berkleemusic, the online branch of Berklee College of Music, was founded.

Answer 3

good enough to spell it correctly