There are many Berklee Online Course Alternatives today. So why would you want to pay so much when you can learn the same things for a much lower price, or even FREE? Watch below, or read the transcript to discover what you get.
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Berklee Online Courses Video Review – Transcript
Hi how are you? You know I’ve taken a lot of courses in my lifetime. I was actually really bad in school but I’ve taken a lot of college-level courses since I left. Now what I want to talk about today is Berklee Online. And I’ve actually taken what’s equivalent to fifteen college credits at Berklee College. And I have myself a certificate that says you know, I have… Mine is called Music Theory and Counterpoint. And I want to tell you the reason I did this. These are not cheap because we’re talking about $1,500 for each… each three credits.
So today there’s a lot of choices online. You can go to Udemy and pick up some really fantastic things for, you know, sometimes the prices go down to like, ten dollars. That compared with what you have to pay for college then we have to, you know, evaluate, is it really worth it?
Why Choose Berklee
So, I’ll tell you the reason I did it and the reason that other people did it. So, there are actually three things I want to talk about. One is why I choose Berklee over other choices. Berklee Online I’m speaking about. The other choices are, you go to college – you actually attend college full time. And the other choices are the myriad of options that you have online these days. Even with YouTube you can get a lot of great free education online. And the other thing I’m going to talk about is, what it’s like taking courses at Berklee. You know – what’s my experience. I’ll tell you my experience. And then the third thing is, is it really worth it after I’ve done all this, was it really worth it for me?
The most [time] I’ve spent in an actual college is a year in England. And in this country I’ve actually gone through the process of getting an Associates and a Bachelors in Engineering in Thomas Edison State College, which is actually called Thomas Edison State University now. Perhaps you can just consider that I have a little bit of experience with taking these untraditional courses.
So, let’s get started with the first thing which is, why choose Berklee online as opposed to the other options? Well one thing, according to their website, it was suggesting that a lot of people take these online courses because they’re working a full-time job. And they come home and they can study. And they can… these days you know people have their own studios and they can learn lots of good things from really good instructors. The same instructors that teach the courses in their main college. So that’s where some of the students are coming from.
So, what you get, you’re getting accredited courses which, you can follow a complete degree course with Berklee now. Or, you could take those credits and use them somewhere else. So that’s one reason why you would take those kind of courses.
My Reasons
Why did I do it? Since about year 2000 I’ve been teaching guitar. I had no college music training. I did have classical training. And I played in bands in the past. And I was at one point considering getting some kind of qualification from the Registry of Guitar Tutors. Which is… Registry of Guitar Tutors is affiliated with the Royal School of Music or something in London, Royal College of Music.. one of those. Being registered with them actually did bring me some some students so I was thinking to pursue, you know, actually have their teaching qualifications. And what they required was in addition to taking their courses, was some additional music theory. So I wanted to get music theory.
Get the Best Deal
Now here’s the trick that I did. You know, when I took the courses, there were several courses available. Actually, my certificate program is no longer offered. They had a Music Theory 1, 2 and 3, which was part of one certificate. And then they had the Music Theory 1 and 2 and then the Counterpoint. I wanted to get 1, 2, 3 and the counterpoint.
Take the Self-Test- Skip a Level
So here’s what I did. There was a link that you can click when you go to the course for the for the second-level course. You can take this self test and it will grade you. It will give you a mark and if you get above a certain amount… I got like 85% or something like this. Then it says okay you can take the second level course. There’s nobody stopping you from taking it if you have or you don’t have this. I wanted to get this qualification with the counterpoint. So I took level 2 level 3 and the counterpoint together.
The other advantage of that is, it’s a little bit cheaper if you pay for all three at once. And [then] you decide, I’m going to take this certificate or that. You know, whatever program they’re offering. Some have 9 credits, some 15 credits or something. You can choose that. So that effectively eliminated 3 credits.
It wasn’t easy because of that, because I skipped that first level. There was some things that I could have, you know, I could have brushed up on and could have used in that that first course. Actually, I was able to get through. I got all A’s in those courses. Actually, I got A- in the in the Counterpoint. But I loved those courses.
Get Berklee Grants and Scholarships
Alright, so here’s how I got the equivalent of 15 credits. So, the first thing is, I took the self test, which I already mentioned. And the other thing is that you can apply for scholarships to take other courses. So I did that. In fact I did it twice. The first time it didn’t go through. What you have to do is, you have to ask a particular… you have to ask your professor, or professors if they will support you in applying for this grant.
And these grants are really great. And I want to thank Gloria Estefan who supported me. I mean she doesn’t know me personally and she probably has no idea who gets the gets the money. But a lot of artists support students at Berklee College and they have many scholarships. And I was lucky enough because I asked two professors. They both supported me. I got A’s in both their classes which really helped. And I asked them… you have to ask your professor, will you support me to apply for this particular grant. I think they have to actually apply for this for you. But I was persistent. The first time after I took the first course I asked and then nothing happened.
And then the second time I asked two professors I got $1,500 to spend on another course. So that was fantastic. So that’s how you can save money at Berklee College. I believe there’s a limit to how many times you can receive this kind of credit, but it’s something that’s really good to know about.
The only thing is here, you cannot apply this to courses you’ve already paid for. You have to take additional courses. So which is why I actually took nine credits and then I took another 3.
All right so I hope you find that useful if you do intend to take Berklee College courses. And these great people like Gloria Estefan – thank you so much. We are actually about the same age and I don’t know how she feels about somebody my age taking that course a couple of years ago. But I do appreciate, and I love her singing. And I love her daughter Emily’s singing too.
What Berklee Online Courses are Like
So, here’s what it’s like taking courses in Berklee. And by the way, I have no affiliation with Berklee. I’m not being paid to do this talk, but I’m very positive about the experience I had there. So, basically what you get is, you get your log in and you can log in and you see your course there. And every week the part of the course that becomes active for that particular week. And then the next week another part will become active. You know, there are quizzes and assignments and you have to submit your assignments on time. If you’re a little bit late they’re pretty lenient but the thing is you’ve got to submit them anyway, so you know just it’s better to keep with the schedule. You don’t want to get behind.
So I took those and I found everything to be very interesting. Now here’s the other thing that you get. They actually have online classes and also the instructor, the professor, is available usually for, I can’t remember if it’s once or twice a week. You can actually log in and speak with the professor. Particularly the counterpoint was excellent.
Interacting With Professors & Other Students
I could log in and there were certain things going on and the instructor, Beth, I forgot her name actually. But she was a really wonderful instructor. In fact all of the all the instructors I found to be really excellent and know their stuff. But this particular one was really beneficial to log in and to spend time going through things. She had actually some things that were not in the course, and she would go through and explain them and answer questions. And that was quite interactive and I enjoyed that.
So, this is what you get. You’re getting a structured course. So, you have to submit your assignments. You have to pass those assignments. If you don’t, I found the instructors are very good they’ll give you a second chance or maybe even a third chance. But through that process then you understand what you don’t understand. So they give you a second chance to resubmit things. And being able to do that actually helps you to learn faster than just taking a regular online course.
Is Online as Good as Real Classroom Lessons?
Now is this as good as the training that you would get if you actually were on campus at Berklee? I don’t think so, because I think [in] those classes there will be more class time. And there would be more interaction with the professors and the other students and you’re actually there. Although, at this particular time when I’m recording this I guess that there’s probably nobody there right now.
All the courses that I’ve taken in this country, I’ve been working, and then usually I’m studying at night time or weekend. I think, one other thing, if you do that then actually the benefit is that you really feel, okay I paid my money, I want to get my education. So that’s another incentive. That’s another reason to pay the big money because if you pay big money then you expect that you’re gonna have a big commitment. Otherwise you just wasted your hard-earned money.
And the other thing is status and how you feel. You feel confident because, okay I have taken, you know, I’ve taken my Berklee course so I feel like I’m, you know, at a certain level. So it gives you a certain amount of confidence.
Is it Worth it?
Now was it really worth it? I’ve gotta say yes. I’m gonna say yes. Another thing with the college courses with taking a college course like this; it forces you to study things that you may not have studied if you were just doing it by yourself looking on YouTube. You think, okay this is interesting, but that meh! You know, you have to go through the process and learn the stuff or you can’t pass. So that’s a benefit.
Bottom line is, you know, whatever you do in the world. Whatever you do, music or otherwise, if you can’t perform the thing that you’re supposed to perform, then nobody cares what kind of education you’ve got. But I’ve always found that when I take education I want to learn as much as possible, not just to get my money’s worth, but I just want to understand it and get the most out of the experience. And if you do that then you really benefit from Berklee and you also benefit from any other course that you take.
So having said all that, I’d like to say always try to stay tuned and I look forward to see… oh! And don’t forget to subscribe! Hit the button to subscribe. If you like it. put the thumbs up. And other than that, stay tuned and I’ll look forward to seeing you soon.