Prior to Arrival

Before you can call Berklee home for the summer, there are a few important next steps for every registered Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive to complete. Use this page as your program checklist to make sure you have everything in place before you arrive on campus.

Immediate Next Steps

Prepare yourself to spend five weeks building your confidence on stage, taking your skills to the next level, and making lifelong friendships.

Step 1: Submit Your Tuition Payment

Before booking travel or completing the pre-arrival materials, pay your tuition deposit. Log in to berklee.edu/apply and follow the instructions under the “Next Steps” tab.

Step 2: Submit a Photo for Your Berklee ID

When you arrive at Berklee, we will issue you a personal Berklee Card with your photo for access to campus facilities, the dining hall (for students living on campus), and your online flexible spending account (with which you can purchase items at campus vending machines and receive discounts at local businesses).

Step 3: Plan Your Housing

If you wish to live on campus after reviewing your housing options, you must submit a housing application to Berklee Summer Programs. Aspire students ages 15-18 who elect to live on campus for the summer will stay in residence halls in the center of campus, at 150 and 160 Massachusetts Avenue.

Life in the Residence Halls

Living on Berklee’s campus is like being in a musician’s oasis, with easy access to practice rooms, performance venues, tasty food, and more.

Support from Berklee Students

There is no one better qualified than a current student to show you around campus and help you get to know the ins and outs of Berklee. Our undergraduate students offer peer mentorship to summer programs students as resident assistants throughout the summer.

Delicious Dining

Fondly called "the Caf," Berklee’s main dining hall offers a diverse array of dishes that are delicious as well as designed to accommodate various diets and food allergies/intolerances. Options typically include oven-fresh flatbreads and baked entrees, make-your-own stir-fry and noodle bowls, fresh fish, sandwiches, steamed dumplings, and much more.

Step 4: Submit Required Health Forms

We request the following health information from all students. Log in to your Magnus Health account and submit the following forms by June 1:

Immunization Form
Emergency Contact and Doctor Information
Student Code of Conduct Agreement
Medical Treatment Consent for All Minor Students
Counseling Consent for All Minor Students

Step 5: Schedule Your COVID-19 Test

The health and safety of our community is our top priority. To support this goal we require each student who attends a Berklee program to submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

Upon arrival to the program, all students need to present documentation of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test from within the last 72 hours. This is the process used to diagnose COVID-19. Learn more about how we are keeping our community safe through distancing, regular testing, and more.

Step 6: Complete Your Course Placement Assessments

As an Aspire student, you should complete three placement assessments so we can assign you to the appropriate theory, ensemble, and performance classes for your current level. If you are new to any of the topics, there is no need to worry. Each of you brings a distinct level of experience to the program, and we simply aim to learn about it.

There are two online tests and one video audition. Registered Aspire students will receive information via email with links to the online assessments.

Theory Placement

Shortly before the program, you will receive instructions on how to access and complete the theory assessment. If you do not complete this assessment, you will be automatically placed in the most basic levels.

Musicianship Placement

The musicianship placement assessment determines your placement in your musicianship class and covers topics such as scales, intervals, chords, melodies, rhythm, music reading, music dictation, and solfège.

Ensemble Placement

Record a video of you demonstrating your current skills for placement in private instruction, ensembles, and instrumental labs. For the video, we ask that you perform a prepared piece of your choice in a style you would like to study and that you demonstrate your improvisational abilities.

Step 7: Pack Your Things

Berklee provides the majority of what you need to participate in the program save a few exceptions (such as your instrument and books). What you bring with you to the program depends largely on what instrument you play. Below, learn more about the music equipment and academic supplies you will need to bring.

Bring Your Music Equipment

Except for drummers and pianists, students are expected to bring their own instrument. View additional information below regarding musical gear for certain instruments.

Bass

Acoustic bassists may consider renting an instrument from Johnson String to minimize transportation costs. Electric bassists should bring cables and foot pedals. Amplifiers will be supplied in ensemble and lab rooms. You may wish to bring a small practice amplifier for individual practice rooms.

Electronic Digital Instrument (EDI)

Electronic digital instrumentalists are responsible for bringing a laptop with Ableton Live already installed, as well as a MIDI controller.

Drum Set

Drummers only need to bring practice pads, sticks, and brushes.

Guitar

Guitarists should bring cables and foot pedals. Amplifiers will be supplied in ensemble and lab rooms. You may wish to bring a small practice amplifier for individual practice rooms.

Keyboard

Keyboardists who wish to bring a synthesizer for ensemble purposes may do so. Piano/keyboard principals will take their private lessons on an acoustic piano.

Voice

Vocalists are required to bring a low-impedance microphone and cord. Due to COVID restrictions, Berklee cannot provide microphones for vocalists to borrow.

Property Insurance Policy

The college insures only its own property against loss. It does not insure against nor reimburse the loss, from any cause, of student property. It is strongly suggested that students who possess property of value, such as an instrument, insure against loss through their own insurance company. In most cases, instrument insurance can be obtained by attaching a floater to a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy. International students are likely to experience some difficulty in establishing a policy in the United States, and are encouraged to secure instrument coverage in their home country.

Instrument Storage

Only acoustic bassists may use the storage lockers on campus. Berklee cannot accommodate storage for any other type of instrument.

Get Your Academic Supplies

You will need learning materials such as course workbooks, sheet music, and various study supplies. Workbooks for your Aspire program courses, as well as electronics, swag, and various other supplies for Berklee students, are available at the Berklee Bookstore, which is located near the center of campus.

Next, learn about what to expect when you arrive to campus .

Main Site

Campuses and Schools

Student Guide to Aspire