Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Family Orientation is intended for parents, guardians, and other individuals whom incoming new students consider to be family or meaningful systems of support. While the majority of Family Orientation is combined, there may be separate sessions for family members of students at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music. 

Our Family Orientation program is ever-evolving. Family Orientation is delivered online in advance of arrival via webinars, virtual drop-in question-and-answer sessions, our Family Resource Guide, and family newsletters. Families who participate in our virtual Family Orientation will have the opportunity to learn about Berklee from the people who are here to support your student. Families will learn about the student experience, the resources available to your student, and how you can best support your student in a safe, healthy transition to life at Berklee. Families who attend in-person Family Celebration events will have the opportunity to make social connections with other Berklee family members.

Family Orientation is optional; however, we strongly encourage parents and families to attend if possible. Webinars are recorded and can be watched after they happen. For families who are unable to attend our welcome celebration during move-in, we offer Family Weekend as another opportunity to visit your student at Berklee during the month of October.

You and your family will attend Family Welcome Celebration events while your student attends New Student Orientation sessions. There is no overlap between student and family events during orientation. For our virtual orientation webinars and drop-in question-and-answer sessions prior to the in-person orientation, both students and families are welcome and encouraged to attend and view the content. 

For families helping their student move in, we have in-person family events each semester. Events include receptions and socials, campus tours, a student panel, and more. Families who attend the in-person Family Celebration events will have the opportunity to make social connections with other Berklee family members. For families unable to attend, no new content will be delivered. Family Welcome Celebration events are optional and social. 

Convocation is a high-energy concert with welcome remarks from senior leadership and student performances. Convocation is held each year during fall orientation only. It is livestreamed and recorded for anyone unable to attend. 

Every fall, we offer pre-orientation programs including the Black Scholars Initiative (BSI), SOMOS Latinx, the neurodivergent student program, and more. Programs differ year to year. The overall goal of our pre-orientation programs is to foster a strong sense of community, support, belonging, and cultural understanding on campus. These programs kicks off a few days up to a week ahead of each fall semester. Pre-orientation week activities are for enrolled students. For more information, visit our Identity-Based Programs webpage.

No. There is no on-campus parking at Berklee. During orientation, we recommend you use public transportation whenever possible. If you're driving, we suggest you use one of the many designated public parking garages throughout the Back Bay area or park at a meter near campus.

Because many area colleges and universities start at the same time, we recommend that families choosing to stay overnight in Boston make arrangements for accommodations well in advance of the first day of orientation week. There are a number of options for accommodations near the campus.

We recommend that siblings accompanying parents, guardians, and guests attend only family events. We leave this decision to the families. Because our programming is geared toward guests with a guardian relationship to the entering student, siblings may feel out of place, but are certainly more than welcome to attend.

We are committed to welcoming and accommodating all entering students and their guests at our orientation week activities. Because some accommodations take time to implement, participants who require assistance in order to fully experience the week's events are encouraged to contact Accessibility Resources for Students and the Office of New Student and Family Programs well in advance, and we will do our best to provide the appropriate assistance.

We are sorry you won’t be able to join us, but we understand that many families have other commitments, and we have worked to make the orientation experience as accessible as possible. All Family Orientation content is delivered in advance via webinars, our Family Guide, newsletters, and virtual office hours, so you will not miss any information if you are unable to join us in person. We also have plenty of opportunities throughout the year to make social connections with other Berklee families in a virtual environment. 

All families of incoming students should automatically receive a series of five new family newsletters over the course of the three months leading up to your student beginning at Berklee. Our office receives each family's contact email address from Admissions. If you are not receiving these emails, simply let us know at families@berklee.edu, and we will add you. When the academic year begins, New Student and Family Programs releases a monthly family newsletter with information on things happening on and around campus, upcoming events and deadlines, and other pertinent supports for you and your students. In order to receive these emails, you must opt in by signing up for our mailing list.

You can refer to the academic calendar here to see important dates and deadlines for the current academic year. Students’ individual exam schedules will vary based on their course schedules, so we typically advise not booking flights until after the listed exam period has ended.

There is a misconception that all first-year on-campus residents live in the 160 Massachusetts Avenue residence hall. First-year students who live on campus can be found in every one of our residence halls. In fact, the majority of our residence halls have at least a 50 percent new/entering student occupancy.

Our colleagues in the Office of Housing and Residential Education offer a fantastic online resource to help with this. Visit Berklee's Off-Campus Housing site to search local listings posted by property managers, members of the Berklee community, and students from other colleges looking for housemates. You can search off-campus housing listings, create and view roommate profiles, compare your favorite property listings side by side, share property listings with friends through social media, and post to message boards for buying or selling furniture, books, musical instruments, and accessories.

Although the Berklee campus is considered safe, as are the immediate areas surrounding the campus, crime can still happen anywhere and any time. Maintaining your own safety is crucial. Public Safety staff members are on foot and bicycle patrolling the campus 24/7. On request, Public Safety offers a walking "safety escort" program on or near the campus. Our residence halls are secured by card access and staffed with security officers 24/7. If you have a safety or security concern, please call Public Safety at 617-747-2333.

Public Safety publishes an annual security and fire safety report that is meant to inform the campus community of the policies, procedures, and programs that exist at Berklee as they relate to safety and security. The report publishes statistics on a variety of crime classifications including robbery and theft. Additionally, programs designed to help prevent robbery, theft, and other crimes, along with Berklee’s procedures for responding to the different scenarios, are outlined in this report. We encourage you to download and read it, and to share its information with your student.

In general, be proactive, and take precautionary safety measures:

• Program the Public Safety emergency phone number into your cell phone.
• Trust your instincts. If something or someone makes you feel uneasy, get out or away from the situation.
• If possible, travel with a friend; there’s power in numbers.
• Attempt to travel in well-lit, busy areas, and avoid shortcuts through alleys.

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Whether your student is a first-time student or transferring to Berklee, they will be grouped with a small cohort of their peers and matched with a community connector or orientation leader (CC or OL). Their CC or OL will help them succeed socially while transitioning to Berklee and to the city of Boston. Berklee's approach will provide a support network, links to resources, and, most importantly, a connection to the caring Berklee community that your student is now a member of.

Additionally, there are many ways for your student to find a community of their own. Options to get involved on campus include joining a student club or participating in an array of cultural organizations. We encourage students to follow the @CampusLife Instagram or stop by the Center for Campus Life (150 Massachusetts Avenue, lower level) to explore the variety of opportunities available to them.

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Music education is what brings students to Berklee, but most Berklee students are interested in and benefit from engaging in music and other activities outside of the classroom. From student clubs and student-run enterprises to student government and a wealth of opportunities throughout Boston, you can get involved in extracurricular activities and an array of cultural organizations. There are also many health and wellness opportunities such as yoga, meditation, and fitness programs. For more information, check out the Center for Campus Life page.

Berklee has a variety of support services to assist students with their personal, musical, academic, and career development. Individual office information is located on the student life pages. The Office of Student Success Programs also maintains a comprehensive list of student resources and is available to assist all students in connecting with Berklee's various student support offices and programs.

Students are encouraged to launch their careers by utilizing the Berklee Career Manager, which incorporates access to internships, gigs, jobs, advising, and more from Berklee's Career Center and International Career Center.

Berklee's Career Center offers students a wealth of information concerning the diversity and growing number of careers available in contemporary music. Students are encouraged to think of it as their "career work center." Trips to the center should begin as early as the third semester of enrollment to become familiar with the tools and resources in the office and the terrific staff there who are willing to help. Internships are a wonderful way to explore professional opportunities, and the Career Center assists students in gaining professional work experience.  

Based on documented need, students are offered assistance through Accessibility Resources for Students to support a successful Berklee experience. Students may schedule an in-person or virtual meeting.

Professionally trained and licensed clinicians offer free, confidential counseling services to all Berklee students. Counselors provide short-term counseling or a referral to a community practitioner, giving students an opportunity to receive help with depression and anxiety, stress management, relationship and family concerns, sexual assault or harassment, substance abuse, wellness, crisis intervention, and any other concern impacting their mental health.

We also provide crisis on-call services, so if your student needs to meet with someone urgently, they can walk in and meet with someone Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. We also provide after-hours on-call services so that a student can speak with the on-call counselor by phone by first reaching out to Berklee Public Safety.

There is not a doctor on campus, but Berklee contracts with Tufts Medical Center. Many services are available at Tufts Medical Center, including same-day/next-day urgent care visits, and their goal is to provide the highest level of quality care for all of our students' needs. Telehealth visits at Tufts Medical Center are also available for select services and providers. Berklee is committed to ensuring ease of access to medical care to reduce barriers to quality care.It is important to know that Tufts Medical Center is not an emergency medical facility. Students should bring their Berklee ID card when they visit Tufts Medical Center. They will also need to show an insurance card before receiving care or filling a prescription. Additional information can be found on the Health and Wellness website regarding medical care for students

It is important to consider your student's routine medical appointments as well as unexpected medical situations. The details of health care and insurance can be puzzling. That's why we encourage you to explore and take the time to understand your health insurance options before arriving in Boston.

Massachusetts law requires all college students registered for at least 75 percent of full-time credits to be enrolled in a health insurance plan while attending school.

Should your student elect to stay with your family plan, there are several questions that they should ask your carrier:

• Where can I be seen in Boston for routine health care?
• Is a referral required for appointments? What is the process to obtain a referral?
• Will I need a primary care physician (PCP) in the Boston area?
• Where should I go for emergency care?
• What are the financial considerations (copays, deductibles, etc.)?
• How and where can I fill my existing prescriptions?
• Does this health plan include dental care?
• Are there any academic restrictions when using this insurance? For example, many companies cite that students must be enrolled in a full-time course load (at Berklee, at least 12 credits) in order to be eligible for coverage.

Make sure that your student carries a health insurance card with them at all times and has a list of important information (policy number, phone numbers for questions, websites for area referrals, etc.). We also recommend that they have a good contact person at their insurance company for reference in the future.

Lastly, if your student has chronic mental or physical health concerns, we strongly encourage them to secure a PCP in the Boston area before coming to Berklee.

Regardless of your health insurance selection, students should be sure to arrive at Berklee with the medication(s) they need. We recommend that they have prescription refills to last three months for medications that they take regularly.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ website, F-1 students may not work off campus during the first academic year, but may accept on-campus employment subject to certain conditions and restrictions. After the first academic year, F-1 students may engage in three types of off-campus employment:

• Curricular practical training (CPT)
• Optional practical training (OPT) (pre-completion or post-completion)
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) optional practical training extension (OPT)

Optional practical training (OPT) is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. For more information on this and other aspects of the F-1 visa, visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ website.