Music School Central - College CounselingReviews of musicschoolcentral.com

We learned about Bill's services through contacts and google search and worked with him throughout our daughter's 12th grade. Both my wife and myself have tech background so it was not easy for us to guide our daughter on pursuing her aspirations around Music Education. After working with Bill, she was able to get into one of her top choice schools with 100% scholarship. In addition, she also secured several alternatives with various levels of scholarships. This is highly attributable to Bill's coaching and planning through several 1x1 zoom sessions with our daughter. Specifically Bill coached our daughter on preparing for auditions, writing essays by highlighting her strengths and aspirations well, and provided a very methodical plan that made the college application process simpler. In addition, he also kept us in the loop by answering questions we had along the way over zoom calls making it simpler for all of us. Bill definitely has a well defined process and is exceptional in working with both students and parents around their capabilities and needs to produce the best outcome possible. His process is well defined, kept us informed, and had enough flexibility to address our unique needs. 100% recommend Bill's services for any aspiring music student to increase their chances of getting into top colleges. Thank you, Bill!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND BILL FOR COLLEGE GUIDANCE. We have two musician sons: our older son is a jazz and classical trombone player who graduated high school in 2023 and our younger son is a jazz saxophone player and choral singer who is graduating in 2024. We started working with Bill to help our older son during the spring of his junior year. At that time, we knew very little about the different music schools and the music school application process generally. Bill was amazing at “white-boarding” the entire process for us, reviewing our son’s qualifications and preparing a plan for him beginning that spring and continuing all the way through the submission of his applications and completion of his auditions. With our younger son, even though we had just been through the process the prior year, Bill was great at setting up a plan based on his specific skills and goals to take him through his own process. Bill introduced both of our sons to faculty at several music schools and university music programs during the spring and summer prior to their senior years. During this time, the boys met either in person or on zoom with these faculty members to learn more about their programs and take lessons. Both boys improved dramatically during the six months prior to submitting screening materials and also had the opportunity to develop relationships with these professors. Our sons got auditions at almost every school they applied to including USC, Michigan, UCLA, NYU and Carnegie Melon. We cannot recommend Bill any more highly for anyone applying to a music school or high-end music program at a traditional university. He is extremely knowledgeable about the process and the various nuances of the different programs at these colleges, and is immensely qualified musically to evaluate students to help them determine the right fit based on their skills and preferences. Bill is organized, thoughtful, and insightful about what makes sense for students both personally and musically. Our boys truly enjoyed their time with Bill, and as parents, it was a pleasure to have Bill working with our sons.

We HIGHLY recommend Bill if your child is considering applying to a music program. We were fortunate enough to find him through an internet search as we realized that, as parents, we had no idea how to help our son navigate the complicated process of applying to programs that require portfolios and much more than what is required for a traditional college application. We literally could not have done this without Bill. Our son is not classically or traditionally trained, he is self-taught and has a passion for music. He is interested in music production and technology. Bill absolutely knows what he is doing and went far above and beyond to spend time prepping our son, setting him up with several people in his large network of music professionals to draw from. He reviewed our son's portfolios while providing feedback to help him present his best self. Our son applied to only a handful of schools because his interest is so narrow and was accepted into 3 of his top choices. He chose Drexel which I know will be an amazing fit for him. Bill is extremely thoughtful, organized, smart, and helpful. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

In late 2022, our son explained to us that he was interested in studying audio engineering in college. The process for applying to university audio engineering programs has more requirements than less specialized majors. Based on a recommendation from a friend, we hired Bill in January 2023 to help us navigate the multi-step college application process required for audio engineering programs. With Bill’s assistance and guidance, our son was accepted to four of the six universities to which he applied, including an acceptance to his top choice school that also included a merit-based aid award. Bill worked closely with us and our son and provided very valuable assistance in the following areas: • An assessment, by a university music professor, of our son’s music playing skill level, Bill’s assessment of our son’s audio engineering ability; • Recommendations for a computer, audio software, a tutor for learning the software, and summer audio engineering programs at various universities; • Preparing a list of university and audio engineering programs for which to apply; • Assistance with preparing musical pieces and recordings for an audio engineering portfolio and drafting university application essays; • Assistance with completing and submitting the university applications; and • Suggestions for requesting merit-based financial aid. We had a very positive experience working with Bill and highly recommend his services. Trying to work through the audio engineering program application process would have been very challenging without his assistance.

I am delighted to express our gratitude for the outstanding services provided by Bill in securing a scholarship for my daughter at a prestigious music conservatory. From the initial consultation to the final acceptance letter, Bill’s expertise and dedication were remarkable. Throughout the application process, Bill demonstrated a deep understanding of the intricate requirements and expectations of the music conservatory admissions. He meticulously guided my daughter in selecting schools, filling out applications, preparing her for auditions and interviews, and helping us navigate multiple offers in order for our daughter to make her best decision for her future. I highly recommend their services to any aspiring musician navigating the competitive landscape of music college admissions. Thank you for helping turn our daughter's musical aspirations into a reality.

I can't begin to say how instrumental Bill was in helping my son to find the right fit school . He plays piano and flute and a class in HS called Studio Band helped to peek his interest in Sound Recording Technology. We, as parents, did not know anything about the field and were at a loss as to how to guide him . We found Bill through an internet search and decided to enlist his services. This was the best decision that we could have made for our son. Bill's expertise and guidance was reassuring every step of the way. He helped us to collate a precise college list. He was focused and organized in his stepwise approach to getting through the application and interview process. Bill was accessible throughout the entire process. My son is now thriving at his university and very happy with his choice of school . THANK YOU BILL!!!!!

Parents seek these services to help their kids, right? So really, the most important reviews come from THEM. After being accepted to ALL of his TOP FOUR choices, here is what our son had to say to Bill: "I'd like to personally thank you for all your help and guidance, and we definitely could not have done it without you. I'm now on the way to receive an elite education truly connected to my passion, one which in my junior year, I could have never even imagined. The outcome of this entire process has granted my life a secure sense of direction and purpose. I can't wait to pursue a life full of music and meaning, and you should feel proud of your help in making that happen." Wow. My SON is SO happy. We can't speak highly enough about Bill and Music School Central. Our son was accepted to the Thornton School of Music at USC, Belmont University in Nashville, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and the Berklee College of Music. USC wasn't even on our radar because it was such a long shot, and when Reagan got accepted, he felt like he couldn't pass up such an amazing opportunity. Bill's thorough approach to our son's resume, completion of the Common App, his pre-screen audition video submissions, the essays, activities list, in-person audition prep, and everything else - was top notch. I can't imagine that we would have been as prepared or experienced the same outcome without Bill's help. If I could give him 20 stars, I would!

Bill was a game-changer for us. We worked with Bill for 2 years after our son (somewhat surprisingly) chose to pursue music at the beginning of his junior year. Being science parents, we knew nothing about this extensive process! Bill was so much more than a college counselor - he functioned as a career counselor, music theory teacher, connector, strategy partner, project manager, audition coach, and sounding board. His collaboration was customized to what our son needed, rather than a pre-specified "package". The whole engagement involved excellent communication and affirming but realistic expectations. We backed off as parents and let our son take the lead in working with Bill, which built his ownership and confidence. Ultimately our son has ended up at a school which is a great fit for him, that we might not have even considered without Bill's input; his knowledge of schools and programs alone is worth every penny. The scholarships our son received in the end more than covered our costs. And even without that we would absolutely do this again - it's been a fabulous (bargain) investment in our son's future.