Music School Central - College CounselingReviews of musicschoolcentral.com

Bill is amazing! My son will be attending his dream school, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music!!! When our son told us he wanted to go to school for music, we had no idea how to help him - our backgrounds are law and engineering, and the music school application (and other things he needed to do like prescreen videos and auditions) are very different from what we knew. We looked at all that is required from music school applicants, and realized we needed help with this process. Hiring Bill was the best decision ever. Bill is smart, helpful, friendly and he really connected with my son. Bill was with us every step of the way - he promptly answered all of the questions we had as parents and kept on top of everything, and most importantly, he took my son through the application process step by step - we did not have to worry about whether our son was on track, Bill took care of that. He broke the process down into stages so my son did not miss anything and the process was not so overwhelming, and kept my son on track with assignments so that each step was completed on time and well. He kept my son organized, and enabled him to get his applications done well and on time. He had a college flute professor listen to our son play and help my son understand which schools he should consider. Bill was so helpful with the essays - he helped my son brainstorm ideas, and then gave feedback on what he wrote. Bill was really there during the whole process - finding a topic for each question can be stressful, and Bill was so helpful during the critical brainstorming process. Bill took the time to get to know my son, he gives personal attention and was patient with our questions. Bill explained everything, had helpful information and truly cares about our son. I remember when we were just starting this process, and how overwhelmed we were. I'm so happy we hired Bill, he is truly amazing and our son is going to his dream school! He has our highest recommendation!!!

Our son is the first person in our family to study music, so we've had to learn about finding and getting into music school. Bill has been an effective partner for our family on that journey. We appreciate that our son could work directly with Bill without too much input from us. Bill understands the ecosystem and helped us separate signal from noise so we could work efficiently. Bill served as a project manager so our son could focus on specific deliverables. Our son got into his top school. He didn't seem overly stressed out along the way. We had a good experience and feel comfortable recommending Bill to others.

We quickly realized that a successful college application process into music schools required expertise we simply don't have. Two days after a brief introductory call, Bill produced not only a list of schools, but a complete application strategy, 30 days before the first Early Decision application was due. Our son got into his first choice school on an ED application to a prestigious school and starting overseas! We thought this school would be out of reach and might not have encouraged him to apply at all, but Bill understood exactly what they are looking for and that our son could be a fit. Without this knowledge we definitely would not have been successful, nor so well prepared. Bill knew how to motivate our teen throughout the process, provide positive feedback on essays and portfolio work, so much so that this has been one of the few school-related experience that the kid LOOKED FORWARD to, and I believe I saw him mature and increase in confidence working with Bill. Scheduling meetings was easy and paced very well to meet milestones and deadlines. I was more involved at the beginning to ensure nothing major slipped (we had 30 days for that first application), but then was able to leave the conversations to them with great confidence. It's a wonderful experience for a kid to know they did this (with THE BEST help) and on their own. It is fun to see our son SO proud when he received that acceptance... words cannot describe the joy. Thank you, Bill. We could not have done it without your help.

We had ZERO experience with music school applications and we had no idea how to advise our son. I am from a medical background and my husband is an architect. His first attempt at admission to a music composition program at the end of high school did not end in success. Mr. Zuckerman was critical to not only advising our son on applications to music conservatories, but he helped him grow as a composer. Music schools are very specialized in the type of skills they want to see in prospective students. Only someone with experience can guide an applicant to best showcase those skills. Mr. Zuckerman spent a lot of time listening to our son's composition portfolio and challenging him on how to make the pieces more compelling. After 2 years of community college and expert advisement by Mr. Zuckerman, he will be attending one of the top music schools in Europe with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music (and declining acceptances to multiple prestigious schools in the United States). I would say he is a better composer from the experience of working with Mr. Zuckerman. The investment we made with expert counseling paid off with our son’s musical growth and a great path forward for his education.

Our daughter has worked with Bill since 10th grade. He worked with my daughter weekly to follow up the structured schedule to prepare for the whole college application preparation. It includes how to prepare for trail lessons, audition and interview, how to write essays and how to communicate with professors. He also helps a lot in hand-on-hand proofreading and editing of my daughter's application documents. He knows almost every music school and helps us to decide what are the different levels of universities we should put on our application list. When my daughter has challenges in her stressful time, he always tries to provide good advice and sincere care about her study career and long-term well-being. We appreciate Bill's professional guidance in the application process and believe all his suggestions are very helpful. We strongly thought his consultation service is very worthy of the money and all my family are satisfied with his work. Even after my daughter was admitted, he still followed up with us and provided additional help. Finally, our daughter had a big success in admission (Eastman, Peabody, Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Miami, Indiana Univ) and got into her dream school with a substantial scholarship.

Bill helped our kid compile a list of schools for music production that also took into account several other requirements and interests which was not easy to do. Along with regular zoom meetings, Bill provided portfolio and application guidance and recommended an excellent music production teacher to study with during their senior year of high school. They ended up at their first choice school - the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel and were also admitted to Drexel's Pennoni Honors College plus they received a substantial amount of merit aid. They had a fantastic freshman year and are super happy at Drexel - everything has exceeded expectations.

We contacted Bill to help our son navigate the arduous and complicated process of applying to colleges for music production and technology. From our first meeting I knew he was the right choice. My husband and I, as well as my son were a bit clueless as to where to begin even compiling a list of schools that would meet his needs. Bill was so thorough in the types of questions he asked us. He really took the time to listen to each of us share what we wanted for our son. He was able to keep my son on schedule with all of the details involved in applying to music programs by sending him regular to do lists. In addition he recommended summer programs and courses which he felt would boost his application and auditions. Our son was accepted into his first choice school, NYU! I HIGHLY recommend working with Bill to help both child and parents prepare for applying to music schools and programs within colleges and universities. His background in music as well as his up to date knowledge of the school’s admissions requirements were invaluable resources for my son in finding the ideal university to fit his needs.

My name is Ruth Gerson. I am vocal coach and have worked with Bill Zuckerman for several years preparing students and supporting families through their college audition, application and portfolio processes. Bill is a joy to work with. He is a great person and great at his job. Bill makes sure students are organized, informed, prepared and on time. Each school is a little different. Bill knows and understand all the varying ins and outs of program application and audition requirements. He helps you make sure nothing is missing and there are no surprises. Bill is also extremely knowledgeable about music programs in the US and abroad and can help you find the right place to develop your talent and feel at home. Working with Bill relieves a great amount of worry for both students and their families and when you have worry removed - when you know everything is in place and you know what you are doing - then you are in the very best spot to do your very best. Bill makes sure you are fully prepared for your auditions so you can feel confident and nail it. This is why students who work with Bill make it into their top choices, including USC Thornton, Berklee, Frost, Belmont, NYU, UCLA and overseas programs such as LIPA. I often speak to parents outside of audition coaching. One and all have remarked that Bill is truly with you every step of the way and having him on their team has made all the difference.