Interlochen vs BUTI: Which Program Is Right for You?

Interlochen is the full multi-discipline arts campus experience; BUTI is a conservatory-intense music program embedded in the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood summer. For serious classical musicians BUTI's orbit is hard to beat; for multi-art-form students Interlochen wins.

Below is a side-by-side comparison of Interlochen Arts Camp and Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Programs. A blank row is a fact we do not hold — not a zero, and not a no.

Interlochen vs BUTI: the short answer

Our catalog had both of these at zero, and both of them charge — this pair is why the cost row no longer trusts that field. Interlochen Arts Camp prices by session length: $2,125 for a one-week Intensive up to $10,500 for a six-week session, plus a non-refundable $65 application fee, and the one-week Intensive is the single tier its financial aid does not reach. BUTI prices by the total number of weeks you attend and publishes all-in totals — tuition, room and board and required fees together — from $4,055 for two weeks to $10,205 for eight, plus an $80 application fee it will reduce or waive in cases of financial hardship. Do not compare those headline numbers directly: Interlochen's is tuition, with travel and personal expenses on top, while BUTI's already includes housing and meals. After money this is not a close call, because they are different kinds of summer. Interlochen is an arts campus in the northwest corner of Michigan that welcomes over 3,500 students each summer across music, theatre, visual arts, creative writing, film and new media, dance and interdisciplinary arts, and its high school programs take students currently in grades 9-12. BUTI is music only, in Lenox, Massachusetts, for musicians aged 14 to 20, and its students are given access to Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center concerts each summer. If you are a classical musician who wants to spend a summer inside the BSO's orbit, that is BUTI. If you are a dancer, an actor, a filmmaker or a writer, only one of these two is even an option.

Program details

These are the current details stored for each program. A blank cell means the catalog does not hold that detail.

Inside Interlochen

An arts campus in the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula with over 3,500 other students, where what you buy is a block of weeks — one, two, three, four or six, each priced on its own, and the one-week Intensive sitting outside the financial-aid system entirely. It is multidisciplinary by design: music, theatre, dance, visual arts, film and creative writing run at once, and the high school programs take students currently in grades 9-12. Not every program auditions, which makes Interlochen the more open door of the two, and the camp's own answer to "how competitive is it" is that there is no simple answer and students are not expected to be perfect. Aid is real and widely awarded — Interlochen says 85% of students who applied for assistance received it last summer, and that $5.1 million was awarded in 2025 — but it does not reach the one-week Intensives at all.

Inside BUTI

Music only, in Lenox, Massachusetts, just down the road from the Tanglewood Music Center. BUTI is a program of Boston University College of Fine Arts operating in conjunction with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center, and its students are given access to BSO and TMC concerts each summer, often studying with BSO and TMC personnel. The calendar is fixed rather than modular: the Two-Week Workshops ran June 21 to July 4, 2026 and the Young Artists Programs July 5 to August 15, 2026, and you attend the full duration of whatever you are admitted to. Everyone auditions, live or recorded. The published price is all in — tuition with room, board and required fees together — which makes BUTI look dearer than Interlochen line for line when the two figures are not measuring the same thing. Scholarships are the whole of the aid system, they are decided with your admission, and BUTI says plainly that not all students who demonstrate financial need will be awarded one.

Choose Interlochen if…

• I am not a musician. This is the whole comparison for most students. BUTI is a music training program; Interlochen's high school programs run in music, theatre, dance, visual arts, film and creative writing, so for a dancer, actor, filmmaker or writer only one of these two exists.
• I need financial aid, and I can commit to more than a week. Interlochen's aid covers Camp programs longer than one week, and it publishes what that means in practice: 85% of students who applied for assistance received aid last summer, and $5.1 million was awarded in 2025. Note the exclusion — the one-week Intensive is not eligible for any of it.
• I play a string, woodwind, brass, harp or percussion instrument and I need full tuition covered. Interlochen runs the Orchestral Scholars and Fennell Scholars Programs, a limited number of full-tuition scholarships for high school players on exactly those instruments, and says that to be considered you must complete your application by Jan. 15.
• I am not in high school yet. Interlochen divides Camp by the grade you are currently in and runs Intermediate programs for grades 6-8 and Junior programs for grades 3-6. BUTI's floor is age 14.

Choose BUTI if…

• I am a classical musician and I want to be around working professionals. BUTI operates in conjunction with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center, its students are given access to BSO and TMC concerts each summer, and they often study with BSO and TMC personnel. That proximity is the thing you cannot buy anywhere else.
• I just graduated high school. BUTI's Young Artists Programs take students ages 14-19 who have not yet started post-secondary coursework, and BUTI says that makes you eligible for the summer after you graduate, before college classes begin. Interlochen's Camp divisions are defined by the grade you are currently in.
• I want one number that includes housing and meals. BUTI publishes total attendance cost — tuition plus room and board plus required fees — from $4,055 for two weeks to $10,205 for eight. Interlochen publishes tuition, with travel and personal expenses left for you to add.
• I want to be considered for more than one thing. BUTI tells applicants that selecting multiple programs of interest increases your chances of admission, and lets you apply on a second instrument or in a second program area with a reduced application fee on the extra application.
• I have missed the deadline. BUTI says applications will still be accepted after the due date and reviewed on a space-available basis. Interlochen says the same thing in its own words: applications after Jan. 15 are reviewed based on available space and funding.

Applying to Interlochen

• Where the cycle stands: the application opens Sept. 1 in Interlochen's Education Community portal, with a Dec. 1 pre-assessment deadline.
• You register for an account at application.interlochen.org, and both you and your parents or guardians should have accounts.
• Programs that do not require an audition or portfolio enroll on a first-come, first-served basis starting in December; all other applications are reviewed after the priority application deadline on Jan. 15.
• The application fee is $65 for domestic and international students, non-refundable, paid at submission.
• For need-based aid you tick a box in the application asking to be considered, and are then prompted to upload your most recent tax return.
• Merit is automatic where it applies: students applying to programs that are two weeks or longer and require an audition or portfolio are automatically considered for merit scholarships, unless the family indicates otherwise.
• Neither kind of aid reaches the shortest option: need and merit-based aid are not available for the one-week Intensive programs.
• A limited number of full-tuition scholarships are available for high school string, woodwind, brass, harp and percussion musicians through the Interlochen Orchestral Scholars and Fennell Scholars Programs.
• To be considered for one of those programs, your application must be completed by Jan. 15.
• Admission decisions for programs that require an audition or portfolio are released March 1.
• What the committee weighs: each student's artistic skills, potential for growth, and overall social and emotional readiness.

Applying to BUTI

• Where the cycle stands: applications for the most recent cycle opened November 1, 2025.
• Notification is released before March 15, 2026.
• BUTI asks you to read its Frequently Asked Questions before applying.
• The application carries written and video personal statements, with the prompts published on the admissions page.
• One recommendation: you submit the recommender's email address inside the Admissions Application.
• The scholarship application is optional and lives inside the admissions application.
• Selecting multiple programs of interest increases your chances of admission.
• A second instrument or program area needs its own application, at a reduced application fee.
• In certain cases of financial hardship, a student may qualify for an application fee waiver.
• Money follows the decision: the scholarship application is submitted as part of the original admissions application, and students are notified of scholarship awards with their admissions decision.
• Asking does not cost you anything in admissions: applying for a scholarship does not affect admissions decisions.
• Aid is rationed: due to limited scholarship resources, not all students who demonstrate financial need will be awarded a need-based scholarship.
• One for international families to budget: non-resident international students may be liable for a 14% tax on scholarships offered through BUTI.

What this comparison cannot tell you

• The two prices above are not like for like. Interlochen publishes tuition and says additional costs vary by program, session length, travel needs and personal expenses; BUTI publishes a total that already contains room, board and required fees. Setting the headline numbers side by side will mislead you, which is why we label each one with what it includes.
• Interlochen's tuition page disagrees with itself about the year: the section is headed "2026 Interlochen Camp Session Tuition" and the table under it is captioned "Tuition for Camp 2025". Interlochen's camp FAQ lists the identical figures as "Tuition for Camp 2026". We quote both pages rather than pick a year for them.
• BUTI's figures are provisional by its own statement — subject to change pending final approval from the Boston University Board of Trustees — so treat them as the published rate, not a guaranteed one.
• Neither program publishes an acceptance rate. Interlochen says outright that there is no simple answer to how competitive it is; BUTI's admissions pages give no figure. Any percentage you find for either program did not come from them.
• Aid changes both sticker prices and neither program publishes what a typical family actually pays. Interlochen publishes the share of aid applicants who received something; BUTI publishes the range of individual awards and warns that not everyone with demonstrated need is funded. Neither tells you your own bill.
• Both cycles quoted here have closed, and neither program has published fees or dates for the next one, so read every date above as the last cycle's rather than the one you are applying to.
• This page quotes official pages and dates each quote. If a program edits its site, our wording can go stale before we notice — the source link beside every claim is how you check us.

Interlochen Arts Camp

Interlochen Arts Camp is the nation's premier multidisciplinary summer arts program, known for its outstanding instructors, vibrant community, and a beautiful setting.

Full Interlochen details, FAQs, and application link

Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Programs

Boston University Tanglewood Institute is a premier summer training program for talented young musicians ages 14 to 20, in the Berkshire mountains of Lenox, Massachusetts, just down the road from the Tanglewood Music Center — the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Full BUTI details, FAQs, and application link

Frequently asked questions