Dylan Got His Acceptance.
Last August, Dylan applied to ten colleges. He chose a few at random, but he’d visited nine of them and really liked six of them.
One college, however, stood out.
The first time Dylan visited Belmont University, he loved it. He wandered around it like he was in slow motion – staring at the gorgeous campus, climbing on things to get a better look, moving as though he had purpose.
Of the 87 campuses we visited in our initial run, Belmont’s 8,000-student campus was one of only two with a population between 3,000 and 20,000+. There was plenty of acreage to wander, but it wasn’t overwhelming. We could walk from one end to the other – but we weren’t done walking in ten minutes, either.
While we were there, an atypical fraternity met in the center of campus to get a photo taken, presumably for the yearbook. Belmont is a dry campus, which is why I say “atypical,” but they looked like a happy crew. They were all dressed in matching yellow shirts on a bright Saturday morning.
The frat photo was taken right outside of the bookstore, which I ducked into quickly. I was cold, so I bought a Belmont sweatshirt. Of the 87 colleges we visited, it’s the only time I bought something from the book store.
Nearly a year later, when Dylan was deciding which colleges he wanted to revisit during his junior year – which ones were worth officially touring and meeting with admissions – he only asked specifically about revisiting one.
“Which college was the one with the guys with the yellow shirts?”
“That was Belmont,” I said.
“That’s really the only one I care about,” he said.
Dylan wants a career in music. Belmont is the only college in the country that specializes in music degrees – but isn’t highly urban. Julliard, Curtis and Berkley, for example, are all in the gray hearts of huge cities. Belmont has a dozen or more degrees in music, and it’s located in the heart of Nashville. It’s got its own sprawling campus outside of the downtown area, and its notable alumni list is equally sprawling.
So we went back for an Open House day, where we were greeted by super-enthusiastic students all over campus. It was festive and fun, never phony, and the kids were bright-eyed and excited to be there.
The president’s welcome speech literally made me cry. The president described the atmosphere at Belmont, the students at Belmont, the mission at Belmont – and it was like he knew Dylan. Like he was speaking directly to Dylan, and not to a room of several hundred people. Dylan toured the School of Music and loved it.
We went back again, a year later. Dylan auditioned with the School of Music. Then we took a tour of the School of Music Business and Dylan loved that, too.
Dylan got his acceptance from Belmont last fall.
We celebrated, but we didn’t announce it. After all, there were nine other schools to consider. We didn’t want to jeopardize acceptance at his second-choice school, or any financial aid, by jumping in too fast.
Eventually, though, after months of consideration and plenty of wonderful options, Dylan decided to do what he’d hoped he could do all along.
Dylan accepted his offer of admission from Belmont University.