My daughter has been accepted into the Commercial Voice program at Belmont (she’s also been accepted at Boston Conservatory, the Chicago College of Performing Arts, and Berklee). She’s a vegan, progressive, non-Christian girl. I’m wondering how she would fit in at Belmont. Does anyone know what the culture is like at Belmont for someone who doesn’t necessarily fit their mold?
My son is a fairly conservative Jew at Belmont. He is a commercial music major, percussion. He is happy there although he will be moving off campus for his junior year. I think there are all sorts of people at Belmont but your daughter has to be willing to live with some rules in the dorm. Other than that she will find her people.
My daughter and I toured Belmont yesterday, (for Commercial Voice).They seem excited to have a wide variety of students with different religious backgrounds and also stated that aprox 2/3 of the students are from out of state. Everyone we know there is Jewish. We did not see or hear anything that would prevent my daughter from applying there. They also have a beautiful new dining facility and said they have lots of vegan/vegetarian options. The line was so long at lunch that we decided not to eat there. It must be popular with the students.Congrats on all of the acceptances!
Thank you @Proudpatriot and @diglass. @Proudpatriot, can you explain what you mean by being “willing to live with some rules at the dorm”? At this time, my daughter isn’t a follower of any organized religion. She is also very liberal in her social views. When we were at Belmont for the auditions, they held a few presentations for the parents. They mentioned several times that the school is, first and foremost, a Christian School. That is absolutely fine. I am trying to get a feel for how the student body actually feels and interacts, versus the official stance of the school. I just don’t want to send her to a place where she is constantly the “odd man out”. She’s had enough of that in High School!
@BugMomCA my son was also accepted to both Belmont and Berklee last year. Ultimately, he chose Berklee. I think he would have been fine at Belmont but considering he sounds a lot like your daughter, Boston and Berklee is a much better fit for him. My son has a lot of friends at Belmont and they love it. I think I remember one of my friends sons telling me there is a curfew and no opposite sex in your room after 11. PM me if you want!
In the dorms visitors of the opposite sex must sign in/out and must leave by a certain time. The campus is also aggressively substance free including alcohol. My son loves it there. There is also a convocation program. I don’t really know the specifics of it. The schedule is here: https://mycampusapps.belmont.edu/convoSchedule/
My son does not feel out of place. One of his room mates is gay and is also happy there.
Packing up my Jewish son for tomorrow’s trip to Nashville – glad to hear the positives! Although I went to Berklee (a gazillion) years ago I really liked the genuine warmth of the Belmont campus. As a songwriter, I’ve spent lots of time in Nashville and know people of all and no faiths there and we had a beautiful note of reassurance from the dean for spiritual life at Belmont that our son would be welcomed and that any negative actions or words would be countered by his office and the community at large. I hope our kids find each other. And hope all of our kids have happy times, no matter where they end up. BTW, I’ve encouraged my son to connect with Hillel at Vanderbilt for services and social activities. It’s nice for kids to have somewhere else in town to go anyway and being that it’s such a big school, they must have nice resources.
Warning: not my experience, but that of a friend of mine. She herself is a professor in the b-school at an elite u, originally from Boston, now has lived in Chicago for 20+ years. Very “mainstream normal” in presentation, appearance, lifestyle, etc. She had a successful business career before turning to teaching. Sort of “average Protestant” - general belief in God, Christmas, Easter, etc. I say this to give you context for what follows.
Her son, interested in music, went off to Belmont. At parent orientation, she heard discussions of “sin.” A parent asked about homosexual relationships and was told “we have none of that here.” The parietals are apparently insane - you have to sign people in and out of your floor and leave your drivers’ licenses. Son is pretty low key but he could handle the religiosity, and wound up leaving.
I just heard this from catching up with her about a week ago. Just FYI.
@Pizzagirl why would you post this after seeing a Mom just talked about sending her son off tomorrow and is already a little nervous. Think before you post. :(. You are obviously not a Mom!
Sorry, I didn’t catch that.
For what it’s worth. I have to leave my Driver’s license at the security desk when I visit my daughter’s dorm in new york. This may be a normal way to for university’s to be consistent with security or head counts.