Anyone have any experience with Belmont? It is my top choice school and want to make sure I have a good shot at getting accepted. Any info, tips, surprises, or any important things to know about admission would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve done a lot of research on Belmont and it seems as long as you have decent test scores and grades it’s easy to get accepted. Now the real trick is getting decent financial aid. Living in non-college housing isn’t an affordable option as rents around the school are very high (Nashville). So you will have to do room/board and that with tuition has a sticker price of $57k.
Its not hard to get accepted, its hard to get merit money. They give either 3K, 5K or 10K. To get the 10K you need a 4.0 GPA…My son got 5K with a 3.8 GPA and 1270 on SAT…oh, and Belmont does NOT superscore the SAT!
57K is WAY overstated as a freshmen, living in freshman housing with a 14 meal a week plan the cost I’ve projected is 50K But its important to know that the school is growing and expanding. That’s been expensive. They have raised the tuition 4.5% each of the last 3 years.
The general academics qualifications for Belmont are indeed average but as @MomsLastOne said getting merit money is getting much more tough recently. The presidential full tuition requires a 35 ACT / 1520 SAT to have a chance to interview and the 15k faculty scholarship that used to be a lock with a 32/1450 now requires higher numbers. The true reason money is hard to get at Belmont is that they don’t have a large endowment. They were founded in their current structure in the 1950s Their endowment is a couple hundred million dollars - where as school like their neighbor Vandy, founded in the 1800s, has a endowment of several Billion dollars.
The talent requirements are tougher for the most popular programs, The songwriting major turned away over 200 applicants this year. The Musical Theater and commercial voice programs are also difficult to get into.
Just watch Christmas in Belmont and you’ll see why.
How prevalent in campus life is the Christian foundation at Belmont? I went to a Baptist college but it mostly provided an ethical underpinning vs. Bible study and other religious activity. I’m wondering where Belmont falls on the spectrum.
Some of that answer is subjective but I’ll answer what I know as fact.
You have two required courses in Religion.
You’re going to have to be involved to graduate - there are convocation requirements for hours of involvement. For a Freshmen (0-29 transfer hours)
Category Minimum
Christian Faith & Tradition 10
Creative & Performing Arts 10
Society & the Arts of Sciences 10
Global Citizenship, Leadership, Diversity & the Professions 10
Community Service & Reflection 10
Wellness, Safety & College Life 10
Total 60
The president of the university said in April that “they have kids of strong, faith, little faith, and no faith attending the school and not all faiths are Christian. But the professors are all affirmed Christians and the students are treated according to the golden rule”
@JerseyParents For the full ride you need to have at least a 30. http://www.belmont.edu/sfs/scholarships/merit.html
@naturecreative That’s outdated information. I’m sure they will modify that page
after they process the 2018 freshman class stats.
Someone expecting a named scholarship with a 30 ACT will not be happy come Feb/March
@JerseyParents Do you know if all of the merit awards at Belmont are not true merit based or just the presidential full scholarship (which takes financial need into consideration, and thus is not a true merit based award)? The website is only clear about the full ride, not the others, but you seem to be a well informed Belmont Dad! TY!
@JerseyParents
You mentioned hearing about scholarships in Feb/March. Is that just for the big named ones? Do they let you know what merit you will be getting with the acceptance letter?
My daughter was accepted via mail and a week later received a second letter with her merit award. Hope this helps. She really wants to get into the songwriting program and is still waiting to hear on that.
How many of you did the Belmont optional essay, in addition to the common app essay?
Thank you @k02mama. My daughter just got her acceptance letter today. She’s going for secondary education & math, but loves the idea of being in Nashville.
@Momofmanytoo My D did optional essays for all applications. Her school has a college advising class and the teacher says nothing is optional.
Two years ago they offered the first merit money with admission letter. (not need based) then we waited until March to hear about the Named scholarships. Finally in April, merit money was added and the final complete picture took shape.