VALDOSTA — Dalton Johnson had no plans to attend college outside Georgia until last summer.

While attending the Governor’s Honors Program at Valdosta State University, Johnson began discussing college options with other participants.

He learned that several planned to apply to Yale University, the third oldest institute of higher learning in the country and an Ivy League school.

Their discussions prompted the senior to set his sights on the New Haven, Conn.-based institution and see if he had what it took to get in.

Johnson did, and this fall he will enroll in Yale College, the undergraduate wing of the sprawling campus that is home to more than 11,000 students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional schools studies.

The institution appealed because of the close-knit and laid-back atmosphere, he said.

The institution was formally chartered in 1701. The school was named Yale College in 1718.

“The academics are obviously very nice,” Johnson said. “But it didn’t seem very competitive at all and it seemed like everybody wanted to help each other.”

Johnson’s feelings about the college were confirmed several weeks ago when he visited the campus during an admitted students open house.

Though the visit coincided with the weeks leading up to finals, no one seemed very stressed and

 students were eager to talk to him and the other admitted students about why they should come to Yale, he said.

“It seemed like Yale wanted to supply the students with everything they needed to succeed,” he said.

Before the idea to apply to Yale began to develop, Johnson said he had contemplated applying to Emory University or the University of Georgia.

Johnson found out he had been admitted to Yale on April 1.

The irony that the acceptance information for Yale went out on April 1, April Fool’s Day, was not lost on Johnson or his mother, Beth Lind, she said.

In previous years, students waited nervously for a letter in the mail — the bigger the package, the better the outcome.

But in the technology age, Johnson did not have to wait for the postal service to come by his door. All he had to do was log onto the Internet.

Johnson’s admission to Yale was posted online at 5 p.m. on April 1, he said.

“It didn’t feel real,” Johnson said.

When Johnson pulled up his account, Lind said, a big blue banner rolled up on the screen that read, “Congratulations to the Class of 2014.”

“It took both of us a minute to realize what it meant,” Lind said. “I was so excited for him. It seemed like it just wasn’t real. It still feels like a dream.”

Though the application part was strenuous for Johnson, Lind’s worries began after the acceptance, she said.

She began to wonder how they would pay for Yale.

“When your child gets into a college like Yale, you can’t not send him,” Lind said.

Fortunately, Johnson ended up getting a great scholarship, she said.

Earlier this year, Johnson and three others were also awarded the John and Joyce Feazell Scholarship through the Lowndes Education Improvement Foundation for children of Lowndes County School System employees.

Lind is the principal at Dewar Elementary School.

Though Johnson said he is a bit nervous about moving away, he said he might attend a pre-orientation program offered by the institution during the summer.

The programs include a camping and hiking trip or spending time on an organic farm for admitted students, he said.

Following that, Johnson said he will move onto campus a week before school starts in late August.

Each college within the university surrounds a courtyard where students live, eat and socialize and have access to their own dining hall, library, seminar rooms, recreation lounges and other facilities.

Johnson will receive a catalogue this summer of all the courses that will be offered at Yale next year, but for the first two weeks of school, he will have the opportunity to attend as many classes as he desires and narrow them down from there, he said.

He sent in his application for Yale the day before it was due, as he wanted every minute possible to make sure it was perfect, he said.

Along with his application, Johnson had to send in ACT test scores, SAT subject test scores, a transcript, two teacher recommendations, a counselor recommendation and three essays.

With two of the essays, Johnson said he chose to write about his family and growing up in Lowndes County and the other essay had to focus on an extracurricular activity he participates in.

Johnson is a lifelong resident of Lowndes County.

His mother has been supportive of his desire to go to Yale, he said.

Lind said that when they started talking about colleges, he mentioned the possibility of applying to a couple Ivy League schools.

“My first thought was, Why not?” Lind said. “Dalton has always taken school seriously and he deserved the chance to try his hand at some of those big-name schools.”

The visit to Yale only confirmed Lind’s feelings that this was the right decision for her son.

“They really have a great system that offers a lot of support to all their students — particularly the freshmen,” Lind said. “I honestly am not worried about him going to school so far from home. The hardest part is going to be dealing with the empty nest, but New Haven is a great town to visit, so I’m sure we’ll go a couple of times each year.”

Johnson said his time at Yale could be spent studying in a variety of fields — economics, political science or even history.

The political field is interesting, Johnson said, but a career as a politician doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.

“I don’t think I want to be a politician and sell my soul to the devil,” he said.

Though tongue in cheek about a political career, Johnson was active this past presidential election as a member of the Lowndes High School Young Democrats.

Johnson became a member of the Young Democrats in 10th grade and has served as vice president of the club during both his junior and senior years.

“The decisions made by politicians, they affect pretty much everything you do,” Johnson said. “It’s good to have a voice in the chaos.”

Though not old enough to vote, Johnson said he and others were able to get other Lowndes County residents to the polls by knocking on doors during the election season.

“I’m not concerned with a career right now. I’m hoping college will help me decide,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

During high school, Johnson has been a member of the Georgia Bridgemen and a part of the Lowndes High Jazz Ensemble. He only recently returned from recording music in Nashville, Tenn., with the ensemble, he said.

The band has been a great part of high school, he said. The trips and the friends that have been made plus the music make it all worthwhile.

Though Johnson said he will miss his friends and family, he is excited about meeting new people at Yale and the possibility of learning under some of the brightest minds in the word, maybe even Nobel Prize winners.

The summer will be spent preparing for culture and climate change.

“I will have to buy a thicker jacket but less humidity will be nice,” he said.

Johnson, who will turn 18 this Saturday, is the youngest in his family, having one older brother and two older stepsisters.

As for Johnson’s Governor’s Honors Program friends all applying to Yale?

None of them got in, he said.

“They were supportive and the majority of them got into some very fantastic schools, but it was weird because they got into so many schools and just Yale denied them,” Johnson said.