Davidson Best Value
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Anonymous
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Surprised Davidson was rated so high. Still a good school though!
https://www.kiplinger.com/article/college/T014-C000-S002-best-college-value-snapshot-davidson-college.html |
Anonymous
| Is it just me or does it seem like this school's stock has been rising lately? |
Anonymous
What do you mean? Davidson has consistently been a top 10 LAC for as long as I can remember. |
Anonymous
| How can a $70K school be a best value? |
Anonymous
needs based financial aid can cut that considerably. |
Anonymous
I'd agree. Ages ago in the late 1980s nobody from the Cathedral schools applied. I hadn't even heard of Davidson back then. |
Anonymous
no internet and no USNWR rankings then either. |
Anonymous
Fair enough. But it does seem like the school's national rep has increased, even in the past decade. Admit rate is less than 20%, so it may be a steal. |
Anonymous
That must have changed fairly soon after you graduated then. I actually know 4 people who graduated from the Cathedral schools in the 1990s who went to Davidson (& I didn't even go to NCS or Davidson!). |
Anonymous
Agreed. Was looking at colleges in the early 1990s and plenty of people were interested in Davidson. In those days it had acceptance rates around 35-40%, I believe. Which was considered competitive by LAC standards. It was known as a very good LAC and popular with upper middle class kids looking for a low key, relaxed atmosphere with better weather than the Maine LACs. All the top 25 or so LACs are just as well known today as they were 25 years ago. It's a self-selective pool, heavily dominated by upper middle class kids from suburban publics and private schools. |
Anonymous
Wow. 35-40%?? Even by the mid-'90s, the acceptance rate was much lower than that! |
Anonymous
| It's the poor man's Duke. |
Anonymous
I have to disagree with this. 25 years ago, most LACs were bastions for, as you mentioned, white upper middle class/upper class kids from U.S. private schools. They were not known for diversity, and their international percent was basically 0. Today, some of the most diverse colleges in the U.S. (https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/most-diverse-colleges/) are LACs, with 3 making the top 6! Some of the top LACs have at least 23% low-income Pell Grant students, as well as many low-income international/undocumented students who can't get Pell Grants. Williams has a whopping 90 countries represented among current students. At most top LACs, some 50-60% of students get financial aid. Not to mention the huge shifts downward in acceptance rate and upward in app numbers. The Common App and the prominence of rankings played a large role in the decreasing acceptance rates, but there's no doubt that LACs today are more well-known and targeted by a more diverse group of students than they were in the past. |
Anonymous
| Davidson also created what is known as the "Davidson Trust" about 10 years ago. It guarantees that any student who qualifies for need-based aid can obtain that aid without the use of loans---it is all grants and work study. There are several other SLACs that are also "no loan" schools. That has gone a long way to increase the diversity of the student body. |
Anonymous
| Yes, Davidson is pretty diverse. Here is their current profile: https://www.davidson.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/class-of-2021-profile About 30% are students of color and international students, and the majority come from high schools outside of the South. 51% got need-based aid averaging $45077. Testing and class rank are very strong too. |