Davidson: a bust?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to share some reflections on our recent visit to Davidson College. I toured with my daughter (junior at a very rigorous New England prep school), who’s a high-achiever academically and interested in double-majoring in math and history. Davidson has been on her list for a while due to its strong academic reputation and supportive community. Unfortunately, the visit left both of us feeling underwhelmed. The campus felt underwhelming and outdated, and the surrounding town lacked the vibrancy and intellectual energy she’s looking for. While Davidson may suit students seeking a quiet, sports-knit community, it just didn’t click for us. We were also concerned by the prominence of Patterson Court and Greek life, which seemed at odds with the academic culture she’s hoping for. Online several students mentioned difficulty getting into upper-level courses, especially in math. Ultimately, the outcomes didn’t seem to justify the cost compared to strong in-state options we have in Maryland. Any families have a similar experience? We've only heard the "pros" on this site and think we need to open this discourse!

So, you guys are not into regular America and/or very used to NE bubble. FTR, Durham area (Duke) isn't much better.

I disagree with this. Durham is much better actually.

Recently visited Duke and Durham. Durham is a sh*thole. Duke is fine and clean, but very segregated from Durham and everything outside the old part feels like a corporate campus. Didn’t care for it.

[Anonymous]

I found OP’s summary of her trip to Davidson one of the most pretentious and unhelpful reviews I’ve ever read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid attends Davidson, but I wouldn’t have recognized it from OP’s description. Run down? Not intellectual? Patterson Court/Greek troubles? Tight-knit sports community? It’s pretty much the opposite.

Davidson has a beautiful campus in a very cute, UMC, small town. Academics are rigorous - lots of reading, lots of class discussion, almost expected office hour attendance, tough grading, more demanding than my other kid’s top 20. Greek life is pretty benign - girls enter their preferences in a computer and selection is rule-based. Athletes are a smaller portion of the student population than at most NE schools.

Davidson may not be OPs school of choice, but like some other posters, I agree that OP seems misinformed or a troll.

Part of the campus is beautiful (the upper part with academic buildings)…but you can’t deny the Greek area is hideous.

It’s a crime those 70s suburban-style houses were allowed to be built.

Hideous? A bit hyperbolic. Ironically, if those Greek houses were palatial you’d be saying Davidson was Bama. Can’t win. We’ve toured a lot of SLACs and Davidson more than holds its own.

They are literally cheap 1970s suburban tract Greek houses.

Easily the ugliest Greek houses of any campus we visited anywhere.

Just strange they allowed those houses to be built in the style in which they were built. I guess it was the era when they were built and so what can anyone do about it now.

Is that really a reason to not choose a school? If so, that is really sad.

Davidson is a very good school. It is not in the very top tier. But it is good. Tens of thousands of kids in America would be very eager to go there and don't have a chance. It is only in the nitpicky world of DCUM where it is not considered good because it isn't Ivy quality. Sorry all of our children aren't over-programmed brainiacs. I don't want my kids going to school with the kids of people with this type of attitude.

It’s not…but PP made the claim the campus is beautiful which also isn’t a reason to pick it.

Why the offense to pointing out that it legitimately has some ugly parts as well as nice parts?

[Anonymous]

We enjoyed our tour of Davidson. It felt more “northern” culturally than most schools in the South, except for Emory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no skin in this game, just coming to say our Davidson tour was one of the top 5 of the 18 we did. There were 2 students and they were wonderful. In the end wanted a little bigger and super rigorous, but make no mistake Davidson gets a great cohort of bright kids. They are more intellectual on ave than the ones who end up at Wake or W&L and to a lesser degree Uva.
Davidson admits 5-7 kids from the private each year and 3-4 attend. The students who attend have picked it over Vandy, Gtown, UVA, swat, middlebury. The ones who get in RD and go elsewhere have picked Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford, Amherst, and UVA. In other words students who consider it enough to apply often are considering and admitted to highly academic schools.

Great school, but takes about 80 percent of kids who applies from our private (a few in top 20 percent in class, but most just in top half). Definitely way easier admit than any other school you named.

It’s a perfectly good school but I think this comment and OP’s observations get at the heart of the kind of place it is. It attracts pretty basic kids. Inoffensive, nice, not dumb, but basic.

Sounds like basically any school in the top 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found OP’s summary of her trip to Davidson one of the most pretentious and unhelpful reviews I’ve ever read.

+1
Troll post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found OP’s summary of her trip to Davidson one of the most pretentious and unhelpful reviews I’ve ever read.

Same.
For her daughter's sake I hope she's less pretentious, arrogant, and annoying but mom's description of her sounds like the apple likely has fallen close to the tree.

[Anonymous]

Davidson has always been after the HACK colleges and near-elites like Pomona, Swarthmore, etc. It is still a great place but you won't get the same name recognition as HACK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no skin in this game, just coming to say our Davidson tour was one of the top 5 of the 18 we did. There were 2 students and they were wonderful. In the end wanted a little bigger and super rigorous, but make no mistake Davidson gets a great cohort of bright kids. They are more intellectual on ave than the ones who end up at Wake or W&L and to a lesser degree Uva.
Davidson admits 5-7 kids from the private each year and 3-4 attend. The students who attend have picked it over Vandy, Gtown, UVA, swat, middlebury. The ones who get in RD and go elsewhere have picked Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford, Amherst, and UVA. In other words students who consider it enough to apply often are considering and admitted to highly academic schools.

Great school, but takes about 80 percent of kids who applies from our private (a few in top 20 percent in class, but most just in top half). Definitely way easier admit than any other school you named.

It’s a perfectly good school but I think this comment and OP’s observations get at the heart of the kind of place it is. It attracts pretty basic kids. Inoffensive, nice, not dumb, but basic.

Sounds like basically any school in the top 20.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The surrounding town lacked “intellectual energy”? What?

+1 I think that family will be very hard to please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found OP’s summary of her trip to Davidson one of the most pretentious and unhelpful reviews I’ve ever read.

Same.
For her daughter's sake I hope she's less pretentious, arrogant, and annoying but mom's description of her sounds like the apple likely has fallen close to the tree.

+1 Amen!

[Anonymous]

I know of an extremely talented young person who just passed on the best Ivys and took a full ride plus a small stipend and is going to Davidson.

[Anonymous]

Lovely how adults on this forum like to rip into kids. Attack the poster. Have at it. But leave the kids out of it.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know why people post as if their personal opinion of a campus negates the actual vibe and success of a school. First it was Richmond, now Davidson.

Just because they aren’t the right schools for some kids doesn’t mean others won’t like them or that they’re bad schools. This post about Davidson was particularly pretentious since they literally judged the students who attend and the surrounding area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to LOL at the posters turning this thread into a troll thread against great universities like Cornell, Vanderbilt, & Northwestern.

OP: Thank you for posting your impressions. I like Davidson, but another poster's description of the area of NASCAR McMansions is accurate and has been for decades. NASCAR is huge in that region.

Tough to criticize universities as they are large enough to offer a lot of variety and options so that almost everyone can find their tribe and match their interests . LACs are small schools accompanied by a dominant personality and are typically located in remote, isolated areas. If one doesn't click with the overall vibe of a small school, then it's not a match for that individual student.

It’s not only nascar it’s Trump idiots .
Davidson’s proximity to Lake Norman duesbt help. The area is full of just nothing intelligent

Your post is barely literate, but I'm sure you have the "intellectual energy" OP is seeking.