Smith or Davidson College?

[Anonymous]

Davidson is a wonderful school - our DD is so happy and has made wonderful lifelong friends. Her experience is so much more than we expected. The community is supportive and kind and the weather sure does beat Massachusetts. I'm sure Smith is a wonderful school as well, as you know. Good luck and let us know what she decides.

[Anonymous]

Davidson without question. It's an unbelievable school, both from an education and job placement standpoint, in a location far superior to that of Smith.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Wellesley alum with many wonderful friends who are Smith alumnae. Like you, OP, I would have loved to see my DD go to my alma mater -- or to another women's college -- but she really wanted a coed school. For her, it wasn't about finding a guy to date; rather she wanted to have male classmates and platonic male friends, and she wanted to be a part of a community where men and women students would work together and support one another. She just graduated and over the past four years I've seen that she made the right choice. I offer just one small vignette to illustrate this -- DD played a varsity sport and at her last college game in the NCAA tournament there were many, many members of the men's teams out there cheering on the women's team -- exactly the experience DD had hoped to have. OP, my advice to you and your husband is to let your daughter make her choice without undue influence from her parents.

[Anonymous]

I do agree with another poster who wrote that these schools are very different. Hard to imagine a person who would apply to both of these almost polar opposite schools and then have difficulty deciding between the two.

[Anonymous]

Im a Pp and would like to understand as ne why you call these schools polar opposites. They are both selective liberal arts colleges. That’s key. They both have strong alum networks. One is single sex. Are they politically different? Socially? Academically?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do agree with another poster who wrote that these schools are very different. Hard to imagine a person who would apply to both of these almost polar opposite schools and then have difficulty deciding between the two.

I don’t see how these schools are polar opposites. They are both small liberal arts schools not located in a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im a Pp and would like to understand as ne why you call these schools polar opposites. They are both selective liberal arts colleges. That’s key. They both have strong alum networks. One is single sex. Are they politically different? Socially? Academically?

I think some people are so prejudiced and ignorant about the south that they immediately come to the conclusion that there is no way these two liberal arts schools could be similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im a Pp and would like to understand as ne why you call these schools polar opposites. They are both selective liberal arts colleges. That’s key. They both have strong alum networks. One is single sex. Are they politically different? Socially? Academically?

I think some people are so prejudiced and ignorant about the south that they immediately come to the conclusion that there is no way these two liberal arts schools could be similar.

I wrote "polar opposites". I am not "ignorant about the South" as it is my favorite region of the country and I have had decades of experience there as well as in the Northeast.

I am familiar with both schools and have been for many decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do agree with another poster who wrote that these schools are very different. Hard to imagine a person who would apply to both of these almost polar opposite schools and then have difficulty deciding between the two.

I don’t see how these schools are polar opposites. They are both small liberal arts schools not located in a city.

You need to visit. If you think that Smith College and Davidson College offer similar campus cultures, you are probably unfamiliar with both schools.

If it helps, the overlap schools for Smith College are: Barnard, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, & Wellesley.

Overlaps for Davidson College: Wash & Lee, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Rhodes, and Duke.

According to College Transitions: Davidson College overlaps are Duke, Emory,UNC, U Virginia, and Vanderbilt.

On another college website, Smith has been referred to as "the gayest place on earth" and the former president of Smith College actually conducted a formal poll of then current Smith students asking their sexual orientation due to Smith's reputation as a lesbian school. Smith College had significant issues with student on student same sex sexual assaults several years ago that may have prompted the survey (in addition to Smith's rep as a school for a particular sexual orientation).

[Anonymous]

OP here--thanks all the helpful input. I'm sitting in our hotel room while daughter went for a jaunt around the Davidson campus without mom. We decided to take the last minute roadtrip b/c admissions has graciously arranged a private tour for us tomorrow morning with a theater major who happens to be working in the admissions office this summer. We have told our daughter that the decision is hers and hers alone, and hubby and I will celebrate whichever she chooses. Funny about the PP mentioning the thread with a boyfriend involved. Our daughter's boyfriend already told her she should go to Smith . However, it appears he is likely to be disappointed as daughter's texted me that she's pretty certain it'll be Davidson. It's likely we will be leaving a deposit before we depart tomorrow.

The Davidson campus is quite charming as is the Town of Davidson, and the weather could not be nicer. The campus was pretty active today--it turns out it was reunion weekend. We did find some students and young alums still on campus. We chatted with a few very friendly Davidson baseball players in town who were getting ready to leave for the summer. They told my daughter in no uncertain terms that she should pick Davidson. One directed us to Davidson's Lake Campus which we checked out on our own. Now that was a bonus! The Davidson Lake Campus is a lakefront recreation area on Lake Norman solely for the college community and even has a sandy beach w/kayaks and boats for the students to checkout. Smith has Paradise Pond but nothing like Lake Norman and certainly not the climate to go swimming in the fall and spring.

[Anonymous]

The boyfriend in the other thread was going to be at school in NC (unc-c) and the parents were afraid the daughter was going to chose Davidson because of him.

Is your daughter’s bf going to be somewhere in MA?

I chose Wake without one thought to the bf I was leaving behind. Which was good because he broke up with me right before graduation. I would have been so angry at myself if I had factored him in, stayed closer to home, and then that happened.

It sounds like your daughter is making the right choice for her, and yes, warm weather and access to a beach is a huge bonus!

Congrats to her

[Anonymous]

Is Davidson on the same level as Smith?? I didn’t realize that.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it has been superior to Smith for several years. Welcome to 2023!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it has been superior to Smith for several years. Welcome to 2023!

Usnwr has smith ranked #13 and Davidson #15 in liberal arts colleges

I would say that is pretty even

[Anonymous]

Paradise Pond is lovely for skating when it freezes!
Good luck to your daughter. She’ll have loads of opportunities at either.