Davidson College?

[Anonymous]

My DD is very interested in Davidson college. Do any of you know anything about the school and its reputation vs. a school like Wake Forest? Is it very selective? Would love any feedback you might have. TIA!

[Anonymous]

We had not considered any southern schools...but then found ourselves interested in Davidson. After visiting the campus, that interest strengthened. It is a pretty, traditional campus in a very quaint town. Some good restaurants. Easy travel down there (by plane...it was well before Corona). They have what sounds like a well respected honor code (which appealed to my daughter). We did detect grade deflation though (which could be an issue depending upon your kid's future plans).

It is quite a selective school. If your child is planning to apply, tell her to keep up her summer reading. Their application has a question about that...much to my child's chagrin. Good luck with your decision.

[Anonymous]

Very good school but much different vibe and size than WF.
Davidson is a very small (1,800 students) liberal arts school. The #17 ranked liberal arts school by USNEWS.

Wake Forest is larger (8,116 students) and ranked #27 National University by USNEWS.

Both have tuitions over $55k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very good school but much different vibe and size than WF.
Davidson is a very small (1,800 students) liberal arts school. The #17 ranked liberal arts school by USNEWS.

Wake Forest is larger (8,116 students) and ranked #27 National University by USNEWS.

Both have tuitions over $55k.

Why do you people only cite the tuition figure on here rather than COA? Just curious. None of these schools are letting kids live off campus until jr year, if at all, and you still have to pay rent.

[Anonymous]

Tough admit and a rather involved application. The extensive and detailed counselor rec turned my big-box public school kid off. Counselor barely knows my kid's name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very good school but much different vibe and size than WF.
Davidson is a very small (1,800 students) liberal arts school. The #17 ranked liberal arts school by USNEWS.

Wake Forest is larger (8,116 students) and ranked #27 National University by USNEWS.

Both have tuitions over $55k.

Just to put that in perspective, it was #10 the year before. The ranking really got clobbered when they added the Pell Grant stuff into their formula.

[Anonymous]

Isnt Davidson known for grade deflation? I think there was an earlier thread on this.

[Anonymous]

I live and work in Charlotte, and know many Davidson grads. Their alumni network is TIGHT. I'm jealous of how they all seem to know each other and are always quick to recommend a fellow Davidson grad for positions. My boss is not only a Davidson grad, but worked there for 10 years. Seems like there's at least one person he crossed paths with at Davidson at every organization in this city--which means people pick up the phone when he calls, which is handy.

Students are smart, a bit intense, and self-selecting because they wanted that smaller liberal arts environment.

My org hires a couple of Davidson Impact Fellows each year. It's a program that places new Davidson graduates (so the fellows we have now started in June and graduated in May) with non-profits around the country. There's an internal process at Davidson they go through before they can apply to the outside orgs, so they're always really exceptional candidates. We've been really pleased with all the fellows we've hosted, and all have gone on to full-time employment elsewhere after a year or to grad school. It's an outstanding program.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend whose a professor there. She loves teaching at Davidson. She describes her students as very bright and and very creative and very engaged with their studies. She says "I love teaching baby nerds."

[Anonymous]

Very small town and campus but vibrant.
nice range of majors
No diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very good school but much different vibe and size than WF.
Davidson is a very small (1,800 students) liberal arts school. The #17 ranked liberal arts school by USNEWS.

Wake Forest is larger (8,116 students) and ranked #27 National University by USNEWS.

Both have tuitions over $55k.

Why do you people only cite the tuition figure on here rather than COA? Just curious. None of these schools are letting kids live off campus until jr year, if at all, and you still have to pay rent.

Good point. Davidson is over $70k a year not including airfare.

[Anonymous]

We visited as school counselor suggested it as a good fit (and was willing to support an application) and my son was interested in possibly playing a sport. Lots of kids are on teams and the alumni network/outcomes seemed awesome. Coach was awful, and the heavy vibe from the tour was very, very liberal which for my kid was not attractive. So it got crossed off the list. It was a pretty campus and like I said outcomes seem good, I can see it being a great place for some kids........just wasn't for mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited as school counselor suggested it as a good fit (and was willing to support an application) and my son was interested in possibly playing a sport. Lots of kids are on teams and the alumni network/outcomes seemed awesome. Coach was awful, and the heavy vibe from the tour was very, very liberal which for my kid was not attractive. So it got crossed off the list. It was a pretty campus and like I said outcomes seem good, I can see it being a great place for some kids........just wasn't for mine.

Where did he go? I thought Davidson has the reputation of being somewhat conservative for a liberal arts college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live and work in Charlotte, and know many Davidson grads. Their alumni network is TIGHT. I'm jealous of how they all seem to know each other and are always quick to recommend a fellow Davidson grad for positions. My boss is not only a Davidson grad, but worked there for 10 years. Seems like there's at least one person he crossed paths with at Davidson at every organization in this city--which means people pick up the phone when he calls, which is handy.

Students are smart, a bit intense, and self-selecting because they wanted that smaller liberal arts environment.

My org hires a couple of Davidson Impact Fellows each year. It's a program that places new Davidson graduates (so the fellows we have now started in June and graduated in May) with non-profits around the country. There's an internal process at Davidson they go through before they can apply to the outside orgs, so they're always really exceptional candidates. We've been really pleased with all the fellows we've hosted, and all have gone on to full-time employment elsewhere after a year or to grad school. It's an outstanding program.

Nice if you want to live in Charlotte, but who does?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live and work in Charlotte, and know many Davidson grads. Their alumni network is TIGHT. I'm jealous of how they all seem to know each other and are always quick to recommend a fellow Davidson grad for positions. My boss is not only a Davidson grad, but worked there for 10 years. Seems like there's at least one person he crossed paths with at Davidson at every organization in this city--which means people pick up the phone when he calls, which is handy.

Students are smart, a bit intense, and self-selecting because they wanted that smaller liberal arts environment.

My org hires a couple of Davidson Impact Fellows each year. It's a program that places new Davidson graduates (so the fellows we have now started in June and graduated in May) with non-profits around the country. There's an internal process at Davidson they go through before they can apply to the outside orgs, so they're always really exceptional candidates. We've been really pleased with all the fellows we've hosted, and all have gone on to full-time employment elsewhere after a year or to grad school. It's an outstanding program.

Nice if you want to live in Charlotte, but who does?

I mean, it’s one of the fastest growing metros of the past two decades so clearly many people...?