Davidson is my top choice for my D as well. It’s a really big reach for her, very unlikely. On a positive note, since it would cost us almost twice as much to send her there as the other schools to which she’s been admitted due to merit money she’s received elsewhere (and there’s no chance of that for her at Davidson), there’s a part of me that is just fine with her not getting in…
2 Likes
As you might remember I treat lots of dancers. The competition is nuts. I know I am talking to the choir here. They could be looking for a “type” also. There are so many talented kids out there. It could be almost anything. If it’s for a minor and you get accepted I am sure she can audition live once she’s there. Some of my best dancers will make one school and not another… Know kids at Juilliard, etc etc. Don’t beat yourself over this.
2 Likes
Headed out this weekend to see some schools! U Richmond offering info sessions and tours to admitted students so we will do that and then swing by Davidson and Wake as well. We have a friend’s son to meet us at Wake. Not sure if he can actually get her on campus but he’s meeting us for lunch just outside campus and we can at least see the area around campus and ask a lot of questions. We’ve been to Davidson but it’s been three years and we are planning to have dinner in the town and walk around campus. Maybe have D grab a coffee on campus and sit outside and people watch a bit. We had a student whose mom is a friend of mine lined up to walk us around but she had to cancel because she was exposed to Covid and has to quarantine now. If anyone out there has a student at Davidson who would like to meet us and give us a private tour, PM me!
I think D is a little gun shy to visit Wake and Davidson before we know her decision but it’s hard to pass up the opportunity since we will be so close. Richmond’s tours are only set up for February (right now anyway) so we couldn’t push the visit out to March or later. I wanted to go when the offer was open in case anything changes with Covid later this semester and they decide they will no longer host sessions and tours. If she is accepted to Wake or Davidson and they have in-person admitted student days, she can go back if she likes. Otherwise, knocking these out now frees up more time in April to see ay other schools she might want to see.
Pretty excited!
23 Likes
What a nice college trip! I used to live in Richmond. If you can, try to drive down Cary St through Windsor Farms, Carytown, see the James River, Shockoe Slip, and Shockoe Bottom to get a good feel for Richmond and then turn around back up Main St then turn right weaving across the old neighborhood streets in The Fan District over to Monument Ave and on the way back northwest towards UofR.
3 Likes
Thanks! Our info session and tour is in the morning. We will grab some lunch from somewhere our tour guide suggests and then maybe we can drive around Richmond. I think we need to start heading to the airport by 4:00.
There’s a great restaurant right by Davidson that makes amazing pizza:
Brickhouse Tavern
And by Wake Forest there is a restaurant “The Tavern” (don’t laugh) that is also good and VERY close to Wake.
1 Like
Thanks!!
We visited all 3 of those with D20 (and I applied to all 3 back in the day). Have a great trip, the weather is unusually nice right now. In Davidson, there is a Summit Coffee on campus and on Main Street. The Pickled Peach is also a favorite.
2 Likes
Thanks! Looks like rain most of the time. Boo! Some clearing on Sat afternoon but most of Friday and Sunday are rainy. Oh well. If she likes the campuses in the rain, I guess she will really like them without the rain! I’ll take the 60 degrees though. It’s been cold and snowy here!
With 3 completely different kids, their sports, and their varied college interests, I ended up touring over 50 college campuses in a 7 year period. From a pre-Covid campus tour, this is what I posted for Wake Forest:
I am so impressed with Wake Forest. No school pays more attention to detail and thinks about what really matters to the students and the university rather than just what is popular at the moment. They aren’t afraid to go in their own direction, but it isn’t just to be different. Although, I prefer older looking buildings (throw up some ivy and I probably would have thought it was older), the Wake Forest campus is laid out so well and it has a great college vibe. We could tell kids are very happy there and the university really cares.
The forest makes a nice boundary. Winston-Salem isn’t my favorite southern town, but Wake feels like a different world anyway. It has a lot of the advantages of a medium-sized liberal arts college with the bonus of the ACC conference. My takeaway was this college was designed, specifically for my middle child. Definitely one of my favorite tours.
2 Likes
Looks like Denison decision will come next week, the 4th. It was another safety and the closest to home. We haven’t talked about it in ages. It’s the one school on her list where she dropped the ball on demonstrated interest. She didn’t meet with the rep when he “came” to our school virtually and didn’t write the optional essay. We will see what happens.
Just as a quick recap - Dension coming next week. Wake, Middlebury, and Colgate maybe coming around March 19th/20th (if they arrive the same week as last year). And Lehigh, Vanderbilt, BC, and Davidson bringing up the rear during the last week of March.
6 Likes
Have a safe trip, I’d love to know your D21 impression of Richmond during Covid, I am not sure we will be able to make it back down prior to decision time. We visited Fall 2019 and really liked it. Unfortunately D21 was injured this fall so was unable to submit dance auditions, but dance offerings seemed solid there. Good luck!
1 Like
I agree that dance is solid there for sure. I’ll report back on our thoughts! Might be raining that entire day which stinks. Since we can’t go in buildings, there will be very little to no people watching if it’s bad weather. But at least she can see the campus!
Edited to add that Richmond during Covid isn’t great from what I’m hearing from the freshman we know there. Some classes in person but so many limits on everything else that it’s been hard to meet people and to join new clubs that aren’t virtual, etc. I’ve also heard from parents that quarantine food is really bad and some kids are just going home if they test positive. I also don’t think they are testing enough. BUT let’s just hope that Covid isn’t as big of a thing this fall!
1 Like
We don’t know any current students, but we ate in the dining hall on our visit, food was good and they were able to manage food allergies/celiac disease seemingly well. That is disappointing about quarantine food, but I have heard that over a lot of campuses, so not unique to Richmond. Dining options are important to D21 especially with regards to allergies. I hope with the addition of J&J vaccine, 2021 kids will be in good shape for the fall. Handling of Covid and relatively normal campus experience is definitely a factor in school selection. Take care
1 Like
Enjoy your trip with your daughter! Do you think you’ll have the chance to talk with any students on campus (with a mask/socially-distanced)? In an old thread someone said a good idea is to stand in the middle of campus with a map, looking lost, and then wait to see how people offer to help you out … probably works well in a normal year!
I’ll be interested to hear your impressions of each of the campuses and travel in general. It would be great if your daughter can find a school in a warmer climate if that’s still important to her. Some people really do thrive in a climate that’s better suited to them.
We are hoping to run into or talk to students at Davidson but we will see. The admissions office isn’t sponsoring any tours and have gently asked people to stay away so I don’t want to stand out too much so we will see. Still trying to reach a friend on mine’s D who is there. She could show us around. Plus, it looks like the weather might not be great so I don’t know how many students will be around outside. We will see! We have someone to show us around Wake if he’s comfortable going on campus. Wake has also asked students not to walk on campus. We do have an official tour at Richmond so we can hang around campus a bit after that but I don’t believe we can go in any buildings. It will be interesting for sure!
We’ve traveled a bit in the last year. Took S19 to Maine in August for his internship. D and my H took him back there again in January. So, we’ve all been on planes during the pandemic. I’m not really worried about that. I will report back, though, on whether it ended up being worth visits when we can’t get official tours. I’m just curious if D will have a strong reaction to any of the campuses - either in a positive or negative way!
We loved Main Street in Davidson. We met some students at the school’s bookstore on Main Street and they were super friendly chatting with us, very helpful to get a little insight from them. We had a great lunch at Davidson Ice House (My CA kid felt like she was home there with so many vegan/vegetarian bowl options),and hard to beat Whit’s Custard place a few doors down from it. Good luck.
3 Likes
I am so looking forward to your posts on Wake Forest as my daughter applied but has never seen it. We are waiting to see if she is accepted before we visit and appreciate your reviews of schools.
We had a great trip overall! The weather was crummy - 50s and rain/cloudy for the whole weekend. It was definitely worth it though. Not being able to see schools before applying is a problem and this trip confirmed (for us anyway) that kids need to get boots on the ground to understand a school. D thinks the virtual events are helpful, especially those with current students, but those kids are still chosen as ambassadors and prospective students might not be comfortable asking all of the hard questions via Zoom.
We spent a morning at Davidson after having a yummy breakfast in town. We visited before in 2017 but it was good to see the campus again. Students were on the field playing field hockey and the track team was practicing. We saw students heading to brunch. But, overall, it was a sleepy Saturday morning and we just wanted to get a sense of the campus again. It’s just as pretty as we remember it.
At Wake, we had a son of a friend on mine answer a ton of questions and walk us onto campus. It’s gated, remember, and they are not doing tours so we followed the path from Reynolda onto the campus on foot. Campus was so quiet. We heard that a lot of kids had left for the weekend and the weather wasn’t terrific so I guess the other kids were just inside - but no one walking anywhere at all. No one going to get food or to the gym, etc. We saw maybe two students on the whole campus during the two hours we spent walking around and hanging out hoping to people watch. It was super helpful to talk with the student and walk on campus though. Enough info for D to decide how Wake falls on her list.
Headed to the info session at Richmond the next morning. Each student got a personalized tour too and that was super helpful. We took a friend of our’s D out to lunch and heard about her experience so far. We came back and D wanted to walk around a little more so we definitely spent a lot of time on campus that day and saw more kids out and about. The campus is drop dead gorgeous. The campus feels very cozy with the buildings all nestled into the pine trees with lots of winding paths. It’s hilly but not too hilly and the lake is so pretty.
I know I’m being deliberately vague here. I will say that D knows exactly how she feels about each of these schools after this weekend but I feel a little superstitious about posting details until we hear about RD decisions. I will give a full and honest recap after we get all of her decisions in.
Sorry to disappoint but I will update soon!
18 Likes
Thanks for sharing your experiences! I agree 1000% about the visits and being able to catch the “vibe.” Some schools completely fell off the list for both D19 and D21 after visits, while others moved up the ranking. And, some on-paper awesome choices fall completely off the list for inexplicable reasons. It’s SO interesting! And, so cool when they find their place. In the meantime, we’ll be waiting with bated breath on your D’s decision; my money is still on either Richmond or Vanderbilt. 
Good luck in the home stretch!