Not sure if this thread has been started yet so I thought I’d go ahead and start it. Like all of you, I have a kid who is just starting the whole college application process. It’s only September and she’s already a little bit stressed about it. So far, Davidson is her first choice. However, she’d have to get a scholarship to put Davidson within financial reach for us. She’s already been nominated by her guidance counselor for the Belk scholarship, so crossing our fingers that she is a strong contender for the scholarship. How are you guys holding up?
Daughter’s first choice and probably my last choice on her list. We can afford any of her schools she is applying to and made sure of that before she applies (didn’t want any guilt pressure to take out loans etc).
Lucky for me her chances to get into Davidson are low as it is a definite reach (32ACT 3.89UW gpa) no hooks,except we would pay about 41k/yr according to FAFSA ( 1 student in college already).
That is all that worries me is we are practically full pay. A Kenyon adcom said (paraphrased 2018 when we were there) “Schools claim to be need blind our data suggests that is simply not true. A family’s ability to pay does make a difference it is a numbers game these days!”
If she gets in I will fake a smile, pay the tuition, and maybe I’m wrong and will like the school, but that is a lot of ifs.
Good luck Belk scholarship would help a ton 
@emptynesteryet Curious why Davidson is your last choice for your D?
@wisteria100 – Here’s the thread where @emptynesteryet has registered his distrust with colleges, like Davidson, that emphasize honor codes. (Of course, there may be other reasons as well.)
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/davidson-college/2098250-honor-code.html#latest
Not a mod, but I suggest further discussion on the honor code topic take place there so that this Class of 2023 admissions thread doesn’t get off track. 
The adcom’s opinion is about the relatively few private schools; public schools are need blind.
S19 will be applying! Nominated for Belk and will apply for Pepper Art Scholarship as well. Of the schools on his list that offer merit, Davidson is his favorite. Long shot for merit though. He’s not applying anywhere ED, so we will be sweating it out in April!
Homerdog—hello! Looks like we have similar kids. I’m hoping I can get some advice from you. I went with my daughter to visit Davidson in April. She loved it and it is still her first choice. I know that Davidson goes to a lot of high schools to do the college “meet and greet” thing. However, we live in north central FL and there’s nothing close by. The closest meet and greet would be at a preparatory school in Tampa. Do you think it’s worth the long drive? I’d have to take her to school for a day and I’m reluctant to do that. What do you think?
Sorry. That last sentence should read that I would have to take her OUT of school for a day…
You might be able to accomplish what you want just by having her e-mail the area rep and explaining the situation. Davidson loves students who love them back, so your daughter going out of her way to find out more will make an impression. And you might not need to have her make the trip if they don’t think it’s necessary. My daughter is at Davidson and graduated from a prep school in Tampa - probably the one you’re referencing.
@LakeAlto If you already visited and had registered for that visit, then no need to attend the meet and greet if it means missing a day of school. But dropping a note to the rep isn’t a bad idea, and of course focusing on senior year grades and the Davidson supplements will be very important.
Thanks. Yes, she did register for the April visit and Davidson said that she would be getting an email from a regional reprsentative. But I think she never got it? She did find out who the regional rep was and sent that person an email about a month ago. The person emailed her back and said they would let her know if they were planning on being a little bit closer to our location. So that’s where it stands right now. She doesn’t want to email the rep again because she doesn’t want to seem needy. But I don’t know if the college representative is going to make an effort to come a little bit closer to Gainesville, Florida. Probably not. That’s OK. It’s just that my D has not made a personal connection with this regional representative at all. The representative doesnt know her and I don’t think they would advocate for her. I’d like to get her and the regional representative connected and that’s why I’m considering driving the distance to have her meet the regional rep. I’m still not sure if it’s worth it. But I know its so competitive, so I’m leaning towards taking her out of school for a day and going to one of these “meet and greet” events.
@LakeAlto Your D has shown interest by visiting campus and there is a Why Davidson essay on the app so make sure she uses info from her visit to answer that prompt. I don’t know what kind of meet and greet would be worth taking a day off of school. If there are many kids there, she’s only going to get a few minutes with the rep and they probably won’t be alone. The Davidson rep comes to our high school (in Illinois) so S19 met her last year and she told us to ask for her when we visited so we did that and she had a nice chat with our whole family. She’s coming back to our school next month and S19 will drop by again. He’s only emailed her a couple of times so I don’t know that they have a tight relationship, but she can put a name to a face with him.
@emptynesteryet I don’t think paying $41k makes you almost full pay. We are full pay and that’s more like $70k. Davidson is need blind anyway so financial aid office doesn’t talk to admissions and vice versa. That Kenyon rep probably made that comment because they are not need blind and, for some families, that’s a concern. She was trying to say not to trust schools that say they are need blind but she has no evidence that need-blind schools consider finances. Kenyon has to compete with the need blind schools so I’m not surprised that she tried to even the playing field by saying it doesn’t matter if a school is need blind or not.
I agree with @homerdog. I think your D can accomplish the same thing as a Meet and Greet by just emailing the rep at some point with a question. I do think the AOs of LACs like to hear from students who are really excited about their colleges and establish some rapport – but I don’t think they expect or even would want your child to miss a day of school for a brief interaction. There are other easier ways to connect with the college.
I disagree. Meet & greets can have very positive results depending upon whether your child is a "front office’ or “back office” type.
@Publisher Meet and Greets can be great. BUT, if there are a lot of kids there and everyone is just lined up to meet the rep, you get just a little time and you can just end up being one more face she met. When reps come to our school, you can get lucky and have only one or two other students show up for the meeting. Then, each student really gets time because those meetings are scheduled as 45 minute meetings. Lots of time for the rep to know two or three kids. There are other types of Meet and Greets where a few schools travel together and do short presentations and then go out to man their tables. In that scenario, you may have 10-50 kids lined up to make contact with the rep. They don’t remember those kids.
@Homerdog who knows about Kenyon she said it in front of 100 people or so in August 2018.
As far as us being full pay you are correct 41k isn’t 70k, but no skin off my back I don’t want her to go. In your situation I wouldn’t pay 70k for ANY UNDERGRAD.
@emptynesteryet Well, hoping for some merit at Davidson. We will see what happens. We’ve budgeted for full freight but have a very short list of where we may spend it.
I’m hoping the Davidson rep will come to a Gainesville. She has her school’s Belk nomination done, so I’d like to think that Davidson Rep would remember her based on that fact alone. But the rep has never met her, so cannot connect her face to her name. Also, I found out that the “meet and greet” events in Tampa are with the rep for South Florida. No events scheduled yet for North Florida, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be one really close by.
@LakeAlto just so you know, I think there’s usually upwards of 1000 Belk nominations so I’m not really sure how much of a bump that gives the kids. And her Belk nomination application has already been submitted! Wow! Not due until 11/1. God knows our GC is working on it but it certainly has not been submitted yet.