I am looking for advice for my son and our family - he is a class of 2020 and been accepted to Davidson College and received some financial aid (not merit, just aid). Also been accepted at a small lesser known LAC in PA called Washington and Jefferson that is lesser known and he received a nice Scholars merit award for about $23K per year. He can likely play D3 water polo at “Wash Jeff”, a sport he loves. Davidson has no club WPolo. It’s a tough call. Davidson would be more $$ maybe a first year cost of $45-47K then have to re-qualify for aid in following years. Washington Jefferson would be about $30-32K a year. We are looking again during April. He’s pretty undecided as to major as well - possibly Econ.
As a Davidson Alumnus, I can say that my Davidson experience was transformative. I know many people who attended schools with honor codes. I know of no one who self scheduled their final exams, had honor-bound close book take home tests, or libraries where you could leave your valuables for a few hours without fear that they would be taken. The course load is challenging, but as the college likes to say, it prepares students for lives of meaning and leadership where they will have a disproportionate impact on the world. I had the opportunity to experience D1 athletics while also having a seminar class that met on my professor’s back porch with three other students. While I was not in your son’s position of having to give up a sport that I loved by attending Davidson, I did discover a number of other activities that I didn’t know I would love while there. Davidson is special.
Now, as the parent of a middle school student, I understand the financial burden of a Davidson education. As much as I love the institution, I have a little worry about my kids wanting to go there. My only advice regarding finances is to double check the aid package that they have offered. Davidson has made a commitment to the Davidson trust which guarantees that 100% of a family’s need will be met without loans. That might mean work study, but “aid” should not mean loans.
Best of luck to you and your son and congratulations on his admission. It is not an easy place to get in to.
I would visit Davidson first; its location in the Southeast makes it a unique, top-tier LAC, though you need to know for sure if you like the vibe there as it is (imo) very different from Northeast LACs. If your concerned about liberal/conservative balance, here are my two cents that I got from my visit: though considered to be in the South, I’d say the political views are very mixed - to me, this is a good thing, it offers good discussions compared to some schools in the North or South that are extremely liberal or extremely conservative, respectively. However, on the downside, Davidson does have grade deflation. On my visit there, the faculty really tried to play it off, but it’s the truth, it’s there, and I’m glad that the students were very honest in saying most of them work hard for their B’s. So if your aim is to maintain a high GPA in college for medical or any other professional school, I cannot recommend it. However, if you want a challenging academic environment that pushes you to work hard, Davidson is probably a good place to be.
TL;DR - Please visit, don’t just take online opinions and make your decision, there is a difference in $ here and it is important to know you’re making the right decision based on a good gut feeling. It is simply not worth it to pay more $ just for Davidson’s rank - you have to love the school, not its rank.
Are there any other schools? That’s a tough call. This all depends on how much your son wants to play water polo and how much you can pay / debt your son is willing to take on. I echo the advice to visit - visit both schools, have him stay overnight, and attend a couple of classes, and talk to the students.
We’re going back to Davidson, Wash Jeff and also considering the University of Maryland (we’re in-state)…Maryland is very big and he’s always done better with smaller classes and coming from a pretty small class of 85 boys in an a private school.
We are visiting all 3 and hopefully can decide best course. I like the advice of having to "love Davidson’ and not just the rank.
Many people in the DC area you talk to don’t know it. They ask me where Davidson is - I cringe thinking how much $ it is without that much name-recognition but people that know colleges know Davidson.
Have you ever felt that the Davidson name or Davidson degree didn’t ‘travel well’, which means it’s not known outside the Southeastern US and cities like Atlanta, Columbia SC or Charlotte/NC ? I worry about the value proposition vs U of MD which is getting better known nationally. I also have a concern about the known issue of grade ‘deflation’ at schools like Davidson and W&L where kids are worked very hard to get B’s and some C’s vs kids at state schools applying to grad schools with 3.8 GPA’s out of college. I’m sure in-person at Davidson they’d not like to discuss the issue of grades. T
People who know colleges know Davidson. On your Resume, you would put “(US ranking: Top 10)” if you worry about recognition, but typically employers don’t care about the college’s name or rank, they want to see what you did with the opportunities your college offered.
There’s a HUGE disparity between WashJeff and Davidson.
Can you afford Davidson (without raiding the 401, HELOC, etc!)?
Is he in the Honors College at UMD?
Well, I did say "if you worry about recognition " and that employées didn’t really care. It may seem counter-intuitive to some, but I’ve seen this successfully used. There are various strategies for lac students to get around the lack of immediate recognition and the career centre at Davidson will have good advice.
Anyway employers who care will know Davidson.
He’s not in the Honors college at UMD - just regular admit. His scores really weren’t all that high. I think Davidson really looked beyond test scores at certain personal attributes and recommendations, to their credit, which large schools like Virginia and U MD didn’t do or can’t do because of so many applications.
And what we would be “raiding” if we chose Davidson would be more the 529 than anything. He’d have a lot less $ for grad school and we talked about that. Going to see Washington and Jefferson this weekend and he’s meeting with water polo coach. At MD there is strong club water polo. I understand the comment on the resume -that’s an interesting strategy and actually if done correctly, agree that it can work.
If you’re considering UMD as well, I would recommend going to one of the large lecture classes at UMD (maybe intro to something class), and just sitting in on it. It gives you a general feel of what a large class feels like, and if your kid is used to being in smaller classes, it may take time to adjust.
If you like LACs but prefer UMCP’s in-state prices, I’d have recommended a visit to St. Mary’s College of Maryland (the state’s public “honors college”). If you overlooked it and it has any appeal, you might want to call admissions, explain your situation, and ask if they still have any openings this late.
^ good suggestion.
If you have a 529 then it’s alright to use it for college and trust your adult child will figure out how to handle the next step. (if a PhD it’ll be funded).
There’s really a lot of difference in resources and opportunities at Davidson and W&J. (I know it and like it, but they’re not at all in the same category.)