I’m applying to Davidson as my Early Decision. I would like to know everybody’s opinion of Davidson and if its worth ED even though I won’t change my decision.
Even though it is a very competitive and reputable school, it is not as well known in the United States as the other top LACs. It’s mostly due to its southern location and less endowment in my opinion. Where would you guys rank Davidson among LACs and among all colleges despite its “worse” location? I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Plus does the grade deflation at Davidson affect the chance to get into an Ivy League grad school? What’s Davidson’s reputation among top grad schools? Thank you very much!
@merc81 Oh of course, but what I actually mean is where would you place Davidson among LACs or all schools? Like top 10 or top 20? Or what LACs and national universities are comparable to Davidson academically? Since Davidson is not very popular on the Internet, I just want to get a better sense of what people actually think of it.
As an opinion, then, Davidson appears to offer a narrower curriculum than some of its peers (for example, no geosciences program). It would only be in this sense that I might rank Davidson a little lower than, say, some of its NESCAC counterparts.
@merc81 ok thank you! So as far as the program’s it provides would Davidson be considered one of the top among all schools? What college or university do you think is kinda similar to Davidson as a school? Thank you!
@merc81 That’s great to know. The academic life is very rigorous though. I’m chose ED with a 108 TOEFL and 2230 SAT(CR710, Math790). My GPA is 4.0 out of 4.0 because no AP is offered. SAT2 USH 780, AP WH and USH both 5. Mediocre EC, pretty good recommendations and fairly good essays. Btw I’m international and I know Davidson is not that diverse. What do you think of my chance?
@citymama9 Yeah it’s been consistently around that position for quite a few years. I don’t know why Wesleyan dropped to 21 this year though. USNews LAC ranking is not that reliable anyways.
This might depend on how you feel regarding disciplines such as computer science, geosciences and linguistics, or even dance, fields in which other, comparably-sized LACs may be considerably stronger.
@merc81 Yeah that’s true but I like humanities better than stem. I’m asking more like if it’s a reasonable choice considering admission rate and my conditions because I don’t want my ED to be too high to reach or too easy that I can simply get in via RD.
Btw, what are some fields and programs that Davidson is strong at?
An example of a very strong program at Davidson would be political science.
Academically, you would be within the top quartile at Davidson, and you have demonstrated significant interest. This would be appealing to the school, even in the RD round. However, similar factors would benefit you at comparably competitive colleges as well, so even if you forego ED, you will have attractive options. But, by all means, apply ED to Davidson should it become your clear first choice.
@merc81 Thank you for your explanation. For RD, I’m probably going to apply to Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Wustl(mostly due to no supplemental essay), Georgetown(not so sure since they are extremely selective at international students) as my reaches for national universities.
In terms of LACs, I’m will probably apply to Middlebury( no essay), Wesleyan, Colby, and Vassar(not so sure cuz they are very artsy and don’t really care about sports).
Do you think I have any chance to get into them through RD? And would any of those be a better choice than Davidson for ED?
I’m just wondering I am not changing my ED decision.