<p>If anyone is an alumni or current applicant/student or someone who was deferred from one or more of these colleges could you please provide your input on them?</p>
<p>Input regarding what in particular?</p>
<p>Just a general idea of your experience with the school, i.e. admissions…</p>
<p>*I’m also wondering about Campbell and Union College (NY). </p>
<p>**I know that you can’t sum-up a college for me and that I need to do research and visits myself but I would like opinions from alumnis or those who were interested in the college but didn’t follow through.</p>
<p>Davidson - perhaps the best school for driven-smart-driven students in the South, incredibly well thought of by grad schools.</p>
<p>Elon - one of the best schools for engaged learning in the nation (ranked in many categories).</p>
<p>Wake - Good Old traditional southern school that plays hard.</p>
<p>Campbell - Not in the same academic category as the others.</p>
<p>Ok, thank you!</p>
<p>Davidson is the most selective, and the most prestigious in terms of academic rigor and grad school admissions, but Elon and Wake are well regarded as well.</p>
<p>Agreed. Elon is not well known outside of NC, but is gaining a good regional reputation. Really nice people on a gorgeous campus. Wake is a superb school and also has a good reputation for grad schools and professional schools. Wake does have a play hard atmosphere, but its not a party school by any means. </p>
<p>Davidson is blue blood and very Presbyterian, though many catholic scholars are finding it hospitable and tolerant. Davidson is very small. Its on Lake Norman and has a water skiing team. Not kidding.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong at any of these schools.</p>
<p>I think Elon is known pretty well outside of NC these days. I read a stat. recently that said only 30% of Elon students were from NC. There has been a big influx of students from northern states, especially.</p>
<p>If you are looking for info on admissions, Elon would be the easiest (although it is by no means easy to get in, I’m just comparing), followed by Wake Forest and Davidson. Have not seen Davidson, but Elon and Wake Forest are both beautiful campuses. Elon is about 5000 undergraduates - Wake is close behind - Davidson is a bit smaller. Elon has the widest array of majors. Elon puts a lot of emphasis on activities outside the classroom - internships, study abroad, community service, etc. </p>
<p>My older son was accepted at Elon, but chose Wake Forest. Nothing against Elon - he just thought Wake Forest was the higher ranked and more challenging school. But we love Elon - younger son will be applying there - possible ED. As previous poster said - you can’t go wrong with any of these 3 schools.</p>
<p>I’m a Wake grad. I love the place and would highly recommend it, but between Wake and Davidson with all financial factors even, the choice would be Davidson. It’s one of the best undergrad experiences in the country. Elon is a fast rising school, but not yet in the same breath with the other two. If you could be competitive at those three, I can’t imagine that Campbell would be on your radar.</p>
<p>LOL - Not being a Wake grad it would surprise no one that I would recommend Elon before Wake (But I agree about the conclusions drawn about both + Davidson and - Campbell). :-)</p>
<p>Are you interested in studying anything in particular? One school might have a stronger department than another, regardless of the overall ranking. It all depends on what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>One slight correction - Davidson is not on Lake Norman, but it does have a recreational site that is owned by the college on the lake (about 5 miles from the campus). As for the water skiing team, sure if that years students wanted one but they certainly sail on the lake all the time and run a camp for underprivileged kids there every summer. Davidson is in the small town of, you guessed it Davidson (about 25 miles N of Charlotte NC). The town has a very long history of loving the college and supporting the school. By tradition Davidson Students don’t do their own laundry (it’s true even today). But now the college does it instead of the local towns folk.</p>
<p>I didnt mean the campus was literally on the lake. But the campus is less than 5 miles from what I can recall, from the lake. The town of Davidson extends to the lake and the exit off of I-77 is literally on the lake. Whatever. </p>
<p>As for whether Davidson is better than Wake for an undergraduate experience, that depends on what you are measuring. Wake has the ACC and its sports experience is vastly superior to Davidson. For some, that is as much a part of the overall experience as the academics. Faculty to faculty can be a very close call. Davidson does enjoy a penache as being somewhat more selective in admissions, because its smaller and its an undergraduate exclusive program. Wake has a nationally ranked law school and medical school. Wake has a nationally ranked MBA program. </p>
<p>I tell people it depends on what you are looking for in a college experience. If my kid was accepted to both schools it would be a very, very tough call. If you are more of an academic geek, then Davidson might win out. But for an overall experience of academics, athletics, social scene and graduate/professional programs, then Wake might win out. It really depends on the individual and their personality.</p>
<p>Elon is a rocket ship in the school rankings…it is really making a lot of headway. Its not the old sleepy “christian school” of 25 years ago. The thing that impressed me about Elon was how really nice and supportive they are. They are also now Division 1 in sports and starting to make a name for themselves in football and basketball.</p>