<p>Maybe its a stereotype, but I always thought of Haverford and Swarthmore as pressure cookers, academically. Is Davidson like that?</p>
<p>We drove through the town and campus on our return north from vacation but it was a Sunday and the campus was very quiet. Our D (and us) were quite impressed just by what she (we) saw and she is now considering a formal visit next summer as she wants the Carolina area but isn’t sure about a smaller LAC like Davidson. She is in a college prep private high school so academic pressure would be nothing new to her. Do academics overpower everything else or is there a good balance of academics, social life and activities for the students?</p>
<p>I live very close to Davidson, so believe me when I say that it’s not really very Southern at all. Pretty much everyone that lives around Charlotte is a transplant from the North, or their parents were. I like to think of it as kind of a bubble (Raleigh is another) that’s separated from the rest of the state. It’s not really very preppy compared to other schools down here (Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Chapel Hill) and I think your daughter would fit in fine. Also, to answer the last poster, from what I’ve seen Davidson has a pretty relaxed atmosphere. It is definitely rigorous, but the students I know aren’t obsessive about their academics. I think an appropriate saying here would be “work hard, play hard”.</p>
<p>I’m glad to read these posts about Davidson. My youngest has just put it on her radar. bTW, my eldest goes to chapel hill and she and her friends aren’t preppy at all. My older D’s best friend from hs goes to Wake and she reportedly felt she “had” to join a sorority there to have any kind of social life.</p>