<p>If anyone has visited or attended Davidson, will you please give me some much needed info??</p>
<p>(environment, conservative atmosphere?, academics, reputation, etc)</p>
<p>What other schools are you considering.I'm familiar with Davidson.All the top college guides paint a similar picture of Davidson.The Fiske Guide to the Colleges,ISI's Choosing The Right College,Princeton Review's Guide to the Best Colleges,The Yale Insider's Guide To The Colleges,etc.
The campus is located in a small,affluent town twenty miles north of Charlotte.The campus is safe and gorgeous.It oozes prestige.I would not call the atmosphere conservative,but rather balanced and very,very serious about studying.Academics and reputation,especially among top flight grad and professional schools,rank among the best in America.</p>
<p>it is a very underappreciated school, and unfortunately virtually unknown outside of the south/midatlantic.
its stereotyped as very preppy, republican, and a work very hard play even harder atmosphere.
but the academics are top notch, and the students are very attractive to grad schools and potential employers.</p>
<p>davidson, wake, W&L were my three top choices. all of them more or less had exactly what i was looking for: beautiful campus, motivated/ ambitious student body, conservative to moderate politically, small class sizes (due to a small teacher student ratio), southern, and the "work hard, play hard" atmosphere. while of course each of them had pros and cons, i found that davidson's only real negative (which was enough to keep me from going) was that its social scene did not seem up to W&L's or Wake's. that is not to say that its social scene is bad; that is not the case at all--indeed, after W&L and perhaps Midd, davidson's party scene beats any other top LAC. the only other turn off i felt (and maybe i am totally off here, idk) was the "bible-belt"y protestant vibe i got everywhere on campus. i am catholic, and felt almost no catholic presence there. other than that, davidson is an excellent school and i would reccomend it to anyone looking for a top LAC.</p>
<p>one thing i forgot to mention--davidson's proximity to charlotte is an invaluable resource. charlotte is a progressinve, fast-growing town with everything in the world to do. W&L on the other hand is situated in a historic (quasi) colonial town an hour away from a sizeable town.</p>
<p>Davidson trip report with lots of comments/posts:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=149545%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=149545</a></p>
<p>As a student at Davidson, I would agree with most of what was posted above. Davidson does have a reputation for being conservative, but it is actually quite moderate, probably leaning a little more to the liberal size. Academics are fabulous, though difficult. The professors are amazing and always willing to help. As far as the affluence goes, there is a wide variety among the students. There are certainly very, very wealthy students here, but I generally don't think it stands out who is wealthy and who isn't. As a student from a middle-upper class family, I have never felt ostracized or different due to lack of money. Religious-wise, a decent number of students go to church on Sundays. I would guess maybe 50%, though that definitely could be off. There is a very active Catholic group on campus, and in fact I believe there are more Catholic students here than Presbyterians, which is a bit ironic considering the school was founded by Presbyterians. I would not call the school "Bible-Belt-y". As I said, the majority of students would classify themselves as Christian, but for most it is a private thing, and with the exception of one group on campus, there are few people actively trying to pursue people to become Christian. And, that one group is not large, and easy to ignore if that's not your thing. Few people have heard of Davidson, which the school is working to improve, but it is very well known in terms of Grad School and job placement. I love it here, and would be happy to answer questions anyone has.</p>