<p>I would think that the same West Coast lack of familiarity would also apply to other top LACs like Williams and Haverford. Here in GA, I doubt one person in a hundred would have ever heard of Pomona.</p>
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Here in GA, I doubt one person in a hundred would have ever heard of Pomona.
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<p>Much less Harvey Mudd. And I doubt that everybody you stop on the street in the Bay Area could explain the difference between Wellesley and Wesleyan. Look, if you want to go to a school whose name is prestigious on the West Coast, go to a prestigious school on the West Coast. If you want to go to a top-ranked LAC that will give you an outstanding education, then Davidson is on the list.</p>
<p>Davidson is my D's top choice (at the moment) - we are in Western New York, and only knew about it because we have a lot of family in the Charlotte area, I don't think a Davidson rep has been within 200 miles of where we live. However, they probably do some fairs, visits, etc, downstate, on L.I., and CT, so they get plenty of applicants from there. D has had a Davidson XC shirt for a while now, and she would get a lot of "where's THAT" questions when she wore it, but I guess after the basketball thing everybody is asking "so are you GOING there?"</p>
<p>Davidson is known in Arkansas here by educated people, but it just doesn't have the name recognition of schools like HYP, Vanderbilt, and Duke.</p>
<p>The elite know Davidson instantly.</p>
<p>Here in the NE Davidson is gaining in popularity. My favorite thing about the school---they do the kids' laundry!</p>
<p>Yes, Davidson has a national reputation that it didn't have ten years ago. Its always been an excellent college, just relatively unknown outside of the region. Now kids from the Northeast and other areas are taking a serious look at it and attending and the word is out.</p>
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I would think that the same West Coast lack of familiarity would also apply to other top LACs like Williams and Haverford
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<p>That doesn't hold true for Williams. I know many Californian hs students that applied to Williams and Amherst because those two really hold national prestige. Davidson's prestige is more regional.</p>
<p>Davidson is pretty well regarded here in eastern TN, and is known for its pre-med.</p>
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The elite know Davidson instantly.
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Oh dear. It's a catch 22, you see. If someone is truly elite, he would not know Davidson OR would think Davidson is a safety school.</p>
<p>Furthermore, what is elite? Is PhD from Stanford or Berkeley elite? If so, I'm telling you elite do not know Davidson in my neck of the woods.</p>
<p>neither Stanford nor Berkeley are highly regarded in our neck of the woods(Texas); they are considered regional schools(especially Berkeley)</p>
<p>Now you're just being a sore loser. Both are top 10 in the world and are not highly regarded?</p>
<p>it's all relative</p>
<p>Alrighty then, in relativity Berkeley and Stanford are regional schools to the Planet Earth. Davidson is regional to somewhere in NC.</p>
<p>hubbell- That is very incorrect. Both Cal and Stanford are VERY highly regarded in Texas! Maybe not so much in Victoria or Muleshoe, but certainly in all the business, professional and academic communities!</p>
<p>middsmith,
I don't think you are appreciating how regionally the USA parcels out prestige. HYPSM and maybe Duke are the only colleges that have true national recruiting oomph! After that, the local private and public college powers will have greater strength among employers and unquestionably higher name recognition among the local population. In Texas, places like Rice, U Texas, Texas A&M, even Baylor and SMU will have equal or higher appeal to local employers than would UC Berkeley. </p>
<p>UC Berkeley is known in Texas and the South/Southwest, but more as that place where there were student protests in the 60s, than as this elite college that students should be considering. Top professionals will have some appreciation for UCB, but UCB grads are a rarity in Texas. Frankly, most folks in Texas may not even know that UCB and Cal are the same place. Much the same could be said for a U Texas grad in California as UT is just not on their radar screens or in their media. </p>
<p>As for Davidson, it's not known in either of Texas or California unless you happened to be watching the NCAA basketball this spring. It will interesting to see if this spurs an increase in visibility and applications next year and beyond.</p>
<p>My d applied to Davidson as a safety recommended to her by her GC. She was awarded a scholarship but chose to go to Brown instead. We are in Southern California and up until that time I had not heard of Davidson College. When we visited my d loved it, small 1700 students, quaint town, feeling of overall safety, friendly student body/staff, etc., students spoke of the workload and difficulty of courses, having your laundry done, cookies brought to the Dorm Room. We were there duing the sweet 16 and the community involvement was inspiring and gave you warm fuzzy's. The cons were due to the small size they lacked some of the subjects/majors she was interested in such as Public Policy, I contacted some of the Grad Schools in Public Policy such as Georgetown, Berkeley, and Princeton and only the Davidson alumni at Princeton Grad School responded with knowledge about Davidson College....., she would also have been in the top 10% and though this might have provided opportunities for her, I would have to wonder about the challenge. All this being said it was a tough decision and I think any many ways she wonders if it was the right one.</p>
<p>Interesting choice of Brown and Davidson as the stereotypes of each are pretty different. Brown highly liberal and unstructured. Davidson pretty conservative and very fundamental in their approach. And Providence vs Davidson, NC (even Charlotte) is quite a contrast. Great kids at both, but am surprised, however, that anyone would use Davidson as a safety-it's may not be well-known, but it is a very good and rigorous school with a very talented student body.</p>
<p>hawkette, I was actively recruited and flown to Texas for second-round interviews at Texas-based firms Schlumberger and Valero...UC Berkeley was actively recruited by these Texas companies.</p>
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Frankly, most folks in Texas may not even know that UCB and Cal are the same place.
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This is true even in California...the general public is not that knowledgeable.</p>
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HYPSM and maybe Duke are the only colleges that have true national recruiting oomph!
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Only Duke in addition to HYPSM? Really? Recruiting from large, national firms takes place at all top colleges.</p>
<p>Her GC has sent many students to Davidson over the years and loves the school, "a hidden Gem". The GC actually represented Davidson College as a Safety for my d...that being said if you are in the top 10% of any college that college would be a safety for you. If you are in the lower 30 - 40 it is a reach. Neither being a reflection on the school.</p>