<p>Davidson is no doubt an extremely small school. It is actually smaller than my high school. Don't the students get tired of being around the same people all the time? It just seems like it would be a sort of high school "gossipy" type place. Don't get me wrong, I am seriously considering this college but since I feel so restricted at my high school I'm not sure how I could justify to myself attending a small school. Any thoughts on the matter? I'm definitely applying next year and will do an overnight but does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?</p>
<p>Don't forget that 25% of the student population changes each year. It won't be the same 2000(?) students each year.</p>
<p>whoknows, I think you have pretty much asnwered your own question. For the right student, a small college can be a great choice, as I believe was the case for my own two children. But if you feel your high school is too small, then attending a small college may not be a good choice for you, no matter how excellent the college is in its own right. (My own kids attended a small high school so their LACs didn't seem so small to them.) At college, there may be a larger pool of like-minded peers than you have in high school but the absolute numbers will still be small. It might be a better idea for you to look in to some larger schools--say with 3,000 to 5,000 undergraduates. This would rule out most liberal arts colleges, but might make for a better overall experience for you in the long run.</p>
<p>Even though I didn't end up going to a liberal arts school (I was about two seconds from choosing Davidson though) I really never found this to be a problem. You have to realize that you are comparing high school and college. In most high schools you are often segregated into a group apart from the general school population such as grade (less inter-grade interaction) or ability (often AP/IB students don't get to interact with grade level or advanced kids as much and so their friends tend to be likeminded people in AP/IB courses). Think about it, the majority of people are friends with people they have had a class with at some point in high school (or carried over from elementary or middle school). Even at a small school like Davidson there will hardly be any of the same people in your classes until you get into the required classes for your major.</p>
<p>Hello whoknows,
I commend you for beginning to ask yourself some very important questions regarding your plans for college. I made some incredible friends at Davidson...but yes, students get tired of being around the same people all the time. A friend who was absolutely in love with the college expressed his frustration to me mid-way through spring semester that he just needed to get away in order to see some different faces and escape the hall "drama". This may have been especially true on my hall because we were all incredibly close. I found Davidson to be extremely gossipy. If you confide in someone, something happens to you, or you go to a party...everyone will know everything about what you said, did, etc. in a matter of days... I guess this is the nature of a small school, but I found my small high school to match the cliquey highschool stereotype less than Davidson. There are eating houses, religious associations, and rifts between subfree/non-subfree students that exacerbate the clique issue. You will make a close-knit group of friends you can trust...but in general, as with all small places gossip is always present.</p>
<p>BTW the student population is 1600</p>
<p>Wow, decisions2make, thank you so much for such a candid response. That was exactly my fear and that is the atmosphere I hate so much. I know that it works for some people, I just don't think it's for me.</p>