Got Questions about Davidson?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Davidson College
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I thought I'd bring the Davidson section back to life!! Cause I know that there's got to be prospective Wildcats out there. Last year at this time, I was browsing these forums for any information I could find. I know I would have been disappointed if a school hadn't been updated in forever.
Anyway, I'm an incoming freshman at Davidson and would definitely be willing to answer any questions that prospective students have. As the year progresses, I will be able to answer questions about student life, etc. But right now I can answer anything regarding why I chose Davidson, my visit, my impressions of its life, the application process and what Davidson looks for, and their helpfulness to incoming freshman/orientation/Odyssey. But no chance questions please; I'm not a genie, and the application is very subjective anyway. </p>

<p>So ask away if you'd like! :)</p>

2

<p>Hi, I’m considering to apply to Davidson this year.
Firstly what do you think is the most important factor that Davidson’s adcom want to see in an applicant? @.@
And on a more personal note, what made you choose Davidson? :smiley:
Thank you very much :)</p>

3

<p>Hi! :slight_smile: I’m so glad you’re considering Davidson.<br>
Davidson’s admissions committee has a 5 point scale that they use to evaluate an applicant. 1: Rigor of courses. 2: Success in those courses. 3: Essays. 4: Personality, extracurriculars, etc. 5: Testing. So, most importantly, take the hardest classes you can and do well in your classes. But also note that Davidson is SO not just about numbers. They really take the essays seriously. They love reading the Common App essay and seeing unique ones. When I visited, the admissions counselor told me her favorite essay was one that a girl wrote about her love of peanut butter. Mine was about my love of rhinestones. Now, these are sort of silly topics, but they were serious in execution and showed our personalities. Davidson wants to know who you are and if you are a good fit for the school. Then there’s their supplement, which many interpret as merely a “Why I can follow the honor code” essay. But again, it’s all about showcasing that you are the perfect fit for the school! If you can’t visit, request information, e-mail people, go to a reception in your area. They love seeing interest, too.</p>

<p>Why I chose Davidson: Fun fact-Davidson is the only college besides the Army that offers free laundry service. Drop it off and they’ll return it to you, folded in a paper bag. That’s it.</p>

<p>Just kidding. Sort of. Anyway, I applied to 11 schools regular decision, no early action or decision. I received most of my acceptance letters on the same day. I got 9 acceptances (Bates, Colby, Colgate, Holy Cross, Occidental, Pitzer, Washington and Lee, William and Mary) and made my choice in about 2 minutes. The answer to why I chose Davidson is simply that it fits me the best, and it can offer me the best educational, extracurricular, and social life for my own personal needs. I visited the Davidson campus in June of 2010 when I was an incoming senior. I felt like Davidson really was a community. People came up to my tour guide and hugged her-everyone knew each other. She talked about Skyping with her French professor and going to brunch at her English professor’s house. There were just SO many perks to this school. First off, it’s small. People know you, you know people. Freshman year, they have the time to pair you with a roommate based off the Myers-Briggs personality test and another survey, rather than doing it at random like bigger schools. Its campus is beautiful, and the academics are amazing with LECTURE classes at 30 students. The community is bound by the honor code-we have a commitment ceremony and everything that says we cannot lie, cheat, or steal while on the campus, and we get self-scheduled, unproctored exams which means that your grades are subject to your integrity. Social life is supposed to be great-we have fraternities for the guys and Eating Houses for the girls. Eating Houses are like sororities, but you don’t have to rush and there are no Greek letters-you fill out a form and automatically get into one of the 4 houses. A lot of them do a lot of good charity work. Connor House has done a great deal to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. That’s another thing, too. I love that Davidson has so many people that do community service. And I knew I would be able to continue dancing at Davidson with the dance team or company, and the student-run Dance Ensemble, which is the biggest organization on campus that people get really involved in. </p>

<p>To put it in one sentence, Davidson really is just the best fit for me. I’ve talked to some of my classmates as well as upperclassmen, and they’ve all been really nice. But Davidson isn’t for everyone-if you’re not willing to work hard and you don’t want to be surrounded by people who love to learn, don’t come. But if you do, then Davidson is a great place to apply to.</p>

<p>I hope that novel was long enough :stuck_out_tongue: Sorry. But I love this school, I really do.</p>

4

<p>Thank you very much for your long reply, it was really really informative :smiley:
Yes the thing I like most about liberal art colleges is that they have small and close communities, and their students know each other better than students in a big university.</p>

<p>Anyway just a minor thing I have been worried about: I didn’t do well for my mid-year exams (I failed one subject), but if I score well for my final exams, will the adcoms overlook my mediocre grades for midyears?</p>

5

<p>That depends on whether the mid year grades show up on your transcript. If they do, then you have to work to really try to emphasize the fact that you want to be at Davidson and are a perfect fit. It’s really circumstantial and case-by-case, so I can’t give you a yes or no answer. And if there’s a specific reason for the grade drop, then make sure you explain it. Hope that helps :)</p>

6

<p>Hey, I’m also considering applying! Thanks for the topic. Do you know if Davidson superscores the ACT?</p>

7

<p>No problem! :slight_smile:
Davidson superscores the SAT but not the ACT. Don’t let that be the deciding factor, though…keep in mind that test scores are last on their list of priorities in admissions.</p>

8

<p>The environment there is good, the people there are perfect…
Only if Davidson offers majors in astronomy or business, then it would be my first choice college!!!
Again thank you very much for your replies. Wish you a wonderful time at Davidson :)</p>

9

<p>I was just wondering if you had any statistics for an international student considering applying like myself</p>

10

<p>I’m not exactly sure-please remember that I’m not an admissions officer; I’m an incoming freshman. I do know, however, that Davidson has a lot of international students from a lot of different places. International students even get their own orientation before the general freshman orientation.</p>

11

<p>My daughter is a 2012 high school grad and we are coming to visit Davidson in August. (hopefully too she will be back in September for the Discover Davidson weekend. It is by far her number one choice. Thank you for all of your observations. They are very helpful. She knows in her heart it fits her so I just hope she can express that to the admissions people. Her grades are very good, her test scores are pretty good (not Ivy League good but near 2000). My only regret (selfishly) is Davidson doesn’t have a softball team. She is really good at it but knows where her heart truly lies.</p>

12

<p>Hello! :smiley: </p>

<p>I visited Davidson a few weeks ago, but unfortunately on the tour we couldn’t go into the library or the dining hall because they were still under construction. I was looking forward to seeing those things, so is there any way you could describe them at all, haha? And I’m not sure if you’d know about this since you’re a dancer, but since I’m a runner I was wondering about the trail that there supposedly is. If you can’t help don’t worry about it. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Since class rigor is very important, would only having two years worth of Spanish be looked down upon? I got As in it during my first two years, but I just wasn’t interested in continuing… I hope that won’t hurt me too much. Also, I’ll have taken AP U.S. (got a 5 on the exam! booyah :smiley: ), AP Bio, AP English, and AP Calc AB by the end of school. I’m just worried that won’t be enough considering there are all of those crazy people that take twelve of them or something, haha! What do you think the course load would be for the typical student chosen for Davidson? Sorry if I’m just overthinking things and worrying too much, but I tend to do that a lot…</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

13

<p>Do you know if there is a lot of weight placed on community service for applicants? I’ve done various community service activities (beach cleanups, volunteering at the SPCA, helping out at a pre-school’s fundraiser fair, writing book reviews for an agency promoting literacy, etc), but haven’t been super committed to any because I go to boarding school and I don’t have a lot of opportunities to do community service during the school year. During the summer, I’m really involved with my club swim team (I swim, coach, and give lessons) and that takes up all day every day and every Saturday plus some Sundays, so I can’t really do a lot at home either. Will it be okay if I haven’t done a lot of community service, but I’m involved with sports during the school year (including swim team captain) and I’m really involved with my swim team at home?</p>

<p>How much community service did you do? And what other extra curriculars did you do?</p>

14

<p>Norton20-I’m very glad to hear that! It might be comforting to know that I was exactly the same, very good grades and good but not Ivy test scores (2080 SAT, 31 ACT). I picked Davidson for the same reason; it was where my heart was.</p>

<p>NocturnalNatalie-Go to YouTube and search “I Love Commons”. You will love it! It’s a video of some Davidson guys a couple years ago rapping a parody of “I Love College” by Asher Roth, and its all about the dining hall. I think it’s really nice,and the food is supposedly great for 1700 students. As for the library, I was only in it briefly but it was very cozy yet spacious. It’s a great place to study and the librarians are really there to help you out. There are probably pictures online if you search for them. I’ve seen the running path only in glimpses of YouTube videos I’ve seen, and it’s gorgeous. Again, look around YouTube and you’ll see a lot of Davidson stuff. If you have time, watch the Davidson Show (Google it and you’ll find the website). That will help you see things too that you may have missed during your visit, and it’s funny!</p>

<p>Now, your question about classes really depends on your school. At some places, you can take 10 APs. At my high school, we were only allowed 3. They will know what is hard and what is not based on your school profile. They do not compare number of APs from two different schools because the circumstances are simply different. The typical course load is the hardest one possible. My senior year course load included French 5 Lit Honors (after the AP class, which I took junior year), H Precalculus, AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Macroeconomics, Religion 4, and Dance.</p>

<p>puppyloompa-Community service is a great thing to have, but Davidson would never turn someone away because they didn’t do community service. I went on 3 week-long service trips, one to Panama, one to Jamaica, one to PA. Like you, I had no time during the school year to do anything besides my dance company, which was my main extracurricular. I was involved in my dance company, and Model United Nations. I was on the executive board of Model UN and won a lot of awards and traveled to Russia for that, which was really cool. Showing a real passion for swimming is perfect. Davidson students are passionate and involved in what they do, and if swimming is your thing, that’s great. Make sure you emphasize everything that you’ve done. See if you can talk to the swim coach if you’re interested in swimming for Davidson. As long as you care about the world around you and know that you can make a difference, then you should be fine. You’ve done a lot of great things already. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks so much! Davidson is my absolute favorite school that I’ve visited so far. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that it was so small there wasn’t as humongous of a range of classes to take, but if I end getting in there I’m sure it won’t end up being a problem anyway lol. Your post made me feel better about my chances of getting in (and you had the same ACT score as me!)</p>

<p>Do you know if a lot of partying goes on there? I’m not opposed to going there if there is, but I’m not a huge partyer and would like a school where people do other things in their free time. I know all schools talk about all the other stuff they have to do (Davidson did when I visited), but sometimes it isn’t really true. I didn’t get a huge party vibe from Davidson, but have you heard anything differently?</p>

16

<p>You definitely won’t be left out if you don’t party. Davidson saying that is true. Many students choose to be substance free and sign up for dorm halls based on that. So if you sign up for that, you automatically surround yourself with a group of friends who have the same beliefs as you. The Union always has a ton of activities, and extracurriculars offer a ton to do as well. One of the eating houses is made up of girls who do not particularly like to party. Partying does happen at Davidson and is popular, but not partying will never alienate you.</p>

<p>In terms of class selections, I actually found that there were so many different things to take! This semester, I am taking General Psychology, Ethnic Relations, History of England to 1688, and a writing seminar based on the topic of Luck and Chance.</p>

17

<p>Thank you very much for your fabulously informative answer. :slight_smile: I’m hoping they will be able to see how hard I’ve worked over the years. And I’ll definitely check those things out and try to see as much of the campus as I can via the internet!</p>

18

<p>You’re very welcome! Let me know if you think if anything else!</p>

19

<p>Hey guys, I’m also an incoming freshman so I figured I would pitch in what I know about community service and AP courses. I only took 2 AP classes, didn’t take the test for either but at my school only 5 or 6 AP classes are total. But like dancepsychlove said, the admissions office will be able to look at your school individually and look at the level of rigor that you studied in.</p>

<p>As far as community service, what the admissions office most wants to see is passion. So if you could only participate in a few community service activities, I would suggest focusing in on those activities and what they meant to you in either your personal statement or the honor code essay. For example, if you talked about the reasons you specifically participated in the beach cleanup, they would be able to see your commitment even though you were also committed to swimming all year round.</p>

<p>Hope that helps! :)</p>

20

<p>Oh hey!! Thanks for your two cents, I definitely agree with what you said and think it’ll be helpful for people. We’re gonna have an awesome time this year!! :slight_smile: FB chat again soon!</p>