According to Payscale, at 10 years the situation has reversed itself, but like the salary at graduation they’re pretty tightly clustered. What you major in will have a greater impact on your salary than the school you attend.
Bates- $125,900
Davidson- $122,100
Hamilton- $113,800
The bottom line is that that they’re all great schools. I’d go with your gut.
@prezbucky, an old guy with a wig and a cane, and one who couldn’t even shoot straight, as your mascot? Pshaw! 
Historical research indicates that the 47-year-old founding father might have approached his fate without the deadly intent, and certainly without the practiced precision, of his opponent. Even Hamilton College seems to regard that day lightly in some of their materials, although they shouldn’t.
@Publisher what do you mean by the presence of religious students? Your descriptions of Davidson aren’t really consistent with the students there we have met. If you read the student newspaper there are interesting dialogues happening.
“Davidson has a long tradition of preparing men and women for ordained ministry.”
Although I cannot find it listed now, Davidson College had/has a very generous scholarship for those intending on becoming ministers. Several years ago when I asked the admissions office about this scholarship, I mentioned that one student was quite religious & intended to become a minister. The admissions rep responded " We have a lot of those types on campus."
I have not visited Davidson College for many years now, so things may have changed in the last six or seven years.
In any event, Davidson College has one of the most beautiful settings in the country & is strong academically. While not a liberal leaning environment, it is Southern & leans conservative.
Among LACs, my sense is that today Davidson skews more liberal/moderate than conservative overall but has students all along the political spectrum. It’s changed from decades past when it was certainly more conservative. I think it’s a strength that it has diversity of opinion; some LACs have too much ‘group think.’
The college emphasizes producing leaders who make the world better and it works hard to create a strong sense of community. Its racial diversity is much greater now than years past too.
I don’t know anything about Hamilton. I’ve heard Bates is very preppy, but not based on any first hand information.
Davidson wins for sure in the weather category.
Good luck – you have great choices!!
I think when it comes to the political leanings of a student body, most prospective students will be ok, regardless of their personal beliefs, as long as the prevailing sentiment is not militant – debate is good; silencing voices is not.
Also, even at a really small school of (for instance) 1200 students, chances are that at least a handful will hold similar beliefs.
So, you know, a conservative choosing Vassar might seem odd, but as long as he or she is able to voice opinions without fear or threat of persecution, it can be a rewarding experience. Same with a left-winger at, oh, W&L, Wheaton or BYU.
If the political climate at a school is not one of violence or persecution, kids can concentrate on other variables when making a decision – as it should be. And I think that is the case with these three excellent schools.
My experience with Davidson College is less than a decade old (about 6 or 7 years ago)… So referring to decades past is interesting but not relevant.
The student involved had a full ride (tuition, room & board) scholarship to Davidson College & was very upset after one year as she had not been exposed to the Confederate Flag & another more offensive flag since she was from Colorado.
I have visited Davidson’s campus several times, but was never in a dorm room.
Everything is relative. My impression of Davidson College is that it leans conservative. A former conservative college guide publication (“Choosing The Right College”) loved Davidson for its conservatism & conservative student body.
For example, I find the University of Georgia to be much more liberal than Davidson College. I hold a mix of political views so a “leans conservative” notation is neither a positive nor negative to me.
@Publisher - I know Davidson very well – growing up there, now living not far away, and through my job.
Clearly the student you know had a bad experience. It does not reflect well on the college and cannot be excused.
Niche student reviewers describe the student body as both moderate or liberal more frequently than they describe it as conservative.
The college is active around issues of social justice. They just started a commission to examine and come to terms with the college’s links to slavery (similar to what Georgetown did). The college president, a woman, is a national leader on equity and higher education.
I have more than impressions to bring to this conversation – first hand and current familiarity with the college. Are there conservatives and is it a place where a conservative would feel comfortable? Yes. As I stated in my earlier post – students’ fall all along the political spectrum and that’s a strength, in my opinion.
But it does not “lean conservative.” When I was growing up, yes. Today, no.
Thanks ! Everything is relative. Compared to Bates, it leans conservative; compared to BYU, it does not. I guess it really depends upon one’s reference point.
P.S. FWIW If it were my decision, I would attend Davidson College because I love the location, the campus & the fact that conservative opinions are accepted. Not that Hamilton or Bates does not allow open discussion, but I would enjoy Davidson’s campus culture & location the most.
thank you all, reading this has been very interesting! thankfully i’ll be visiting them again so i’ll see if that helps since i keep going back and forth. i think i am (kind of accidentally) caring too much about “prestige”… even though they are all very similar small LACs. thanks so much for the info everyone
We recently visited Davidson and asked many students about political discourse. No one felt it leaned conservative. Most said it was liberal but has a significant number of conservatives with a smattering of extreme conservatives. Most students we met had done significant amounts of public service and many had participated in recent activism. All said that they felt free to express their opinions. They also discussed visible efforts on campus to prevent sexual assault.
I have visited Davidson, and I would say that it leans more liberal. The college really tries to open up political discourse. Davidson, as with many other colleges and universities, is still far from creating a place that is all about political discourse. I would say that Davidson is unique in that the small liberal arts college leans liberal but resides in a more conservative state (kind of because NC is becoming more of a swing state). Anyways, among all the campus visits I have had (Grinnell, Denison, Whitman, F&M), I would say that Davidson is the best at allowing free speech and political discourse. Some colleges and universities just won’t and can’t accept conservative opinions. However, Davidson is like anywhere else. There will be radical liberals and conservatives who can’t articulate their perspectives in a respectful manner or express themselves according to their perspectives. One of which was a high ranking official at Davidson. When she talked about political discouse, she argued that people with pro-life, anti-gay marriage, anti-immigration, pro-gun, and religious perspectives were wrong and that the college will accept the students in order to crush their perspectives (this is not word for word but it is what she literally was saying). This almost made me lose interest in Davidson, but this one person was not the embodiment of the people at Davidson. Even though she has such a radical view that was expressed offensively, we the perspective students were able to have a discourse with her. We basically showed her how flawed and offensive her remarks were even though she didn’t change them. We also kind of roasted her, only a little bit. Anyways, I would actually feel safe at Davidson College to express my conservative leaning beliefs and perspectives. Of course, my beliefs aren’t super radical. I would also be willing to support my beliefs and perspectives with factual evidence and logic rather than resorting to name-calling, mood swings, and rage. It is a unique college that has people who are willing to have a political discourse rather than trying to hinder free speech, become violent, or become overly managing.
LOL, Davidson does not lean conservative. It’s in a Red State for sure, but it’s basically a suburb of Charlotte which one of a few liberal islands within the state (like Austin is within Texas, etc.). Because it draws more kids from the south than the NESCAC and equivalent, it may end up with a more politically diverse student body. But I know quiet a few former students and they would laugh at the suggestion the overall vibe is right-leaning. My daughter was just on a tour a couple weeks ago and they made a point, as they always do, to point out the two buildings from which the student Democrats and Republicans hold a debate before elections – a long tradition. Only this time they talked about how none of the student Republicans wanted to defend Trump during before last election so they modified the rules to just debate issues and not the candidates…
BTW, Hamilton is in upstate New York which leans right as well. You really can’t politically characterize these schools based on their locations.
@ctivas – agree with your assessment of Davidson. But for the record, NC is a 50/50 in terms of political affiliation and we’re quite purple when you look at statewide elections. [Our state legislature and House seats are very red with an assist from gerrymandering, but that’s not a topic for this forum.]