<p>I'm applying early to Davidson, and every time I tell someone where I'm applying early, I get a blank stare (I'm from MA). But, all the college counselors and everyone like that says that Davidson is pretty elite and extremely prestigious. Everyone's heard of Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, etc here, so it's not like they're uneducated.</p>
<p>Schools like Carleton, Davidson, Grinnell and Haverford are prestegious...in academic and professional circles. But to the common man, they are practically unheard of. I would not worry about how others view Davidson. If you like it, you will find it to be very well regarded.</p>
<p>Ditto, what Alexandre said. Even in the South, Davidson is not as well known as UVa, Duke, or UNC - BUT the professional people - MDs, att., bankers, gov't - they know about Davidson, and have a great deal of respect for the school. Now Williams, they would probably say - where?</p>
<p>Ditto. Davidson is wonderful and hardly anyone in the North has heard of it. Their loss, your gain. And it is also true that surprising numbers of people haven't heard of Williams or Bowdoin...if Davidson seems like a good fit for you, then don't worry about it. (And in fact there are quite a lot of kids from NE prep schools at Davidson as well as from similar schools in other parts of the country so if/when you get there next fall you will not feel at all out of place.) Good luck. And be reassured in knowing that people who do know about Davidson do think very highly of it, for good reason.</p>
<p>"Reuputation" or lack thereof is a coin with two profiles. In the case of Davidson, it's academic performance is excellent.</p>
<p>Is that Solomon's College?</p>
<p>I'll echo everyone else's comments (I'm a Yankee).The man in the street knows nothing about Davidson.The higher you ascend the professional/academic ladder,the more lavish becomes the praise accorded the school.The campus reeks of prestige.How very,very fortunate are those lucky enough to earn admittance!</p>
<p>I"d give my eye teeth to have my kids at Davidson. Their tennis team was visiting our area recently. Never seen such nice well rounded kids....well spoken, smart.....My college roommate has a daughter who just graduated and absolutely loved it.....The college advisor at my kids' prep school went there, as did his son. It's highly selective.</p>
<p>S's counselor (prep boarding school) says it is his favorite school. We haven't visited, but S did an application in connection with an athlete-scholar merit award (he didn't make finalist) so he has an application in and is being recruited. Unfortunately, he has decided he wants a larger school. My research indicates Davidson is amazing and would be an incredible place to go to school. They have a strong honor code which apparently works well. It is very similar to Williams only with better weather and not as remote. I loved Williams, so I think Davidson would be wonderful.</p>
<p>O.K. Mimi, you've earned an LOL.</p>
<p>As mini well knows, Solomon went to college on a PELL grant, so it is quite unlikely he would have gone to Davidson.</p>
<p>Davidson is a great school with good athletic program-mainly basketball. School similar to Patriot League schools-Colgate,Holy CROSS, and Bucknell.</p>
<p>No, par72, I don't think you are on target this time, but I had to check your post to see if it was what I expected. And it was.:) </p>
<p>(But seriously I don't think you do anyone or any school a service by constantly inserting Holy Cross and its Patriot League cohort into virtually any CC conversation in which you choose to make a contribution. This is not a reflection on any school or person, but sometimes it just doesn't fit and has nothing to do with the original point of the thread.)</p>
<p>Yeah. I'm not seeing the Patriot League comparison at all.</p>
<p>Depending on what aspect of Davidson's appeal you are looking at I'm seeing comparison schools more along the lines of:</p>
<p>Williams, Bowdoin, Carleton, Haverford, Grinnell, Pomona, Claremont-McKennna, and Washington & Lee.</p>
<p>As far larger schools drawing from the same student pool, I'd include Emory, Vanderbilt, UNC-CH, UVa, and Duke.</p>
<p>Interesting to see Par capitalize CROSS this time around.</p>
<p>Well. . not really that interesting I guess. . .</p>
<p>^^
lol. </p>
<p>Davidson isn't really that popular, even here in North Carolina. I went to high school about 20 min away, and only two people in my IB program applied, and none went. Its caliber is definitely on par with Duke and other top schools, especially in the sciences and English (but way too close to home for me!), so I've yet to figure out why it can't seem to get name-recognition. </p>
<p>I do know that in North Carolina it's still trying to live down its reputation as a conservative school for bankers and doctors. </p>
<p>This is where prestige (Davidson is definitely prestigious) and name-recognition are different.</p>
<p>Haverford tee shirt:</p>
<p>We haven't heard of you either.</p>
<p>Davidson was a brief member of the Patriot League at stages of the league but left due to its weak football team and long distance from other members. Also Davidson and Holy Cross are the only 2 top 30 LAC's with NCAA division 1 tradition. And yes Davidson is ranked higher in US News than HC. From athletic viewpoint, Davidson Wildcats have more in common with Colgate, HC, and Bucknell than the Williams, Amherst crowd.</p>
<p>Ah. OK. Now I see it. From an athletics standpoint, the Patriots League comparison makes sense.</p>
<p>BTW, I'm sure my view wouldn't be popular with the alumni, but I think Davidson is nuts to play Div I with 1600 students. They spend an unbelievably high percentage of the entire annual budget on athletics and athletic scholarships -- something like 10% if I recall.</p>
<p>I was just at H's Harvard reunion and asked a guy from Greensboro who still lives there about Davidson. He was raving about it and said that most of the men in his family had gone there. He said he went to Harvard because he wanted to leave the South for awhile. The first time I'd heard of Davidson was when I read about it in Time mag.</p>