<p>Well im in summer already and the GC told us to look at a few colleges. im from boston and go to a very small, catholic, prep school. the top 6 or 7 kids go to harvard, obviously all the kids go to 4 year colleges. its pretty competitive and whatnot. anyways.</p>
<p>so i am quite sure i want to go to a LAC. i have some good EC's, nothing spectacular. i have straight Bs, B+'s, and a few A-'s across the board so far in all honors classes. i figure im about 15-20th in the class of 60 (but, as i stated, its a private school). i took the hardest courseload possible last 2 years. im extremely interested in art, and i take a bunch of courses outside of school and this summer im going to rhode island school of design for 6 weeks. next year as a junior im taking</p>
<p>AP Latin IV - Virgil (cant go higher as a junior)
AP U.S. History (cant go higher as a junior))
Honors English (cant go higher as a junior))
Honors Physics (cant go higher as a junior))
Pre-Calc
Morals and Ethics (required course, like religion, in catholic school)</p>
<p>math is my weak point and is always my lowest average, although i struggled through honors algebra II this year.</p>
<p>my question is, even with my (quite) modest grades, would a college like davidson see im in a challenging environment? im showing an upward trend in grades, with my UW avg going from 85ish freshman to 87ish this year and im really hoping to get around 90 next year. i have a really strong art portfolio im already working on, will that help much? basically im hoping davidson sees what kind of person i am more than my grades, because i believe i am a hard working person who has developped a love for learning (even though my grades stink ;/ ). any help is really appreciated, thanks a lot.</p>
<p>edit: next summer im really thinking about the davidson july experience. anyone with any info about that it is also greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>It's hard to say; Davidson does look more at the whole person than some of the other schools do, but by the same token it does pay attention to GPA/class rank and to a somewhat lesser extent stndardized test scores. You sounds as though you might be an appealing candidate for the school because of the strength of your curriculum and the morals and ethnics academic background. Davidson has a beautiful visual arts center incidentally. I would say to strive for a rising trend in your grades and indicate your real interest in the school by means of a visit or contact with the admissions office(I don't know anything about the July Davidson experience, sorry)--probably cautious optimism is the best way to think about your prospects. Good SATs could help a lot, though as noted Davidson doesn't emphasize them quite as much as some places do..</p>
<p>yeah the school im at right now has a very strict honor code similar to davidsons thats taken very seriously (although not to the extent of unproctored exams). i know my grades are significantly lower than the average...or maybe thats just what iv seen here...but when i get more into this process next year ill come back (hopefully with a higher gpa :) ) i know davidson only has a men's lacrosse club team, but would marketing myself as a lacrosse player to them help at all? either way, i will make them love me! thank you very much for the help mattmom.</p>
<p>I don't know enough about the club lacrosse program to say but I would think probably not except as an example of varied interests and ability to contribute to the school in various ways. I think it is impressive that you even know that it has club lacrosse--shows you took the trouble to do some research on your own--that's the right approach:)</p>
<p>You sound like a perfect fit for Davidson.If you check the stats for the July experience,I believe you'll find a high percentage of those attending get into Davidson.The combination of athletics,academics,spirituality,and love for Davidson should make you very attractive to the school.Try to visit the campus and spend serious time with the admissions office,faculty,and coaches.Make sure you stay at the guest house on campus.
While you're heading South,stop at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.The honors program and lax team both shine.You'd also be a great fit there-making the lacrosse team there would require major work.Good luck.</p>
<p>oh yeah - do any of you know what the program is for Philosophy or Art (studio and history) is like at Davidson? I'm interested in both of them. thanks</p>
<p>edit: i know Davidson recently built a huge new building for the arts, but im asking about the program specifically, if anyone has any details.</p>
<p>My dtr is also very interested in the art program at Davidson. Any information on quality of instruction/facilities would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Also; any concerns with 20 mile drives from Charlotte after a night of partying? Hopefully desig. drivers are being used. Any info on auto accidents, etc from nights out in Charlotte, or is this not really a problem.</p>
<p>Don't know about the visual art program other than attractive and well equiopped VAC, but re your second query, I don't thnk there is much driving into Charlotte for partying--there is an active social scene on campus. Charlotte is more for athletic events or major concerts--there are clubs and such in the city obviously but it does not seem to be a focal point of interest or activity for students. (Really do have to be 21 to drink at Charlotte clubs.)</p>
<p>I am a student at Davidson, and have never heard of any accidents involving student returning to Charlotte. Not too many actually go down there just to party, and the ones that do are very careful. Additionally, Davidson provides a van service to parts of Charlotte during the evenings on the Weekends. Students here seem to rarely drink too much, and then drive. I do not know of any problems at all involving this.</p>
<p>As far as studio art goes, I know the VAC (Visual Arts Center) is well-equipped, and most people I know have been very pleased with the classes they have taken in studio art, thought they, like all classes here, are hard and graded quite tough.</p>
<p>My host for Scholars weekend was an art major, and she said she loved the art program at Davidson. The VAC ws very impressive, and there always seems to be an art show or seminar going on.
The students I talked to would agree with mattmom...they told me that they rarely go into Charlotte and they all agreed that the majority of the social scene in on campus.</p>
<p>Thanks much for the useful info. I'll quit worrying about late nite drives back from Charlotte. My dtr will be applying to Davidson in a few months. One of her top choices. I hope she gets in.</p>