<p>This was on Saturday's "All Things Considered" on NPR. The Davidson admissions person they talked to said he was a bit worried about yield--as in having a lot more students than they'd planned on. You can read or listen to it here:</p>
<p>To</a> the Surprise Victor Go the Freshman Applications : NPR</p>
<p>I'm inclined to think that Davidson has less to worry about than their admissions person thinks. The school offered students an all-expense-paid trip to Detroit for the games this weekend ... and only about 20% of the student body took them up on it. Methinks perhaps Davidson students are less interested in b'ball than those at the big sports U's. I could be wrong ...</p>
<p>(Okay, I know Detroit is no mecca of excitement ... but it's where the games are, folks! :) )</p>
<p>at the very least, Davidson has helped put the elite LAC's in the spotlight-albeit temporarily. The had a segment on Good Morning America this morning about Davidson-they were referred to as the 'braniac' team. It was an amazing run, Wisconsin has more students on its campus(42,000) than the entire Davidson student body(1700), faculty(125), all its alumni(18,000) combined twice over! This publicity will carry Davidson admissions for years to come.</p>
<p>In the segment, they had a guy from George Mason (last year's Cinderella story) and he related his experiences with a spike in interest. Davidson has already had an increase in transfer apps and even had unsolicited apps come in this last week, said their vp for admissions and fin aid.</p>
<p>George Mason had a 350% increase in inquiries, and OOS apps went up 40% this past year.</p>
<p>Kelsmom, I live very close to Davidson. Our news reported that the school was overwhelmed with students who wanted to make the trip. There were so many that Davidson could not get enough buses to send them all on Fri. They found more busues and 300 more students left early this a.m. to make the trip to Detroit. I think well over five hundred students made the trip.</p>
<p>I heard on the news up here this past week that this has been researched by some schools (Virginia Tech was one) and it is called "The Flutie Factor". Guess Boston College had a tremendous increase in applications after Doug Flutie's "Hail Mary" pass back in 1984. Not sure the kids on C.C. will have any idea who I am talking about, but I sure remember that game. My husband still covers his eyes and groans about that pass.</p>
<p>My understanding is that they promised anyone who wanted to make the trip for Fri's game could go (at the Trustees expense), and over 1000 students signed up, but they could only find buses for 240 students at short notice. They sent another 300 up for today's game, again that's all the buses they could muster. Some students found their own transportation, and they estimated that 1/3 of the student body was in attendence today.</p>
<p>It was a good game-I was cheering them on. Wish the basket at the buzzer had gone in for Davidson. I like to see an underdog win, but it won't happen this year. Heard that the campus is beautiful-don't know how we missed a visit when we did trip to NC schools.</p>
<p>Wow ... I guess the trustee's underestimated school spirit! It's too bad that the AP reports don't tell the whole story. In fact, I have been disappointed at news coverage of the Davidson team both in GA (where I was until Fri.) and here in MI. None of the articles I read ever mentioned that DU is such a fine academic school ... those young men are not just athletes ... they are very intelligent young man who are NOT taking the easy way to a degree. I am just so impressed by them. They certainly held their own in tonight's game.</p>
<p>Davidson is a wonderful school ... it's great that it's getting good publicity.</p>
<p>I don't think the trustees underestimated school spirit - just underestimated the availability of transportation!</p>
<p>And Davidson does have a lovely campus in a very nice little town. I'm delighted they are getting great publicity from this.</p>