<p>I was looking at Davidson and the programs seem to fit me well (chemistry). The campus also looks beautiful and I like the South. However, I am concerned about the rurality of Davidson. Is it very insular and secluded? I like to have some suburban and/or urban amenities around. Is Charlotte close enough to go there often, or would it be too much of a hassle? Do students get off campus a lot or stay on the weekends?</p>
<p>Davidson is not really in a rural setting; it has its own interstate exit and is within five miles, via interstate, from a lot of upscale suburban development--such as Birkdale Commons, which has Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, lots of other stores, and nice sidential development as well. The Charlotte airport is about half an hour's drive away and Charlotte itself is also that close.I don't think Charlotte is the magnet that the suburban amenites such as shopping and movies are. In any event I have the impression that social life at Davidson is pretty active and there is enough to do on weekends that students may not feel a great need to leave campus much. And as at any college, there is also a lot goign on during the week in terms of lectures, concerts, and other events--and of course the workload.</p>
<p>Mattmom is exactly right. There is a CVS pharmacy in the town (village really) of Davidson proper, so true necessities are in walking distance. There is also an organic type grocery, a couple of other places to buy food staples, a few small restaurants, maybe a bar or 2.</p>
<p>Most everyone will have a car, so hitching to Walmart's, shopping, etc shouldn't be too difficult for someone without a car. It is not secluded, and unlike many Southern campuses where everyone has cars, I don't think Davidson empties out on weekends.</p>
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amenities such as shopping and movies...
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We have Concord Mills. What more could you want? :)</p>
<p>Seriously, Charlotte is not that far away (15 min max, especially using 485), but Davidson is far from rural or secluded. The whole Davidson/Concord/Huntersville area is developing very rapidly. I think a lot of people stay on-campus for the weekends; Davidson's a very nice college town (unlike Charlotte :eek: )with a lot to offer. </p>
<p>You're right about the great chem program. I took a tour of the science facilities during the admitted students open house, and I was very impressed. In addition to great facilities (they have a new NMR!), the chem professor said 90% of chem majors get a full ride to the grad school of their choice. Pretty impressive!</p>
<p>Wow, warblersrule, that is pretty amazing. What's your major (I assume you go to Davidson)? Are there a lot of science majors or is it more humanities focused?</p>
<p>Davidson is more humanities based, but the science programs are awesome. About 2/3 of the students graduate with a BA; about 1/3 graduate with a BS, with biology being the most popular science major. I think the humanities focus is good for science majors. It allows you to be a well-rounded student, and it also eases up on the competitive atmosphere found at so many science schools. At Davidson, the physics and chem majors in particular seem to enjoy great resources and personal attention. Davidson has all the facilities of a larger university. Most students do independent research, and at the end of the year science majors present their research in poster form to the Davidson community. You can do research at other universities through Davidson, too. For example, I've met a biophysics major (an interdisciplinary major) who did research over the summer at Columbia University, as well as a biochemistry (another interdisciplinary major) who had published research about DNA sequences in rats. The labs are extremely nice and new. Lectures run about 30 for intro classes and less than 15 for upper level classes. Lab groups usually run about 20-25 students, with 2 working at each fume hood. The labs are very large, clean, and well-equipped. One of the chemistry professors lives right by the Davidson campus, so it's very easy to have access to a professor and/or the labs at odd hours (the physics department has a huge supply of caffeine drinks!), which you would certainly not find at a larger university. :)</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Davidson. He found that there was a lot to do both at Davidson and in Charlotte. He went to the Monday night football game and the first round of the NCAA tournamnet, plus two different concerts in Charlotte. He has already been water skiing this spring and sailing at the lake campus. Being too rural has not been a complaint with him. In fact the only semi negative comment he has made is that he wished there were less grade DEflation.</p>
<p>If you are from a bustling city...I'm thinking Boston and New York...be warned. Charlotte is primarily a banking district and an over 21 city. I got over there a number of times on the weekend and the streets are DEAD. You need to be over 21 to take advantage of the clubs. I do have friends who found a some big band concerts. They had fun, even though they were there with 50 year-olds for the night. I went to a marginal art crawl and I do think you may find some theater stuff. If you want to take advantage of the city...you ABSOLUTELY need a car. Davidson isn't isolated, but the outside world is not as accessible as you may think and the social scene gets stale very quickly. If you're looking for a bustling metropolis where you can be spontaneous...Charlotte is not the city for you.</p>
<p>By definition, most LACs are small and the social life is often rather self-contained. Some people like the coziness, others find it too llmiting--this is the case at small schools everywhere and is a matter of personal taste. There are usually lectures, concerts, and theatrical productions as well as a lot of other activities in addition to the expected parties and just hanging out--again, this is not unique to any particular school.
The difference is that at a school that is not in or very near a mega-major metro center (such as NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco, Chicago...) students need to look inward more and depend more upon on-campus activites of the type I've mentioned. The thing is, when you are in college you don't necessarily need a big city, because there truly is a lot going on, even at a small school. I think you have to determine whether you want to actually be in an urban setting or whether you will be comfortable in a suburban setting and whether you want a small school or a large one. </p>
<p>Davidson's setting is somewhat less isolated than that of many comparable northern schools, but it is true that Charlotte is not New York. Overall, I would say that Davidson's proximity to Charlotte is a substantial plus because it does offer some big-city benefits (and a lot of suburban amenities); it depends what your priorities are and whether you feel a need to be in quick-trip distance of world-class urban amenities (like the Art Institute of Chicago or NYC's Lincoln Center) or just good regional/mainstream ones. But I would not rule out Davidson as too rural or isolated any more than than I would Amherst or Williams, both of which are wonderful schools that are not even within easy reach of cities comparable to Charlotte (Boston is a great city but is considerably farther from both places than Charlotte is from Davidson). I'd say Davidson is more comparable to Bowdoin on the urban/suburban/rural spectrum--Bowdoin is about half an hour from Portland, which like Charlotte is a major regional city that has a lot to offer but is not a mega-city. Again, not rural--except by comparison to being in the heart of a big city.</p>
<p>Charlotte is a much bigger city than Portland. No skyscrapers or NFL teams in Maine.</p>
<p>So I was always confused...does Davidson have a SEM?</p>
<p>I saw it listed somewhere in the Biology department but I've never seen it corroborated elsewhere.</p>
<p>That's one thing that disappointed me about Davidson. They don't really have the equipment for original research in some fields like nanotechnology and materials science. I also think you have major pros and cons to doing chemistry at a smaller liberal arts school. On one hand you have a small number of professors who you will get to know really well and a small tightly knit community of chemistry majors. You aren't competing with graduate students or post-doctoral students for a professor's lab space but then again...a lot of times the research seems to be sub-par what you could be doing at a major research university. You also have less selection in what subfields of chemistry you want to specialize in (less faculty means less areas of research) and while you may convince a professor to let you venture into a new area you most likely won't the means of getting the equipment.</p>
<p>They do love that NMR though.</p>
<p>Yes, they have a SEM. It's in the Baker-Watt science building. They have a SEM, UV spectrometers, micro-computers, laser systems (:D), NMR, and other "neuroscience stuff."</p>
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They don't really have the equipment for original research in some fields like nanotechnology and materials science.
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<p>I agree. :(
Davidson sometimes allows students do summer research at other universities, like Columbia.</p>