<p>My son is trying to decide between UVA and Davidson. Any thoughts/ reactions would be most appreciated. At this point he is interested in pre-med.</p>
<p>The decision at this point should be based on non-academic aspects of the schools. UVA is a medium-sized research university with extensive resources, while Davidson is a small liberal arts college. They both have their strengths...have you visited them yet?</p>
<p>davidson has laundry service. this is something which cannot be overlooked.</p>
<p>and places with many similarities and many differences. My son is a freshman at Davidson, my daughter just sent in her deposit for UVA to enter in the fall. Davidson is of course smaller (1,800 undergraduates vs. 13,500 undgrads and 7,000 grad/professional students at UVA). But here are a few similarities: (1) strong honor systems, (2) relatively non-diverse communities racially, although both are getting better, (3) very strong alumni networks, (4) excellent acceptance rates at professional and graduate schools, particularly in law and medicine, (5) high proportion of students studying at least one semester abroad, (6) excellent opportunities for independent research, (7) a lot of kids who have diverse interests and who are good in social situations (not just those with alcohol being served!), (8) faculties committed to undergraduate teaching and interaction, (9) substantial percentage of kids from the South but the proportion of students from others regions and countries is growing significantly at both places, and (10) substantial and growing endowments. There are many others.</p>
<p>Differences, other than size: (1) Davidson is a liberal arts college exclusively devoted to undergraduate education; UVA is a full-blown research university with 3 of the finest professional schools (medicine, law and graduate business) in the country, (2) UVA has a first-rate undergraduate business school, Davidson does not have a business program (but many Davidson grads get outstanding business jobs in Wall Street and Silicon Valley firms), (3) All Davidson classes are small and required student participation, but UVA classes vary from small seminars to 500-student classes, (4) Davidson is in a tiny but very nice town 20 miles from a good-sized city (Charlotte), UVA is in a small but fun city 90 miles from a large city (D.C.), (5) 65% of UVA students are in-state residents, 75% of Davidson students are out-of-state or foreign students, (6) UVA has big-time sports but a very small proportion of students are varsity athletes; Davidson is also a Div. 1 school, but plays in a less competitive conference; however, almost 1/4 of the student body plays a varsity sport., (7) at Davidson, you can walk everywhere you need to go on campus; at UVA, you sometimes will want to take a bus, although it is a "walkable" grounds, and (8) at Davidson, most students live on campus all 4 years; at UVA, most students live off grounds after first year.</p>
<p>In my kids' cases, the decision came down to very few factors. My son wanted to play Div. 1 soccer and had offers from several large schools and one small D1 school, Davidson. From my perspective, I was concerned that while he is a bright kid (2360 on his SAT, high AP scores and a 4.0 average), he didn't always put much effort into his classwork. Fortunately, he loved (and still loves) Davidson, where the small classes compel him to be actively involved in classes and in his own education. At UVA, he might have been able to slack a bit more in larger class situations. My daughter is different: great student, almost as good SATs, but she is entirely self-motivated and disciplined. And she wanted a larger school with more going on around her, even though she is more reserved than her brother. UVA had everything she wanted academically and otherwise.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post; hope this helps a little. I have 2 degrees from UVA and love the school dearly, but I am glad that my daughter but not my son will be educated at UVA. Every kid has to find the right fit.</p>
<p>excellent first post 81Cav...some great information and insights</p>