<p>These two schools seem very similar to me. Anyone prefer one over the other and care to tell me why? I was considering applying to W&L early decision before I really looked into Davidson but now I'm not sure at all.</p>
<p>i applied early decision to W&L and will attend this fall. davidson is an excellent school; i visited it on the same trip with W&L. while i liked davidson a lot too, it didn't have the full package (for what i was looking for) like W&L did. its social scene was not up to W&L's, but its academics/professors/ seemed about the same. W&L also seems to carry alot more name recognition in my area than Davidson.</p>
<p>If you care to compare by numbers, you might want to look at Common Data Sets to compare selectivity, class sizes, popular majors, membership in fraternities, housing, etc.
<a href="http://ir.wlu.edu/cds/%5B/url%5D">http://ir.wlu.edu/cds/</a>
<a href="http://www2.davidson.edu/administration/adm/ir/ir_cds.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www2.davidson.edu/administration/adm/ir/ir_cds.asp</a></p>
<p>Davidson is, of course, highly regarded, although it's more popular in the South. Very few departments are weak, but English, biology, chemistry, psychology/neuroscience, physics, anthropology, music, art, German, and classics are particularly strong. The campus is beautiful and wonderfully up to date technology-wise. Students are friendly and eager to learn, and there seems to be a good mix of all types. Davidson is a quiet town, but it has plenty to do, and Charlotte offers a lot. For such a small school, Davidson does rather well in athletics, and basketball attracts a lot of fans. Grad and professional school placement rates are great, hovering around 90% (it's especially great for pre-meds). I applied to Davidson, but it was simply too close to home (10-15 min away). I didn't bother to apply to Washington & Lee. Washington & Lee seemed a bit conservative to me, and the huge frat scene kind of turned me off (83% at W&L; 40% at Davidson). I was favorably impressed by the academics, but the social scene didn't seem as "fun" (take that opinion for what it's worth :rolleyes:).</p>
<p>Davidson is 40% Greek for men only. There is no Greek Life for women. :(</p>
<p>In terms of prestige, I'd consider the schools about even. They are probably the only two highly prestigous liberal arts schools in the south. Socially, they are different with W&L being more Greek and conservative.</p>
<p>I loved Davidson. Before I decided to apply ED to my number one choice, Davidson was a close number two. The campus is beautiful! I felt like the college(and the town) had a family feel to it-- women in the town of Davidson bake cookies for all of the students during exam week! If my mother could chose where I'm going to attend college, she would pick Davidson in a heartbeat. I cannot stress the "warm and fuzzy" vibes I got there.</p>
<p>I visited W&L this summer and expected to love it. I did not like it at all. Upon leaving, applying there wasn't even an option to me. Granted I was very impressed with the university academically and such, (the only way to say this is) I didn't get good vibes. Maybe it was because it was in the summer..but the campus seemed sterile--uninviting. The red painted brick buildings really did it for me..i don't know why. Everything was just so harsh and egh.. I had an awesome interview before I took the campus tour and was pumped about W&L... but now I suggest to all my friends who might consider it not to even look. </p>
<p>For some people, the campus itself is not even a factor in the college application process. To me, it is. It is very important to me that I go to a school that seems warm and inviting--a place where I am really part of a community. I know there are plenty of people out there that LOVE W&L and disagree with everything I said..but those are just my two cents.</p>
<p>while i am not here to condemn davidson (it is a fabulous school on many levels), it an an (almost) universally accepeted fact that W&L's campus is among the most gorgeous in the country, more so than davidson. that "warm and fuzzy" feeling described by stf above immediately took me at W&L and i knew i had to attend. granted, i was there in december when the campus was in full swing; i think a large reason that stf may have had a negative experience is due to the fact that the campus was empty in the summer. LACs are small to begin with; it is imperative to visit while school is in session. W&L's professors, student body, social scene, and setting in the town of lexington was, to me, the perfect college scene.</p>
<p>My S is going to W&L this fall. He visited both W&L and Davidson, staying overnight with students at both schools, attending classes, interviewing with admissions on campus, talking to alums and parents. A lifelong friend of his hosted him at Davidson. At W&L, he stayed with people he did not know before his visit. Hosts at both schools were upperclassman.</p>
<p>Although he liked both schools, and they have a similar "numbers" profile, he felt the students and profs at W&L were def. friendlier, and def. more enthusiastic about their undergrad experiences, including their social life and their relationships with professors and the school. (Consistent with W&L's appearance in PrincetonReview.com's rankings for happy students, overall undergrad experience, profs, school administration). Subsequent visits confirmed this initial impression -- no matter who he stayed with, where he went, who he talked to, he heard similarly passionate comments about life at W&L. Wandering around without him, we saw that too. We were very impressed by the spontaneous desire of W&L students to talk about what they loved about the school. We also hear it from alums we have known for years, as well as those we have met in this process. </p>
<p>What my S heard and saw at Davidson actually caused him not to apply (even though he was applying to nearly all its cross-admit schools). He heard LOTS of Davidson students talking about how much work they were doing, how many all-nighters they pulled, how much homework Prof. Dumbledore was giving, how they weren't going to x event bc they had work to do, etc. Even at intermission during an improv comedy show! It had almost an "I'm working harder and/or am more oppressed" feel to it. Although most students articulated genuine appreciation and affection for the school and their fellow students and profs, the reaction was far more restrained than what he experienced at W&L. Perhaps that's just one of the differences in student bodies? </p>
<p>When we asked my friend and co-worker, whose D was his host and just graduated from Davidson about these impressions, she confirmed that she had similar impressions over the years -- the competiveness she observed at Davidson was just this type of one-upsmanship regarding workload and its impact on social life. Although she would have liked my S to apply, having known S nearly his entire life, she agreed that W&L was a better fit, would be more fun, and would offer him the same prospects for med school. W&L thankfully reached a similar conclusion, and he's honored to going with a significant academic scholarship.</p>
<p>Just sharing these very personal individual experiences, so please accept that I know how many happy Davidson students/alums are out there! It's a fine school that anyone would be fortunate to attend. It just struck my S as less balanced than what he was seeking. </p>
<p>FWIW - I agree 100% that visiting one campus during the school year and another in summer is to be avoided if at all possible! Ideally, even the weather will be comparable over your visit! These two factors have a huge impact. I cannot cite one single kid who fell in love with a school after a "dead campus" or "downpour" visit.</p>