<p>What stands out about Davidson?</p>
<p>What made you personally choose Davidson?</p>
<p>Also, regarding class size and professors... what is an average class like? Do prof try and get to know their students, or do you really have to make the initiative?</p>
<p>What kind of students do you find at Davidson generally? Preppy, jocks, artsy..etc.</p>
<p>How big a part does the frat/soror. system play on campus life? Is it exclusive or inviting?</p>
<p>Thinking back on my personal application process this past year, I probably would have applied ED to Davidson, had I been able to do it all over again (I ended up getting waitlisted and they didn't have space).</p>
<p>I visited after sending my application and that's when I really got to see what was special about it...I can't really explain it in words but it just seemed cool. It's in a charming small town, but also right outside the big city of Charlotte if you get bored of stuff to do. It's a small academic community that has a VERY strong honor system that actually works - people aren't so worried about their possessions being stolen all the time and they get unproctored exams. The classes are very small, and I think kids tend to have good relationships with their professors. </p>
<p>When I visited, my impression was that many of the kids seemed to be kind of preppy, but also athletic. Many participate in intramurals and I saw tons of kids out running. They're definitely all quite intelligent. However, I'm not terribly preppy myself, and I didn't feel out of place - they didn't seem terribly stuck up or anything. My memory's a little fuzzy about how the frats work, but I believe the parties were mostly open, but if they have kegs they have to be registered and have an official person watching and IDing the kids who drink. The brothers actually are more involved in the community than most other frats at other schools. There actually aren't any sororities but instead there are eating houses for women. All the frat/eating houses are all in a little row on campus.</p>
<p>Two other perks: the bike system and free laundry. There are these bikes all over campus that kids can just pick up wherever they see them, ride them to their next destination, and drop them outside for the next kid. It's kind of random, but it seemed really cool to me and another example of the honor code in work - nobody stealing the bikes. Also, as part of housing, you get your laundry picked up and done for you at the on-campus laundromat. Pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Potential drawbacks: It's a nice small community...but it may actually feel TOO small over the course of four years. Also, it's gotten really competitive as many other schools have. The top end of the mid 50% (old SAT) is around 1500 for the incoming class.</p>
<p>I think the best way to really find out what's special about it is to visit and see for yourself, though, because I didn't really "get it" till I visited.</p>
<p>I am a rising junior at Davidson. It is always difficult to generalize about an entire student body, as I have met all types at school. Davidson gets regularly beaten up on this forum for being a non-diverse(86% white), rich kid(66% of students pay full freight), preppy(>50% of students from private schools) school with lots of athletes(DIV 1 sports program). As with all stereotypes-there is some fire beneath the smoke, but the student body is really not that different from any of the other top LACS-most of which are populated by upper middle class prepsters.</p>
<p>I like Davidson becuase its main focus is education and it avoids political correctness a bit more than many of its northeast peers. The education I have received to date has been truly fantastic-although you really have to bust your butt for an A around here. I do belong to a frat, but they are not exclusive and are community service oriented. I do have my meals at the house, but it is not a focus of my life and the majority of my friends do not belong to a fraternity-if you like fraternities they are here, if you do not-no big deal. </p>
<p>As an alibi, I will tell you that I am a white, full-freight, upper-middle class prep school kid-so, perhaps that is why I feel so comfortable at Davidson. It's been the right place for me. I would suggest that you visit all the schools you are interested in, get a feel for what you want, and follow your dream. Davidson is an extremely welcoming place and really very open-minded and accepting-some may see this as noblesse oblige, but Davidson accepts a particular kind of student-and its difficult not to like them.</p>
<p>davidson is for white upper crust students who want a homogenous atmosphere</p>
<p>hello32, I'd suggest you take the preceding post with a grain of salt and give the credibility edge to the longer ones that precede it. I don't have much to add to what those to posters said but I believe their descriptions to be very accurate adn to the point.</p>
<p>My decision to choose Davidson this fall was helped by this letter from a recent Davdison Grad who is a friend of a friend - HTH</p>
<p>"Sounds like you have gotten into some very good colleges. Congrats. A friend of mine from high school went to Bowdin and had a great experience there. He, like me now live in DC for whatever that's worth. I will try to answer your questions in the order you posed them. </p>
<p>First, Davidson does have a reputation of having little grade inflation and you do have to work hard for good grades. However, you are rewarded as you pursue future studies. In terms of law school, a number of my friends went to Harvard, Yale and Stanford to name a few of the schools, and everyone who wanted to attend med school or law school got in somewhere. I wont be able to get back to you on MBA schools until later, as one usually work a number of years before attending, and I haven't reached that point yet. </p>
<p>My job search was a bit unique in that I choose to join the Peace Corps after graduating, but before I did, I received a significant amount of help from the career counseling office. When I was graduating, there were a number of employers who recruited at Davidson particularly investment banking firms and consulting firms. I majored in Economics, and virtually everyone who graduated with that majored had found employment before graduation. It is true that a Davidson diploma is held in higher regard by people in the South than in the North, but that wont hurt you with grad school, and a number of employers recognize Davidson. When I returned from Peace Corps, I interviewed for some jobs in the Boston area and they all knew Davidson's name and held it in high regard. That being said, Davidson is certainly not as well known in the north east as it is in the South and the DC area.</p>
<p>It seems like half of Davidson ends up in DC, whether in politics, consulting or law.</p>
<p>While Davidson is academically very challenging, the honor code does serve to help alleviate some of the stress. It is one of the core values held by virtually all students at Davidson. I took a number of tests and finals in my room with no thoughts of ever cheating and at the sametime had a high level of confidence that none of my classmates would cheat. You are afforded an incredible amount of trust by Professors and you leave Davidson as a person with a great deal of integrity. This is seen by many employeers. It is a major advantage of Davidson.</p>
<p>Socially, there are a number of different outlets. The College Union does an excellent job of creating opportunities such as hiking, rock climbing and river rafting trips. There are a solid core of people who usually participate in these activities. I believe that if you want to be on the Track team you can walk on and make it, cross country is probably more difficult, but numerous students run on the cross country trails in the morning and evening. </p>
<p>For better or worse, social life for the majority of students revolves around the Court scene, as I'm sure you discovered during your visit. I was in a Fraternity while at Davidson, but for women, the eating house allows for social outlets tailored to your needs. if you want to make a commitment to an eating house you can if not you can switch, but i'm sure someone explained this to you when you visited so I wont say much more on that. </p>
<p>I had a good balance between work and fun. It seems like most students worked hard and partied hard too. However, if that's not your thing that are several other outlets and several people partake in these other outlets. I have described some above. One draw back is that there is no large city near by. I rarely went into Charlotte, though it is not very far away. The social scene definitely revolves around the campus. </p>
<p>Well, I hope this answers your questions. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck making your decision."</p>