Davidson College Top Questions

Davidson students do work their asses off, but have fun too. In my mind it is the epitome of a work hard play hard school. Campus is generally dead quiet except for friday and saturday night, and occasionally wednesday nights. Since it is such a rigorous academic environment it needs to be coupled with an atmosphere that students can feel comforable letting loose in. As for the prep reputation, there are a suprising amount of kids for NE boarding schools, but it is not nearly what you would see at a Vandi or an SMU. I think Davidson students are very well rounded and grounded individuals who see themselves as part of a bigger community.

Even though Davidson students have a lot of work to complete, they still take time out of their busy schedules to do fun things. For example, students might attend a lecture, go to one of the Live Thursdays concerts, go to a Davidson basketball game, or party at one of the eating houses or fraternities on the weekend. The other stereotypes are accurate

We're definitely mostly workaholics - although we have a lot of fun too. I'd make a guess that we're about 50/50 liberal/conservative - it's all about who you choose to hang out with. There's a lot of socio-economic diversity here, although you might not guess it off the bat. There is a bit of a lack of racial diversity, however. Geographic diversity is moderate.

Davidson offers much financial aid. Now the college will even pay any student loans, so it seems that one does not have to be wealthy to attend. Few people are actually children of alumni. It is true that everyone at Davidson seems to be noticeably smarter than average. People do get very stressed out, but they somehow keep it up till the end.

Yes, though there are definitely exceptions. But for someone not originally from the East Coast, it's a culture change.

By and large, yes. However, it is entirely possible to run across somebody who isn't that friendly, have an entire group of friends who are not at all preppy and to avoid work entirely (you just won'e get good grades...)

For the most part.

Davidson is probably more conservative than other schools, but that doesn't mean that there aren't liberal students there (i'm one). I would say it's more moderate than conservative. I think Davidson is a southern school but people don't get dressed up for every football game and bring a date. I actually really enjoy the southern feel - especially the biscuits. Yes Davidson students work hard, there's no way to get around that if you want to do well in your classes. However, students don't have a problem finding time to hang out with friends during the week and certainly to go out on the weekend, whether it's to a movie or to a party. The parties on campus are nothing like a big state school, but people still know how to have a good time.

I don't necessarily believe preppy is accurate, but the rest, well yeah.

yes

The majority of students are white but I would say there is lots of diversity within the interests and talents of the students, yes, yes, and no not everyone is rich

It is true that Davidson has a LOT of work; however, every student manages it in his or her own way. The grading is tough, but doable. The professors really want you to succeed and will help you in any way possible, but they won't let up on their standards either. The students are mostly rich, white kids, but they are not snobby.

sometwhat

Yes. No, just kidding. There are a lot of uptight people here, but most people aren't. And to succeed at Davidson, you definitely have to work a lot, but not to the point of developing workaholism. There are definitely preppy, snobby, rich kids around, but a lot of preppy kids aren't rich, snobby kids aren't preppy, etc. Mostly, though, people are amazingly nice. And I know a lot of kids who are paying their own way through Davidson. We do, indeed, have a ballin' basketball team.

No, these stereotypes are not accurate. As a varsity athlete, I've found that I still have ample time to train and compete at a high level, study hard and make good grades, have a girlfriend, and entertain a substantial social life.

We definitely balance academics and social lives. However, we do study much more than the average college student. Example: When the trustees paid for us to go to Detroit to watch the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games, every student was in the lobby studying from morning to sun down on Saturday, the day in between the two games.

Not really. Davidson students do have a lot of work, and they are often in the library, but they also know how to have fun. The frats and eating houses have some sort of party going on pretty much every weekend. It's true that Davidson is not very diverse, and most people do come from well off families, but hardly anyone is conceded and everyone is pretty good about acceptance and tolerance.

While it's true that most students here are very smart (it's no small feat to get accepted), and there is a large workload, there is an excellent social scene with weekly court parties and a very relaxed atmosphere when it comes to drinking (as long as people are being safe).There is a slightly above average population of the more "bookish" types here but there is a huge population of partiers along with lots athletes.

I'm neutral about these. Some of these apply to myself or people I know, but alot of people don't fit these stereotypes.

To an extent. There are kids from extremely diverse backgrounds that I've met here. However, there are definitely kids from wealthier homes which seems to be the majority.