<p>@ ssmjmm: Welcome to AU’s board!</p>
<p>The College of Arts and Sciences isn’t really the liberal arts track – it’s where Math, Econ, History, Theater etc. are all combined into one ‘school’. They’re really just the majors that don’t ‘fit’ into any of the other schools that AU has. It is very easy to transfer schools within AU as long as your daughter keeps her grades up. The School of International Studies has higher (though not unreasonable) standards than the rest of the schools at AU. </p>
<p>University College is a living and learning experience. Instead of taking a first year writing seminar, the University College seminar is a group of 20 students who live together AND are in that freshman seminar class together. Your roommate will be in that class with you as will everyone on your floor (or section of your floor). They also have excursion outside of class to places in DC – in my experience people generally like it. They tend to bond very closely with these people since they’re the first close group of friends made at AU and make the transition a little easier. </p>
<p>I looked at Davidson too (though never applied) and quite frankly the schools couldn’t be more different. AU is in a huge city – obviously the nations capitol. Davidson is in Davidson, NC with a total population of 7,100—and that’s including 1,700 college students – franchises outside of CVS and Ben and Jerry’s are banned from the town. The closest ‘big’ city is Charlotte, NC which is 20 miles away. AU has about 6,000 undergrads which to me is enough that you see a few people you know every day, but don’t know everyone in your class. Davidson has just over 1500 – which is smaller than the school I used to go to. Davidson has 95% of their students living on campus – while AU has most Juniors and Seniors living off campus. AU has a state of the art, brand new international relations building, one of the top ranked international relations programs, and extensive course offerings. Davidson college doesn’t even offer the major.</p>
<p>Hope that helps, good luck on your search! Feel free to message me or post here with any further questions.</p>