These are all great schools, of course, and I know smart folks who went to all of them.
Other data points in thinking about these:
Duke is in Durham.
Rhodes is in Memphis.
Davidson is 25 minutes (21 miles) from Charlotte.
Sewanee is in the mountains.
W&L is in cute little Lexington. Absolutely beautiful setting.
I think the proximity to urban areas has a big impact, especially on Rhodes. Rhodes has embraced being in the midst of a large urban area (though the campus does not feel urban at all, and is across the street from a huge park). Rhodes is a national leader in community service, and gives scholarships specifically for service-oriented kids (as well as the normal merit scholarship).
Duke and Davidson are outliers in this group in their sports culture. Davidson is one of the rare LAC’s with division 1 sports (basketball, home of Steph Curry). Duke is Duke. This will be attractive to some students… it also breeds a particular type of partying.
Greek life at all five is quite strong but manifests in different ways … I believe W&L still asks not to be ranked by the Princeton Review, b/c they were embarrassed at always being the top, or near the top, of the party and drinking rankings?
Final thing to add to this discussion: NY Times back in 2017 published stats about the percentage of a student body from the top 1% of income, versus the bottom 60%. (Some Colleges Have More Students From the Top 1 Percent Than the Bottom 60. Find Yours. - The New York Times)
US Ranking among colleges/universities of size of gap between wealthy and not is the first number.
- W&L 19.1% from top 1%, 8.4% from bottom 60%
- Duke 19.2% from top 1%, 16.5% from bottom 60%
- Davidson 17.4% from top 1%, 16.4% from bottom 60%
- Sewanee 14.4% from top 1%, 18.0% from bottom 60%
- Rhodes 11.6% from top 1%, 17.1% from bottom 60%
The wealth differences plays out in many ways, cultural and otherwise.
One is the correlation b/w SAT scores and wealth: the difference that can be seen in average SAT among these schools is partly linked to the wealth difference. In terms of the level of academic discussion and debate in the classroom? I suspect that you wouldn’t find much of a difference.