How prestigious is Davidson?

Vosul
Fri, 04 Nov 2005 09:08:40 +0000

It’s funny that I came across this message board, because I’m a current Davidson College student and was just having a conversation on this same subject with my friends.

First of all, Davidson is extremely prestigious in the South and with academics throughout the country. In fact, according to some, it is by far the most intellectually prestigious school in the region. Though its prestige up north is certainly lacking, it is growing rapidly, as the school is finally taking an interest in increasing its national name recognition not only through its basketball team. For a long time, the school seemed to have rested on its laurels and was content with being a regional/LAC player, but now seems to be interested in playing with the Ivies.

In terms of selectivity, the difficulty in admission has increased exponentially over the past several years. Moreover, it is a lot more selective than it looks by numbers; remember that a good part of the incoming freshman class are Division 1 athletes. In the near future, I think that Davidson will continue to become more selective as its name recognition increases. Once it begins to be more of a household name up North, there will be huge increases in applicants; it’s still kind of a hidden treasure up there. Also, I don’t see any “limits” on its selectivity or prestige–there are aspects of Davidson that, unlike most of the Northern LACs, will attract people who otherwise would not be going for a Liberal Arts College. I would not be surprised to find Davidson as one of the few most selective schools in the nation in 10 years.