<p>The first college my D visited was Vanderbilt, the second was Davidson College. Davidson especially is a fine college from an acedemic standpoint. My ‘D’ gave up on Vanderbilt after seeing Davidson, she liked the small town, the ice cream parlor in the little downtown, etc.</p>
<p>Both of these give few merit scholarships and both are expensive though they claim 100% of financial need. </p>
<p>We visited 12 colleges in the last year and a half… big, little, public, private, ivy, southern wannabe ivies, rural, suburban, urban… </p>
<p>My D is going to Auburn University for a couple of reasons. 1) The private schools will not take but just a few of the 41 college credits she has earned while in high school. 2) Auburn gave her massive Merit money and her college is virtually free. 3) She can go to Vanderbilt, Emory , Harvard, Princeton, Stanford (Davidson has no graduate stuff), debt free for her Master’s Degree if she continues to perform well and desires to do so. </p>
<p>Even though Auburn is a larger college… the town atmosphere with Toomer’s corner, Blue Bagel. southern hospitality , etc. reminded her of the small Davidson environment. We also believe you will find more Christain support at Auburn than the others. Undergraduate Math and Physics are generally similar at high-end privates and honors colleges at public schools… But if the eventual goal is masters/doctorates, the 1st 4 years are less relevant (except for debt). I have no idea about music, but I would assume a college the size of Auburn would have more opportunities than Davidson, but Vanderbilt and Emory may have better options. </p>
<p>Just our thoughts.</p>