Not all schools allow this. D19’s did not allow either removing existing furniture or bringing in any. Apart from potential fire hazard issues or damage to their furniture , I wonder if some schools are also more concerned than others about the extent to which kids show off their wealth to those who have less.
IME with NESCACs and similar SLACs in NE, the midwest and mid-Atlantic, reverse-snobbery is still common. The dorms, at least for first years, are often basic: no AC, plain rooms, and simple, well-worn furniture. I don’t know a single person who brought “better” furniture or whose first-year kid coordinated their dorm decor with their roommate.
This was the common mentality among New Englanders and old-money East Coasters for many years. It’s strange to see how places like Nantucket have changed from my Jeep/Land Rover is older than yours, to a private-jet, fin/tech bro culture.
Apparently when you spec out can be puked on, jumped on, stacked haphazardly, and so on, you eventually converge on just that one form.
I’ve heard more than one person at this point lament the passing of Yankee culture. Obviously puritanism can be taken way too far, but I kinda agree it was nice to have a prominent counterbalance to conspicuous consumption.
I’m not from the east coast but in my Chicagoland area, having/talking about the age of your Wrangler/Land Rover is actually a flex because the older models are more desirable and often more pricey.
I haven’t been to Davidson, but agree Furman’s campus and buildings are very nice. Like I said above, we didn’t get into dorms and some other buildings at Wake, and Wake is a fine campus, but it’s not as nice as Furman’s. Maybe Furman sees it as they have more to prove or are trying to differentiate where they can.
Furman gives a really nice tour. My older daughter competed for their full-ride scholarship, and they pulled out all the stops during the scholarship interview weekend with the meals and activities.
My D26 really enjoyed the tour last fall, too, and she got to sit in on a class that she found interesting.
Too bad Furman doesn’t really offer the majors either of them want(ed) – but the campus is super nice.
Not a Yankee (though my mother loves to mention how she was born “just outside of Boston” but moved when she was 4), but I was pretty proud of my 15-year old Corolla and was a little wistful when I passed it along to my cousin’s family because my grandmother was gifting me her 3-month old Corolla (she was no longer going to drive). And my midwestern spouse is looking forward to running his 10-year old Sienna into the ground one day far, far away. All the vehicles were bought new.
At some point, one may begin to wonder if Davidson is having financial issues (I’m sure they aren’t, but that’s what prospective students/parents may be thinking - in addition to, where does all the tuition money go, if not building improvements?)
My kids both went to publics where a certain amount of normal campus “wear and tear” is expected- but if I’m thinking of shelling out close to $80k/yr, a run-down campus would give me a bit of pause.
Who knows? Here is some pure speculation on things that might or might not play a role:
They have D1 sports at Davidson–I bet at a school that size they have D1 costs (scholarships, recruiting, NIL, facilities, travel) but not D1 revenue (probably no TV money for Davidson).
Bad investments or financial mismanagement. I remember reading that either Haverford or Middlebury (I forget which it was) got absolutely slaughtered in 2008 and is still recovering to this day.
They might be chasing superstar faculty and spending their money here.
Having an unsustainable balance of full need kids and full pays.
Etc. Etc.
I am not sure what is happening, but Davidson is noticeably behind their peers in what we call “Plant, Property and Equipment (PPE)” in business.
Our very first three college visits – back in March 2019 when D22 was a freshman – were Duke, UNC and Davidson, in that order.
I was SO impressed with Duke’s campus. Like blown away. D22 was completely nonchalant. She didn’t like that it was two separate campuses, and the gothic buildings did nothing for her. UNC seemed a little bit shabby to us after Duke, and it was definitely too big for her, regardless. And then I don’t remember Davidson being run down at all – maybe it’s changed in the last six years. We both liked it, but D22 commented that it didn’t seem much different from her high school.
Well, that is part of the problem. Even the most prestigious private colleges are competing with flagship publics that charge less than half their sticker prices for tuition, especially for families who fall into the “donut hole” in terms of eligibility for need-based aid. Thus…
I think I can say with a fair degree of confidence that every private college worth its salt is on the verge of “unsustainability” when it comes to need-based FA and they secretly feel pretty good about it.
I could have written your post, although our visit was in March of 2020 just before the Covid shutdown.
It was Davidson’s spring break so we tried to be understanding that we could not see a dorm and the campus was empty so it was hard to get the vibe. I remember my D21 really liked the campus in general and especially the science building (chem major/premed)… but she was disappointed by the student center. She said the carpet seemed like the old moldy carpet in a movie theater, bowling alley or roller rink. hahaha
Davidson ended up in her top three in March/April of 2021 so I guess she got over the gross carpet. (Wow. It is hard to believe that visit was 5 years ago.)
Our family flex is that once C17 turned 12, everyone told us we’d need a second car, what with all the activities and such—so we have remained a one car family ever since then despite running four kids all over creation, pretty much out of spite.
(And yeah, our Sienna is over 10 years old, having replaced an Odyssey that was over 10 years old.)
My D22’s high school ended up nominating her for some full-ride scholarship at Davidson – she hadn’t planned on applying, but free college is free college, so she decided to just do it. And that brought her list to 9, and an odd number was unacceptable (because she’s nuts) – so she applied to Wake, too, just to make it an even number.
She got into Wake, but she was waitlisted at Davidson (clearly they could tell her heart wasn’t in it). We still kinda laugh about that – so much for competing for the full ride, she didn’t even get in!
I guess opinions can vary on what makes for an attractive campus. We were just at Davidson’s Commencement in May and thought the campus looked wonderful. Davidson opened a brand new football stadium and an modern athletic field house this year and renovated their track and field complex. Davidson is also beginning a $100 mil renovation of their library this summer: Library Transformation | Davidson. And maybe more importantly for many students, the new on campus Chick Fil A is set to open this fall to join Qdoba. Rumor has it that once the library is finished that next on the capital plan is a new dining commons to replace the 80s era Vail Commons. (BTW Amherst’s Valentine Hall has my vote as the most tired dining facility at an elite college though to be fair Amherst is in the process of building a new $200 mil dining commons and student center.)
Davidson’s endowment was $1.4 billion as of 2024 so not quite in the rarified air of Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore but still a wealthy school.
(Wow. It is hard to believe that visit was 5 years ago.)
