Davidson College | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

natasha

Class: Sophomore
Major: Biology
Gender: F

High School: Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami and Phillips Exeter Academy
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Davidson is a small school and that has both positive and negative sides. It's really nice when you come in as a freshman and get to meet some seniors or juniors. The community is small enough that you make a lot of friends in different years. I do think, however, the more time you spend there, the smaller it feels because those friends you made freshman year have graduated. I really enjoy the small community because you can't walk anywhere on campus without someone you know stopping to say hi. Davidson is all about the small classes with good professors. The professors are all about making you really adept in whatever subject you're studying. There isn't really an opportunity to just skip class without some sort of consequence because the teachers know who's in the class by the end of the second week usually. The town of Davidson is very cute, but it doesn't really have too many options for food. You can basically go to Brickhouse for drinks if you're old enough and Bonzai for an asian fusion and the soda shop for a burger or a sandwich and a shake. That can get old really fast. Luckily there are a lot of options an exit or 2 down from the school. That definitely doesn't mean you need a car either because enough people on campus will have a car and it's always fun to go out for a midnight cookout run for shakes with a group. Davidson is definitely a school with a lot of pride, and it doesn't disappear when you graduate either. Basketball is definitely our big sport, and when we made it into the sweet sixteen, our trustees paid for the students to get on buses and go watch the games. I can't think of another school where the trustees/alumns are still so proud of their alma mater that they would pay for the students to go to the game.

Academic Life

Academics are hard. The professors expect a lot of work outside of the class that allows you to be prepared for class the next day. Not all classes are equally difficult - Organic and Theater 101 are obviously on different levels. Even if you fall behind in a class, which is usually inevitable, you will work your***off to study for the test. Even so, you might get a B. Even though the classes are really hard, most of them are enjoyable because the professors know what they're talking about. You can tell they want you to work hard because they worked hard and really love what they're trying to teach you. They are also always willing to help you out, whether it's on a test that you did poorly on or a paper that isn't due for another week and you want some early advice. The professors expect a lot but never fail to be fair.

Student Body

Davidson is a primarily white school, unfortunately. They are trying to work on increasing interracial diversity on campus, but that's a slow process. The interracial issues on campus aren't very apparent. In general people are friendly and I haven't heard any racial slurs used to make fun of other students. But it is very apparent that there is a big white population. I'm white and it even made me feel a little uncomfortable at first because I'm used to living in a big city and I've never been in such a white-dominated area. Although it's a little weird at first, I don't think the tension is that high because the students on the campus are generally very friendly and considerate regardless of race or economic background. The students tend to look good when they go to class. By that I do not mean ties and button-downs, but polo shirts and khakis are very popular for guys and it's not surprising to see girls in summer dresses in the spring.