Davidson College
What Davidson College's own numbers say, from its Common Data Set 2025-26.
See your odds at Davidson College →All 6 insights at Davidson College PRO
International applicants face 5.3× tougher odds at Davidson College.
2.4% of international applicants are admitted, against 13% overall.
Davidson College's ED number is inflated.
29% of Early Decision applicants get in, but that pool includes recruited athletes and legacies, admitted at far higher rates. Without them, our estimate is about 23%. Everyone else: 10.0%.
Getting into Davidson College is 1.4× harder than in 2019.
The admit rate fell from 18% (2019-20) to 13% (2025-26).
Davidson College's waitlist is a long shot: 2.9%.
28 of 953 students who stayed on the list got in.
67% of Davidson College's class is filled in Early Decision.
That leaves about 173 seats for 7,701 applicants outside ED.
Davidson College meets 100% of need.
The average need-based grant is $65,233 a year, against tuition of $73,090.
9 more things the data says PRO
- The admit rate has moved down steadily, from 18.1% in 2019-20 to 12.6% in 2025-26. If the trend holds, expect about 11.5% in 2026-27.
- After ED, 173 of 531 seats were left for 7,701 other applicants: about one seat for every 45.
- Early Decision filled about 67% of the 2025-26 first-year class, more than 83% of similar colleges.
- ED applicants were admitted at 29%, against 10.0% for everyone else: 2.9 times the rate.
- 953 students stayed on the waitlist and 28 were admitted from it (2.9%).
- 47% of admitted students chose to enroll, higher than 91% of similar colleges.
- Only 25% of enrolled first-years sent an SAT score, so its SAT range describes a minority of the class.
- It reports meeting 100% of financial need for first-years who have need.
- Applications rose 49% from 2019-20 to 2025-26 (5,982 to 8,933), faster than 65% of colleges here.
What students say PRO
From students' own posts on Reddit and admissions forums: self-reported, unverified, never used in your odds.
- Most admits who posted founded or led something sizeable, such as a nonprofit school, an adaptive sports program, a political club or a tutoring program.
- Admits who shared scores mostly had SATs from about 1470 to 1560 with GPAs near 4.0, though a test-optional applicant was also admitted.
- Admits showed community involvement, such as tutoring, library or volunteer work and 200+ service hours, which students say weighs heavily.
- Students disagree on whether Early Decision helps: many cite much higher ED rates and say about half the class is filled early, others credit hooked applicants.
- Students report regular decision is very competitive, with strong 4.0 and 1500+ applicants rejected or waitlisted.
- Students report international applicants are not need-blind, so the aid amount they request matters a lot to their chances.
- Students suggest waitlisted applicants send a letter of continued interest with senior-year updates; some waitlisted students do later get in.
Every number, year by year: Davidson College on Open College Data. Something wrong? Suggest a correction.