Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina, is a highly selective liberal arts college of approximately 1900 students. Since I visited on a Sunday, I wasn't able to connect with admissions, but I ate lunch in the dining hall and hung out there for a while, watching and talking to students, which I love to do. Here are some things I learned:

1. The food is absolutely delicious. I've eaten in dozens and dozens of dining halls, and this was top notch. The salad bar, for example, was HUGE, with all the usual choices plus salmon, roasted butternut squash, Brussels sprout salad, kimchi, pickled onions, pico de gallo, avocado, and much more.

2. I was sitting with student athletes. They make up 25% of the student population so it wasn't hard to do. A member of the dining staff came over to ask them if they had gotten playtime that week. She was very interested in hearing about their success on the basketball court. That was very endearing!

3. Those athletes were Black. I asked them if they felt comfortable and welcome on campus. They told me that black students at Davidson are almost exclusively basketball and football players, they're not made to feel unwelcome, but they don't really intermingle with white students. It was hard to tease out why.

I then made my way to the student union. It's really gorgeous and on a Sunday afternoon close to final exam time, was so quiet you could almost hear pin drop. There were many students there, but they were studying. Not surprising for a school this selective and academic.

As a liberal arts college, Davidson offers all the majors you'd expect and a few other interesting ones you might not: Communication Studies, Digital Studies, Global Literary Theory and Public Health. They've been a top producer of Fulbright Scholars for the past 7 years and have produced 23 Rhodes Scholars. The honor code is a big deal with self-scheduled, take-home, and unproctored exams.

The Davidson campus is gorgeous and the student body is intellectual and diverse. In both ways, it reminded me a lot of Bowdoin, but with Division 1 athletics. It's a great option for a high-achieving student who wants warmer weather, but beware: this past year they filled 64% of the class with early decision!