Admission Requirements

Applicants must complete secondary school graduation requirements before enrolling at Davidson.

Excluding consideration for exceptional circumstances, at least 16 high school units are required, although the average student accepted at Davidson has taken 20 units. These units should include:

• 4 units of English
• 3 units of mathematics
• 2 units of the same foreign language
• 2 units of science
• 2 units of history/social studies

To be most competitive in our applicant pool, it is strongly recommended that high school students continue for the third and fourth years in science and in the same foreign language, continue mathematics through calculus, and take additional courses in history.

Candidates considering Davidson should take at least five academic subjects each year in secondary school, unless the school curriculum is structured around four. It is important that a challenging academic program be taken each year, but especially in the junior and senior years.

All applicants must take the SAT or the ACT, and have an official score sent to Davidson.

We recommend that juniors take the SAT or the ACT no later than the end of junior year, particularly if interested in the Early Decision plan. For Regular Decision applicants, students should take the test no later than December of senior year.

It is recommended, but not required, that applicants submitting the SAT also take two SAT Subject Tests (mathematics and one of your choosing) and that those submitting the ACT send results from the ACT Writing Test.

CEEB number (SAT): 5150  ACT number: 3086

Interviews with admission representatives are not required for admission to Davidson.

In fact, the Office of Admission does not offer interviews as a part of the application process - either on-campus or off.  We do, however, offer individual information sessions for students and families following campus tours.  These are personalized meetings with admission staff members, but are meant to be purely informative in nature and are non-evaluative.

Non-native English speakers must provide evidence of fluency in English through writing samples and successful performance on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). TOEFL scores must be sent directly to Davidson by the testing agency.