Amherst College vs Davidson College

Amherst College and Davidson College, both highly regarded liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Amherst, located in Massachusetts, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10.4%) compared to Davidson's (22.6%) in North Carolina. Amherst's student body is slightly larger, with an undergraduate enrollment of 1,851 compared to Davidson's 1,809. While both colleges offer a diverse range of majors, Amherst is known for its strengths in the social sciences and humanities, while Davidson excels in the natural sciences and engineering. With graduation rates of 94% and 92% respectively, both institutions ensure that their students are well-prepared for their future endeavors. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these two exceptional colleges and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Amherst College	Davidson College
Overview
Location	Amherst, Massachusetts	Davidson, North Carolina
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	98.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation		Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.7%	17.8%
Application fees	$60	$50
SAT range	1370 - 1550	N/A
ACT range	32 - 34	N/A
Students submitting SAT score	36.0%
Students submitting ACT score	31.0%
Total number of applicants	13,999	6,434
Total number of admissions given out	1,224	1,145
Admitted students who chose to enroll	515	547
Yield rate	42.1%	47.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,050	$73,200
Average net price	$18,809	$25,794
Tuition	$60,700	$54,460
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,700 Meal plan: $7,400	Room/dormitory: $7,700 Meal plan: $7,525
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	61.0% Average amount $58,644	64.0% Average amount $47,889
Students receiving federal student loan	10.0% Average amount $5,233	10.0% Average amount $5,095
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $16,803	2.0% Average amount $33,219

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,971 Men 48.6% Women 51.4%	1,973 Men 47.2% Women 52.8%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	76.8%
International students	10.4%	8.2%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,000	1,830
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California New Jersey Connecticut Pennsylvania	North Carolina Virginia Texas New Jersey Florida

Academics
Popular study areas	Physical Science Social Sciences Mathematics and Statistics Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ethnic Studies	Psychology Physical Science Social Sciences Foreign Languages and Literatures Ethnic Studies
Students to faculty ratio	7:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	92.4%	89.6%
Dropout rate	2.5%	10.0%
Transferred out	3.6%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,775 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $94,870 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $64,970 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $85,992 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,271 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $84,030 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $53,743 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,419 Year 2: $48,432 Year 3: $46,160 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,744 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $36,173 Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,896 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $96,310 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: N/A Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $60,797 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $80,388 Political Science and Government (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $42,752 Year 2: $45,715 Year 3: $53,747 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,240 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $41,099 Year 2: $35,330 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $31,670 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: $34,292 Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: N/A Anthropology (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A History (Undergraduate Certificates or Diplomas) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,075 Year 3: N/A

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Amherst College

Claremont McKenna College