<p>for those students accepted at both, how did you decide?</p>
<p>good question</p>
<p>wow i'd kill to have your problem.</p>
<p>So you know my perspective: I sent a son to Amherst, but my parents are retired college professors in New Hampshire (not Dartmouth). </p>
<p>There's no difference between Massachusetts snow and New Hampshire snow, so that won't help.</p>
<p>Both schools provide a beautiful, solidly intellectual LAC foundation to widen your horizons. </p>
<p>Aside from individual department strengths (there you must look, case by case), it appears to me that the biggest difference is the role of the Five College Consortium. If that appeals to you, choose Amherst (1800 tight-knit students within a looser-knit community of 4 other colleges/unis totalling 25,000 or so). If not, head for Dartmouth (is it 2500 students these days? sorry I'm not up-to-date on my stats). </p>
<p>Also, in terms of "getting away" for weekends, my impression is that Dartmouth students aim for Boston, while Amherst students choose between Boston or NYC, simply due to distances. </p>
<pre><code>I emphasize that these are the removed perceptions of a parent and neighbor, not a student who knows close-up.
</code></pre>
<p>Individual classes at Dartmouth tend to be larger, if that matters to you. On the other hand, you'd also have a larger class and the numbers might present more possibilities.</p>
<p>My daughter thought that one of the greatest differences between Dartmouth and Williams was the unusual academic schedule at Dartmouth, and I guess the same would be the case if she were comparing Dartmouth and Amherst. For some people, the Dartmouth schedule is wonderful. For others (including some athletes), it can be very difficult. That would be something I'd think through very carefully. If you go to Dartmouth, you will be on a very different schedule than other college students. That can be great in terms of opening up internships and jobs, or it can be bad if you want to be able to hang out with hometown friends over breaks. Also, you will have fewer classes at a time at Dartmouth but the tempo is accelerated and you'll have more classes overall than you are likely to have at Amherst. Some kids say that Dartmouth feels like being in tests and papers all the time; other kids love it.</p>
<p>If you are an outdoor person, compare Amherst's resources with Dartmouth's. The Dartmouth Outing Club is extraordinary.</p>
<p>Drinking is a personal issue, but you should probably think about the social cultures at the two schools.</p>
<p>Can you do a weekend at each school, staying with students? Again and again, that's what seems to make the difference in the decision making process.</p>
<p>Both are great academically and focus on undergraduate education. It has been said that Dartmouth has the most LAC-feel among the Ivies. Dartmouth does cover some academic areas that Amherst does not such as engineering by virtue of its bigger size. It also has a medical school and business school nearby. Amherst focuses exclusively on undergraduates and has about one fourth the number of undergrad students.</p>
<p>Socially, Dartmouth is more isolated as there is no counterpart to the 5-college consortium that Amherst enjoys. Also, a majority of students join fraternities whereas fraternities do not exist officially at Amherst. At least by reputation and history, Dartmouth has been known to be a fairly big drinking school. The screenwriter of "Animal House" is a Dartmouth alum and I have been told some of the incidents portrayed are semi-autobiographical. Then again, he attended 30+ years ago. I would suggest talking to current students to see if the work hard/party hard culture still exists. Definitely visit both places to see where you best "fit in."</p>
<p>Congratulations on two great choices!</p>
<p>I ended up deciding between the two, and choosing Amherst. They are similar in many ways. Both are relatively small, undergraduate-focused schools that are not in big cities. Pmyen and Grace did highlight many of the differences between them. For me, there was no one deciding factor, but I did like a few things that Amherst offered that Dartmouth didn't. The Amherst area seemed a little more alive and less isolated, in part because of the 5-college consortium. The open curriculum at Amherst is also nice. In addition, I liked the smaller, more intimate and familiar feeling of a smaller student body. The lack of frats was also big, because I felt it creates unnecessary social pressures. I have spoken to friends rushing frats at other schools who have described as a stressful experience, and that was something I wanted to avoid. I also didn't like the Dartmouth schedule, and wanted to be on a regular schedule so I would have similar vacations to my friends. However, both are great places, and I probably would have been happy at either.</p>
<p>I agree that you have a win-win dilemma. The big question is where you will be most happy. I have one D at Dartmouth and she loves it. Her sister will be entering Amherst this fall. While her younger sibling liked Dartmouth and could have been happy there, she felt a connection to the more intimate setting at Amherst. She likes the fact that Amherst is a college town, while Hanover is a little more upscale in the town itself. While the allure of only three classes a quarter is appealing, they are intense....covering a semester worth of material in 10 weeks....so there is aways a paper, test or reading due. Social scenes are what you make of them....greek life does dominate Dartmouth, but my D's best friends are not necessarily members of her sorority. (She is not a partier.)<br>
If you asked my wife which she would prefer, she'd likely say Darmouth. For myself I would favor Amherst. But its not about your parents, its about your gut feelings.....the schools are much more alike than they are different ....whichever you choose, chances are you'll look back and believe it was the right choice. Go with your heart.</p>
<p>i picked amherst over dartmouth too. it really does depend on where you feel you'll fit in. both are great schools. i didn't like the greek life and dartmouth. but i have to admit, sometimes i do regret not picking a bigger school. i'm sure there is a wider variety of classes in dartmouth than there is at amherst. generally, though, i'm glad i'm here.</p>
<p>Paying3tuitions,
Actually Dartmouth has 4,100 undergraduate and 1,600 graduate students
Students head to Boston or Montreal - both two hours away.</p>
<p>How about corporate recruiting? Amherst and Dartmouth has more in common than different, but Dartmouth seems to be more of a target school for banks than Amherst is. I checked on a lot of banks' first year recruit's website and the dartmouth name came up at least 10 times, whereas Amherst only came up once.</p>
<p>"Students head to Boston or Montreal - both two hours away."</p>
<p>By "two hours" to Montreal, do you mean 3 and a half? Slightly more than the distance from Amherst to NYC.</p>
<p>I think Dartmouth feels smaller than it is because the D-plan means only 3,000 or so students on campus at any given time, is that wrong?</p>