<p>Rice is in a big city and the social options strongly favor drinking and partying. College is college- city or rural.</p>
<p>I'd go to Amherst over Dartmouth--
there are no frats, fewer people smoke (a surprisingly large number of people at Dmouth smoke), you're going to have a TRUE liberal arts college experience, and you won't run into anyone going to Amherst largely because it is an Ivy.</p>
<p>On the subject of drinking at Colleges...I think you should be concerned about Dartmouth, but none of the other schools. Everyone doesn't participate in mid-week drinking at Dartmouth, but it's certainly commonplace. This is not the case at Amherst or Williams. At Amherst, Thursday and Saturday are big parties nights and people will often also party on Fridays. At Williams, Friday and Saturday are the bigger party nights, but people do party on Thursdays (although it's a significant minority of students). </p>
<p>Drinking's somewhat of a problem at ALL colleges in this country (in the sense that a significant portion of college-aged students are drinking underage, often in an irresponsible and potentially dangerous manner). Is drinking more of a problem at Williams than Amherst? Probably not. I think for that reason it's all the more commendable that the Williams trustees are taking a more active roll in promoting a healthier drinking culture at Williams.</p>
<p>by smoke do you mean tobacco or medicinal weed.</p>
<p>Mensa,</p>
<p>People smoke the medicinal stuff at most colleges. At Dartmouth in certain scenes its big, in others its not. You could go there four years and never see it, but in a different environment you see it all the time.</p>
<p>hey slipper, can you describe for me a typical frat party at dartmouth? you told me you don't really have to drink to have fun there, but how is this true? thanks</p>
<p>tobacco...</p>
<p>I'd go Dartmouth over Amherst just because Dartmouth seems more of a community and I prefer Dartmouth's surrounding area to Amherst. Plus, I love Dartmouth's overseas program...and the Dartmouth campus is just tooo beautiful</p>
<p>Basically a typical night involves at least two big parties. Usually in the basement there are people at the bar and drinking beer. There are also people playing pong and alot of people just hanging out and mingling. Upstairs there is a DJ and dancing. Usually different frats will have different music. So one night one frat might be playing hip hop and the other frat will be playing pop or techno. </p>
<p>Some frats are very open to members not drinking. At tri-kap the members who dont drink usually play pong with water.</p>
<p>I am currently a first-year student at Dartmouth; this is my 2 cents.
Drinking:
I visited both Amherst and Dartmouth post acceptances and concluded that the drinking scene at Amherst was less conducive to academics. At Amherst, my host shuttled me from dorm to dorm where there were kegs and hard alcohol in the common rooms. There are no frats; therefore, drinking happens in the Dorms. At Dartmouth, I feel that the drinking scene is no less and no more than at Amherst but is different because it is centralized at the Colleges 14 Fraternities, 9 Sororities, 3 coed organizations, and 2 undergraduate societies. The only drinking that occurs in the dorms is small room parties where friends just hang out. Personally, I think this is a big plus to Dartmouth, whenever I want to sleep or study, there are not distractions right down the hall. I could not picture myself being able to do this while the 2-room "fire and ice" party I witnessed at Amherst was being thrown. In addition, I felt the parties at Amherst were more about drinking and not about drinking and dancing. The dances at the frats at Dartmouth are huge and I have many friends who are non-drinkers who go just for those. </p>
<p>Size:
My personal opinion is that the others colleges in the vicinity of Amherst College detract from their community. On my visit, many people I spoke with lamented that they are wary about wearing school paraphernalia in town because the 18,000 undergrads at UMass look down on the smart 1100 Amherst college undergrads. That being said, I feel that Amherst has very little school spirit. This is one of my favorite things about Dartmouth, and why I chose it in the end. The community at Dartmouth is AWESOME. The town of Hanover has 11,000 people and half of them are students at Dartmouth. Every college-aged person you see is a fellow student. Nobody is ashamed to love their school, and to cheer for our sports teams (go Hockey!). </p>
<p>Conclusion:
APPLY to Dartmouth! Come to Dartmouth!</p>
<p>Thank you. a great analysis.
Maybe it's not a good comparison, but did you also look at Brown? I'd be curious about he atmosphere there .</p>
<p>My bro rejected dartmouth when he went to visit after being admitted. The moment he got there, students were offering him weed, which he wasn't a fan of. Then, he didn't like that the organizers of the visiting day had segregated him into a group of Asians. He thought they should have just randomly assigned people to dorms and groups instead of trying to racially segregate them. He also didn't like the fact that some Dartmouth guys were being rude to his friend that he had brought along. Now, his friend is a little weird (18 with a long, full beard, slept in the hall of the dartmouth dorm just for the heck of it), but my brother thought it was alittle unjustified.</p>
<p>I would choose Dartmouth, because I wouldn't have to be around those UMass students :p</p>
<p>I might pick Amherst since it has no requirements. But I have a legacy kick at Dartmouth, so there might have been parental pressure to go there...</p>
<p>weed at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>I'm not saying the whole campus is rampantly high. It was probably just the first group of students my brother met, and it made a bad impression.</p>
<p>Yeah, its by no means everywhere, just a few scenes. Its as prevelant as it is at any Ivy.</p>
<p>Jesterz08 and Slipper,</p>
<p>great posts! I love to hear actual students talk about their school, it cuts through the fog of rumor that's bandied about in this forums ad nauseum.</p>
<p>bump......</p>