<p>I received a likely letter last week to Dartmouth, and I was (am) exuberant. Dartmouth is perfect for me; the rural atmosphere, outdoorsy activities, etc. The one thing that might concern me is the frat scene, but I hear the parties are open, so that should be fine(can someone comment on this?).</p>
<p>All in all, Im having trouble caring about my upcoming decisions from Yale, Princeton, etc, because I feel I'm already in where I should go. </p>
<p>But, is there anything you current Dartmouth students / anyone in the know don't like about the college that could make me think twice about going??</p>
<p>I am in the same situation as you; after receiving a likely letter from Dartmouth, I’m not too concerned about whether I get into Harvard, Yale, or Duke anymore. However, I’ve been doing as much research as I can about Dartmouth’s pros and cons; I don’t know if the following articles pertain to you but they’re something to consider: </p>
<p>Also, I just spoke to a recent Dartmouth graduate who told me this about the Greek scene:</p>
<p>“It IS the most “laid back” of all the ivy league schools – but that also means that the environment can sometimes feel a bit anti-intellectual. I also wasn’t really into the Greek scene at all, which is really dominant. Yes, they do tell you on campus visits that, because frat parties are open and there’s no invite list, it’s much more egalitarian – I can tell you, it’s not. There are still definite hierarchies. If you’re not into Greek life though (and no problem if you are! I just personally wasn’t) there’s definitely ways to circumvent that, and form close social groups with people who have similar interests. I wasn’t involved with them much, but I know a lot of people who were in Tabard. Dartmouth also prides itself on having a LOT of school spirit. This is a good thing, but it also makes it hard (among/between students – the faculty are plenty critical) to be critical of certain institutional practices. Dartmouth also has some major problems with gender relations (a legacy of the fact that it was the last Ivy to go co-ed, perhaps), but you mentioned you were a guy, so that’s probably not as relevant.”</p>
<p>However, of the few negative things I’ve found about Dartmouth, I’ve otherwise learned nothing but what an incredible place it is. I’m also really outdoorsy and athletic, so couple those qualities with Dartmouth’s amazing undergrad resources and I can’t help but think it’s the perfect school for me. For more insight, I’ve also found it helpful to watch some of Dartmouth’s live streams:</p>
<p>Unfortunately these are not uncommon experiences among the top schools. Our family heard similar student testimonial from just about all 12 schools we visited this past year and 3/4. It’s a shame that the human desire to control surroundings causes this type of behaivor. Most of the offenders spent 4+ years of HS and prep toiling away to enter these schools and “by George,” someone has to pay for that stress. What they forget to remember is that everyone attending those schools has worked just as hard to get accepted. Instead of embracing that commonality, some students have been “bred,” to always seek out the differences and exploit them. Among the elite schools’ students, confidence and self-esteem co-exist in such a fragile imbalance that you’ll have atmospheres of intolerance. While this type of behavior can be found anywhere it can be that much more disillusioning when it happens at schools that supposedly have the “brightest young minds,” as ideally, ignorance is supposed to be the breeding ground for intolerance and not institutions of higher learning.</p>
<p>Ah well, the soapbox is about to crack underneath the weight of all this text so I’ll stop myself here . . .</p>