<p>I found the thread Brown vs Yale vey helpful. Anyone care to share their impressions about these two? After all, they are the smallest of the ivies… Perhaps, more in common?</p>
<p>I am speaking as someone who liked both schools, but ultimately applied to Brown early.</p>
<p>Both schools are very down to earth and seem to avoid the pretentiousness that many claim characterizes Ivy League schools. Brown has very little Greek life, preferring dorm parties, while Dartmouth Greek life is the source of social events (although it does not resemble traditional Greek life in the slightest and is very open).</p>
<p>The students seem genuinely happy and social. Brown students are quirkier, while Dartmouth students seem more homogenous. This is a stereotype, but Dartmouth was like a walking advertisement for J. Crew, while Brown students were dressed in all sorts of styles. Brown has more minorities, although minorities at Brown may be more likely to socialize with each other. </p>
<p>Brown is in a city, while Dartmouth is rural. Dartmouth is conducive to outdoor sports and skiing, while Brown is more conducive to students getting involved in the community (check out the school's commission on slavery and justice). Not to say that Dartmouth students don't do community service, but a city offers a lot more opportunities. The surrounding areas are both really nice and have good restaurants and both campuses are gorgeous but not completely self-enclosed. </p>
<p>The curricula are similar; Dartmouth's distribution requirements are very open and both schools give you flexibility with your majors.</p>
<p>The quarter system at Dartmouth means that it really is a lot smaller than Brown because there are only about 3000 students on campus at a time. Dartmouth is more conducive to studying abroad, but only on Dartmouth programs. At Brown, you'd have to go for a semester or a year.</p>
<p>Both are overwhelmingly liberal, although Dartmouth has more conservatives. </p>
<p>For me, it came down to the fact that, I could really picture where I would get involved at Dartmouth and what I would do there, while at Brown, I pictured myself exploring all sorts of things.</p>
<p>i'm sure there are a lot of old threads about this as well. i spent a long time at brown and have a brother at dartmouth. my impression is that they are more similar than different but there are a couple of key differences worth considering
1. open curriculum vs. distribution requirements
2. urban access vs. rural setting
3. semesters vs. quarters</p>
<p>it may also depend on what you wish to study...egyptology only exists at brown and native american studies is only at dartmouth. my impression is that there research opporunities--particularly in neuroscience and other life sciences are greater at brown.</p>
<p>(Posted this before with some small changes)</p>
<p>This is so close to home, so I guess I'll write alot. Dartmouth/ Brown was my choice as well and I ended up choosing Dartmouth but not after some serious thinking. The funny thing is that even after serious contemplation, I literally could not decide and choose Dartmouth basically after a coin flip of sorts lol! During college I visited Brown probably 7-8 weekends, however, so I know it really well. The great news is there is no wrong choice: I loved Dartmouth more than anything, but I am totally convinced I would have loved Brown just as much. These are by far my two of most favorite schools (throw in Stanford as the other).</p>
<p>1) Academic scene
I don't know much about Brown except the obvious lack of a core. Dartmouth's distributives are very broad so honestly to me it was a benefit if anything in that it forced me to take a couple classes (like Acting for my art) that I might otherwise not have taken. Dartmouth is awesome in terms of teaching and professor engagement, and the school is absolutely focused on the undergrad. I was an anthro major and I got $10K for my thesis research and TWO incredibly active thesis advisors. I literally had some classes with less than five people at the upper levels. Dartmouth professors take you to dinner, they encourage you, and they are amazing. I think part of the reason Dartmouth grads do so well at grad school admissions is the fact that they know their professors so well. Frankly its amazing. I am sure Brown's academics are great too, but Dartmouth does have a terrific LAC-like feel. People love to discard the D-plan but I thought it was awesome. Sophomore summer is most students favorite term.</p>
<p>Study Abroad?
Most students at Dartmouth go on a study abroad, many go on 2-3. Its not only a thing to do, its a way of life. The language programs are OUTSTANDING, you not only have small classes a preperation, you have drill with its "rassias method" which is an amazingly fun way to really learn a language. Study abroad programs include a professor and about 20 other Dartmouth students (which is different from other schools which have people from al schools). There are special trips every weekend and you get to become incredibly close to your fellow Dartmouth students. Also since Dartmouth is on the quarter system it allows for multiple study abroads.</p>
<p>2) Campus location and closest city/town location
In my opinion Brown's nearby Thayer Street blows Hanover out of the water. East Providence is hip, cool, and there are alot of great restaurants and it really does cater to students. Providence itself isn't that wonderful, but its awesome in the area where Brown is located. Conversely, Hanover is beautiful but I found the town to be more stodgy and its not catered to students. In terms of the city, Brown wins bigtime.</p>
<p>ON the other hand, Dartmouth's location in the mountains is amazing. The outdoor access is awesome, people ski during the winters on the skiway, jump in the river in summers. To be honest only a select group of students are into the hardcore outdoors. Its the casual outdoor stuff like snowball fights during the winter, riding your bike through the beautiful fall leaves, the swimming in the river during summers, BBQs by houses on the river, the awesome stars when you are out at night, etc, etc. During the summer the campus feels like a magical summer camp, during the winters its charming and warm. </p>
<p>3) Social scene
Brown is very active socially. The dorms restrictions are very lax so first-year parties abound. There are house parties, frat parties, bars, and people even venture downtown to clubs. Its a more cliquey scene, however. Different groups tend to stick together more, so its less community oriented. Its safe to say I think that people walk away with great friends, but it feels more like a University than Dartmouth. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is very community oriented. The Greek scene is huge, but its unlike any other greek scene anywhere. The houses are all open for parties to everyone and there's actually a campus list publishing the big parties that weekend. What usually happens is there will be two-three big dance parties a night plus lots of houses will have smaller groups hanging out. The cool thing is there is usally alot of energy as everyone is going to the same key places or are at least aware of the big parties. Its absolutely open and everyone is absolutely friendly. In addition to the greek scene there is a house party scene, smaller gatherings in dorms, plus niche scenes like the organic farm crowd or the Ledyard Canoe club crowd. The nights are full of activity. Dartmouth's downside might be that its jock culture does have power with the frats, places like Chi Heorot, Theta Delt, and Psi U are centered around sports teams and I think this can intimidating. The upside is there is a large social scene outside these places.</p>
<p>I think its safe to say Brown has smaller gatherings for niche groups (although there are big parties!), while Dartmouth has bigger parties that everyone goes to all the time. </p>
<p>4) Campus population
Both are equally diverse, although Dartmouth is conceived as less diverse than Brown the truth is its actually slightly more diverse. But since its smaller the sheer number of members of these groups is smaller so it might feel less diverse. However, people interact between groups at Dartmouth amazingly well. Yet I think some minority groups find comfort in sticking together and someone who grew up only hanging out with a particular minority crowd might like Brown more. Also, Brown does "feel" more international in terms of student makeup. </p>
<p>In terms of student politics I would say there is a huge overlap of "liberal" students at both. Dartmouth is more accepting of people with a conservative (libertarian) point of view, but overall I'd say 75-80% of Dartmouth is liberal while 85-90% of Brown is liberal. Frankly its not that large a difference. </p>
<p>Overall thought the students at Dartmouth overwhelmingly are the playful, fun loving, brilliant type. People tend to play down themselves which is great and refreshing among the Ivies. My experience with Brown students is that they are very similar but a little more "edgy."</p>
<p>To be honest the fact that you've narrowed it down to these two means (In my opinion lol!) that you have impeccible taste when it comes to colleges. I've been to and know alums from many many schools and hands down these two seem to provide the best college experience. You just can't go wrong.</p>
<p>Go to dartmouth, so I have a better shot at Brown. :)</p>
<p>You people have been awesome with the comments....Thanks for taking the time. I will be visiting Dartmouth in April (got a likely letter) and I will see what I find out about Brown in a couple of weeks!!</p>
<p>"After all, they are the smallest of the ivies.. Perhaps, more in common?"</p>
<p>FYI. Brown and Dartmouth may have more in common, but Princeton is smaller than Brown, both at the undergrduate and graduate levels.</p>
<p>One thing that they sure have in common is acceptance rate.</p>
<p>What do you mean by that profanity?</p>
<p>brown is a little harder get into by number who apply, acceptance rate,and yield</p>
<p>I mean among all the Ivies. Dartmouth's figure seems to be the one closest to Brown and if I am not mistaken, they seem to follow the same trends. I believe that the difference is around 1 percent or so?</p>
<p>Princeton has a smaller undergraduate population than Brown, but Brown has a smaller graduate population that Princeton. HTH.</p>
<p>"Yet I think some minority groups find comfort in sticking together and someone who grew up only hanging out with a particular minority crowd might like Brown more. </p>
<p>What a foolish comment! Don't white students at most ivy league institutions hang out in cliques as well? The simple fact is this: people with shared experiences hang out together These experiences can be cultural, athletic, academic, etc. etc. and this "grouping" is not exclusive to Brown but to society as a whole.</p>
<p>Obviously, Darthmouth kids lack analytical skills so come to Brown.</p>
<p>Wow you totally did not understand what I was saying.</p>
<p>Clearly....</p>
<p>You made an idiotic generalization and I corrected you. Why should a person who grew up with a particular minority group like Brown more? </p>
<p>Seriously, I really want to know your answer to this question.</p>
<p>Are you seriously calling my comments "idiotic"? Are you 12 years old?</p>
<p>Slipper, What did you do after finishing school at Dartmouth out of curiousity? How did you figure out what you wanted to do next?</p>
<p>Hi Fred, Dartmouth helped me launch a technology company post graduation. After I was done with that I worked in consulting for about a year. Then I got an MBA, working in business development at media companies in television and music. Post MBA I combined all that experience and now am part of the leadership at the "digital" group of a major media conglomerate. I've led the launch of a couple of spin-off companies thus far, its been pretty amazing. Sort of like a dream job and we're really close to the cutting edge/ start-up world.</p>
<p>To add to this, I always knew I wanted to go into business because its the most broad profession. You have to be the type of person who is comfortable building your own path (as opposed to more clear structures such as medicine or law). But for me its been absolutely worth it. I think either getting involved in a start-up or going into consulting (a much less fun path but more structured) post-graduation set you up pretty well to get into a top MBA, which will then open up a lot of doors. I knew consulting wasn't for me post-MBA (I really like the start-up and media worlds much more than consulting), so I really chased media opportunities. Another cool path: one of my friends from Dartmouth is a doing very well in the film industry, he just jumped into he mail room at a major agency and now is doing very well.</p>