Can someone clear this up, please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Just read this. I'm hoping it's not really true but, from someone else:</p>

<p>Do NOT go to Dartmouth. Why? </p>

<p>-The winters are brutal. You must be willing to have your blood frozen solid...every day...and every night.</p>

<p>-The frats are over-emphasized and produce a bad (very bad) campus enviroment. With such an emphasis, you can't make friends normally, and almost have to join a frat or sorority to even survive socially.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>The class sizes are big, alot bigger than comparative universities. The professors are often arrogant, especially the newer ones.</p></li>
<li><p>Hanover is a horrible college town. I thought I liked isolation, to bring the campus together, but Dartmouth is brought together to spite Hanover, it seems. Even to just get a serious coffee you have to drink about a half-hour. To do anywhat that every other college student considers normal you have to drive forever.</p></li>
<li><p>the trimester system is extremely intense. There are always finals coming right up, so you never get a chance to relax. If you fall behind, because the trimesters move so fast, you're dead academically. </p></li>
<li><p>You never get home with your friends, or brother/sisters in other colleges because of the trimester system. You don't even really get to unite your family because the vacations are different. If you don't mind a fractured family, one without unity and the family spirit, and you don't mind seeing your siblings once a year at most, go to Dartmouth. You will probably forget your family existed, or at least brothers/sisters in other colleges.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-The food here is pretty bad. You might like it for the first week, but it gets extremely repetitive and the cooking staff purposely makes better food at first to hook you in, then it deteriorates...alot. Comparative colleges have much better food. </p>

<ul>
<li>The price. The Dartmouth price tag is way to high for the quality (specifically the lack thereof) of education. Other college offer a much better bang for your buck.</li>
</ul>

<p>-Ivy prestige??? A complete misnomer. A good job after graduating isn't guarenteed at all, and instead you have to rely on other stuff (work experience i.e.) to get a job. The Dartmouth education didn't land me a job I couldn't have gotten by going to even a bad state school. My friends had similar results. </p>

<p>-So where to go? Cornell and Columbia and UPENN don't suffer from what I've outlined above, so check out those. Also, UCLA and Berkeley in California offer the bang for your buck that I wish I had got, instead of depleting my family's treasury for a waste.</p>

<p>-If you want a good college experience, don't go to Dartmouth. My personal experiences will reflect yours.</p>

2

<p>I'm not going to respond to that post point by point, because its terribly long, but suffice it to say, the experience that post describes has been nothing like mine or anyone else I know at Dartmouth. I have never personally heard anything approaching the extreme negativity of that post about the Dartmouth experience. </p>

<p>A few points....well, perhaps I will address a lot of the post:</p>

<ul>
<li>The winters aren't that bad. I actually really enjoy winter, because campus is really pretty, and I like to ski. Its really not bad at all, and is probably comparable to most schools in new england. I'm from California, and the weather here doesn't bother me at all.</li>
<li>The frats are what you make of them. I am an unaffiliated senior, meaning I never rushed a frat, and I have tons of friends. Furthermore, I feel comfortable hanging out at almost every frat on campus and drinking their beer, even if I don't know any of the brothers there. All the frats are typically open to anyone most nights of the week. This statement is patently incorrect, and I would know, because I am definitely not a frat-person.</li>
<li>The class sizes are big? Really? I have had 4 classes with over 70 students here (out of 35), with ~8 having 30-40 students. The rest had very few students. The average class size for my courses has been about 18-20. You only run into problems if you are an economics or government major, because those classes are very popular here. However, I haven't taken a single class where getting to know the professor has been a problem, regardless of the class size. And again, most of the courses I have taken have had about 12-24 students.</li>
<li>Of all the professors I have had, only 2 have been arrogant, and even then, they were still very nice people who I had no problem talking to during office hours.</li>
<li>I love Hanover/the small town atmosphere. Its so quiet, peaceful, safe, and laid-back here. I love it here, and I wish Dartmouth had a law school so I could stay for another three years. There are also three good coffee shops within 1 minute's walk of the green, so I have no idea what this is about.</li>
<li>The trimester system can be intense, but most of the time it is fairly relaxed. I spend most of my day procrastinating on the internet and constantly fall behind on my work, but I never have a huge problem catching up.</li>
<li>The point about the trimester system being different than other colleges is somewhat true, but I haven't had a major problem seeing my friends/little brother during my off periods.</li>
<li>The food here is actually pretty good. Whoever wrote this is a massive whiner. I have spent almost 4 years here and I have never read anything even close to this negative about Dartmouth from a current student---whoever wrote this is the exception, not the norm.</li>
<li>The price is the same as almost every other good private school in America, and considering that a. Dartmouth is one of the ~top 5 or so places to get an undergraduate education in America and b. that it gives out a lot of financial aid, I think it is a bargain.</li>
<li>Dartmouth has a stellar reputation in a lot of fields, especially business. We are one of the top 5 feeder schools for elite investment banking jobs and consulting jobs. Getting a job in any number of fields is very easy here. I also feel like I got a boost for my law school applications because of the Dartmouth name.</li>
<li>As for the last point, this is simply ridiculous. I don't even think this person goes to Dartmouth. Cornell, Columbia, and UPenn are all MUCH larger than Dartmouth, and none of them have even close to the same emphasis on undergraduate education as at Dartmouth. This is way, way off. And my little brother goes to UCLA, and I have numerous friends at Berkeley, and none of them have enjoyed their experiences there. My little brother is currently trying to transfer in here.</li>
</ul>

<p>In short, if the person who wrote that assessment of Dartmouth is in fact a student, they are in the 2-3% of people who don't like it here. Everyone else is very happy to be here, including myself. I have had an awesome college experience, and it really saddens me that I have to leave next year. I hope you don't make the mistake of turning down Dartmouth just because of that utterly ridiculous post.</p>

3

<p>TTT (10 char)</p>

4

<p>Dartmouth rocks. It's the most amazing place in the world and there is no place like it. Some people spend four years never taking advantage of the opportunities here, but for most of us we absolutely love it. If you're a boring person, don't come to dartmouth. If you are cool, come. there are lots of cool people here. And alums are sweet too and will get you amazing jobs. but forget about jobs you're only a prospie - its about following your passion and dartmouth does that. And the jobs come for you. Dartmouth does that better than any other institution in the world.</p>

5

<p>What the hell is TTT?</p>

6

<p>That was posted on a site that surveyed current and previous students about their college experience and where in categories for "Top 50 'Schools to be aspired' To" and "The Top IVY (and other Big Name) Schools", Dartmouth ranked #1. Interestingly it was posted in the discussion where pretty much everyone was giving advice (probably for potential applicants), in one form or another, how they got into Dartmouth. And this ONE post was so contrarian I suspect either:
a. The poster was rejected from Dartmouth.
b. The poster is attending one of the other 3 Ivies mentioned. While ivy caliber students generally don't engage in such sophomoric bashing of other schools, there are always exceptions. Yes, even DC has it's share.
c. Just someone who finds trolling fun and not connected to any of the schools mentioned.</p>

<p>Original posting:
<a href="http://www.studentsreview.com/gettingin.php3?ST=NH&SH=DC%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentsreview.com/gettingin.php3?ST=NH&SH=DC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>There are no specifics in this post besides the fact that Dartmouth is indeed located in Hanover and isn't on a semester system. Everything about this post makes me believe that the poster was never a Dartmouth student anyway.</p>

<p>The winters may be cold, but not any colder than in the rest of New England. And who doesn't like taking Skiing or snowboarding for a PE class?</p>

<p>The frats can be a blast for both guys and girls, but if they aren't your thing, there's plenty else to do on campus. Programming Board and Collis Governing Board bring in bands (Third Eye Blind is coming in a week or two), crazy performers like hynotists, illusionists, and even a regurgitator, sponsor bingo and trivia nights with flat screen tvs and x-boxes as prizes, etc. The Hopkins center brings amazing musicians, dancers, and theater companies to campus and offers almost free movies and performances ($3-$5). And some weekend nights I just want to rent a (free) movie with a couple of friends, make popcorn and buy cookie dough, and curl up on the sofa.</p>

<p>Intro Govt classes (my major) are capped at 50. Most of my classes are between 20-40 students. Profs always hold office hours and love it when students stop by. My Govt prof this term is so cool I asked her to be my major advisor (she said of course) and I'll be doing research with another prof next year.</p>

<p>The food varies from yummy greasy chicken fingers and pizza to organic free trade bananas and whole wheat pasta. We have fresh sushi, several grill and sandwich places, dessert demos (strawberry shortcake, flambeed apples and cinnamon ice cream), etc. Want proof? Go to <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Edds%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.dartmouth.edu/~dds&lt;/a> and click on Daily Menus.</p>

<p>After I showed Dartmouth my financial aid offers from other ivies, it quickly became the cheapest school I applied to (cheaper than a state school). Dartmouth has money and likes giving it away.</p>

<p>Please don't take this post seriously. The poster would have offered more than generalizations if he/she were truly a Dartmouth student.</p>

8

<p>"- The price. The Dartmouth price tag is way to high for the quality (specifically the lack thereof) of education. Other college offer a much better bang for your buck."</p>

<p>The Dartmouth financial aid is VERY, VERY good. I appealed my financial aid when I first got in and the office was extremely nice and willing to communicate - we had a month-long correspondence - and by the end, Dartmouth was cheaper than attending my state school. My family is pretty solidly middle class, but due to extenuating circumstances, they gave me more than half of my tuition's worth of grants - not work-study, not loans.</p>

9

<p>

I had the same experience. Dartmouth gave me $22,000 more in grants than Wellesley did and $4,000 more than Bryn Mawr, and I didn't even have to appeal for them to offer me that much.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
-The winters are brutal. You must be willing to have your blood frozen solid...every day...and every night.

[/quote]

Dartmouth is usually only about 10 degrees colder than Boston and New York City. So unless you plan on only applying to Californian and Floridian schools, you're going to have to deal with winter no matter where you apply. </p>

<p>
[quote]
-The frats are over-emphasized and produce a bad (very bad) campus enviroment. With such an emphasis, you can't make friends normally, and almost have to join a frat or sorority to even survive socially.

[/quote]

I can see how someone could feel this way, but my experience with the frats has been good (and I'm a freshman). The brothers at the frats I hang out at, SigEp and TriKap, are all really nice. The frat's are open to EVERYONE here. This is a <em>huge</em> difference from many other schools. I've met people visiting from other schools, who were just shocked at how parties were open to everyone. Of course, if frats aren't you're thing, there's always the Hop, Programming Board stuff, and Friday Night Rock (where they invite indie bands to play at Dartmouth most Fridays).</p>

<p>
[quote]
- The class sizes are big, alot bigger than comparative universities. The professors are often arrogant, especially the newer ones.

[/quote]

This is a joke right? My Chinese class last term had 9 people total. It's mostly intro classes that are big. My chem class had 150 people. Even this is small compared to many state schools that have classes with 500 people, or even 1000 people. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Even to just get a serious coffee you have to drink about a half-hour.

[/quote]

Has this person never been to Dirt Cowboy Cafe? Lou's? Starbuck's at the Dartmouth Bookstore? All three of these shops are 1 minute from Campus. </p>

<p>
[quote]
To do anywhat that every other college student considers normal you have to drive forever.

[/quote]

This is over exaggerated. Yes, Dartmouth isn't in a city. You won't be able to go clubbing, bar hopping, or to big museums. This is true for any school not in the center of a city. At Dartmouth you can shop for stuff at Lebanon and White River Junction, which are both 15 minutes away.</p>

<p>
[quote]
- the trimester system is extremely intense. There are always finals coming right up, so you never get a chance to relax. If you fall behind, because the trimesters move so fast, you're dead academically.

[/quote]

It's an Ivy League school. What'd the person think it was going to be like? My friends at Northwestern, Rice, Harvard, etc., all have intense schedules and classes, just as I do. If you wanted chill classes, maybe the person should've went to community college.</p>

<p>
[quote]

  • You never get home with your friends, or brother/sisters in other colleges because of the trimester system. You don't even really get to unite your family because the vacations are different. If you don't mind a fractured family, one without unity and the family spirit, and you don't mind seeing your siblings once a year at most, go to Dartmouth. You will probably forget your family existed, or at least brothers/sisters in other colleges.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Again, this is just over exaggerated. You only have ONE summer where you can't come home. You can time all your other terms to coincide perfectly with your family's vacations, etc. </p>

<p>
[quote]

-The food here is pretty bad. You might like it for the first week, but it gets extremely repetitive and the cooking staff purposely makes better food at first to hook you in, then it deteriorates...alot. Comparative colleges have much better food.

[/quote]

The food sucks at every college. That's just how life is. Deal with it. Dartmouth is actually better than a lot of schools. They're actually building a new dining hall, set to be open in March 2009.</p>

<p>
[quote]
- The price. The Dartmouth price tag is way to high for the quality (specifically the lack thereof) of education. Other college offer a much better bang for your buck.

[/quote]

Dartmouth tuition is the same as most other private tier 1 schools. The only college I can think of that might have better bang for the buck would be Rice, and Rice is raising tuition to try to meet what other schools are charging.</p>

<p>
[quote]
-Ivy prestige??? A complete misnomer. A good job after graduating isn't guarenteed at all, and instead you have to rely on other stuff (work experience i.e.) to get a job. The Dartmouth education didn't land me a job I couldn't have gotten by going to even a bad state school. My friends had similar results.

[/quote]

You came to Dartmouth with the wrong expectations. A good job isn't guaranteed, no matter where you go. Yes, you can end up in I-banking from a state school. But it'll be easier from Dartmouth. Dartmouth has higher recruitment rates with firms, and higher acceptances with Grad schools, than most schools.</p>

<p>
[quote]
-So where to go? Cornell and Columbia and UPENN don't suffer from what I've outlined above, so check out those. Also, UCLA and Berkeley in California offer the bang for your buck that I wish I had got, instead of depleting my family's treasury for a waste.

[/quote]

Since it's impossible for this person to attend all the schools he listed, he/she is just speculating. Yes, Columbia and U Penn aren't as isolated at Dartmouth, but city schools have problems too.</p>

11

<p>"-The winters are brutal. You must be willing to have your blood frozen solid...every day...and every night."</p>

<p>okay... i'm probably from one of the hottest climates represented at dartmouth - I'm used to 110-degree summers and 70-degree Christmases. I didn't think the winter was "brutal". I just got a really good snow jacket, and winter term was altogether bearable.</p>

12

<p>There is so much here that is incorrect and has not applied to my experience whatsoever. I doubt a real student posted that.</p>

13

<p>Not even close to a real perspective. My S is a Frosh, and of his nine classes, 4 had less than 10 students, and only one had more than 30. He hasn't met a prof yet that didn't care about teaching and helping students learn.</p>

<p>UCLA is on the quarter system as are ~20% of all four-year colleges; however, Cal is on semester. If you are in-state, Cal is $25k per year, UCLA slightly less. If you are full pay for a private school (income <$175k), then one does need to factor the extra cost -- $25k/yr is a lot of dough! However, if your family income is not that high, finaid at schools like Dartmouth can make it less than the cost of attending a UC in-state.</p>

14

<p>I probably had an average of 8 people in a class senior year.</p>

15

<p>i'll be a freshman last year and I had a choice of several schools:</p>

<p>About the trimester vs. semester caldendar. Most of my friends will be at semester schools. All of the vacations line up, except for the sophomore summer.</p>

<p>And a personal anecdote about financial aid. I come from a middle-class family. Most schools I got into did not offer much aid, including dartmouth. However, I did get a little bit from swarthmore and carleton colleges. I emailed dartmouth, mailed them my offers and they beat the best offer by over $1000 a year, in grants.</p>

<p>Needless to say, even if the stuff the OP is saying is true, it definitely isn't a common occurrence, college is what you make of it</p>

16

<p>You do realize that OP is a H.S. sophomore and you would think, being from VT, he would be used to cold</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=4016684#post4016684%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=4016684#post4016684&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

17

<p>the topic in concern is not my work (and ya i'm used to cold :))</p>