<p>for the best rounded students with a good sense of fun and a healthy balance between work and play?</p>
<p>You couldn't have picked two more different schools. The backwoods of New Hampshire versus New York City? You'll find a jockier scene at Dartmouth along with a larger party scene. But everything is on campus and you have to like the outdoors and living in a tiny place. Columbia is all about the city and the core. And historically bad football. </p>
<p>They're hard to compare, obviously both schools' student bodies are intelligent.</p>
<p>slipper is a poster on this board who transferred from columbia to dartmouth. his opinions are, of course, biased in favor of the latter, if he chooses to post.</p>
<p>healthy balance between work and play? Recall that Animal House is based on dartmouth. i've been to frat parties there - people are geeky but the girls are fairly attractive, from what i remember.</p>
<p>both schools are "work hard, play hard" types of places. if i had to put to words the primary advantage of columbia, it would be post-graduation and internship job opportunities. by virtue of its location alone - bolstered by its alumni network and relationships with high-value employers big and small - Columbia offers better connections and opportunities than Dartmouth. Not that Dartmouth has any lacking, just that the quality and quantity is superior. plus it's harder to do an internship in (finance, consulting, publishing, journalism, media, medicine, even high tech) in Hanover NH as opposed to NYC. And yes, I realize dartmouth has a medical school.</p>
<p>Dartmouth has a more serene setting, more open spaces, and probably more money and administrative effort focused exclusively on the undergraduate experience. Such is the nature of an LAC when compared to a university with 22 graduate schools. There are advantages to being around those graduate schools as well, of course, and it'll depend on your personal goals and priorities.</p>
<p>thanks. im thinking of doing biochem as a pre-med. if that makes you advice more specific... thankk you</p>
<p>Dartmouth's motto is translated to ''a voice crying in the wilderness''. Enough said.</p>
<p>Visit both schools and pick. You will get an amazing education at both schools. I've been to Columbia, and the campus is amazing, but I like Dartmouth better.</p>