<p>How difficult does the D-Plan make it to maintain friendships at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>bump......</p>
<p>I think with the internet, international calling plans and face book the world has become smalller. The D-plan will also say alot about the quality of your relationships because true friendship will remain depite the D-plan.</p>
<p>I can only speak to it as far as my D-s experience with it. She is currently a junior who is on a FSP this term and will be taking a winter leave term. This means that barring going up to visit for somethink like winter carnival, she wil not be back on campus until next spring. For her it works out great because she will be doing an internship her in the city and living at home. She will also sit for the february LSAT and does not have to worry about balancing prepping for the exam with doing school work (the june sitting is the day after Dartmouth's graduation, the september exam happens almost right after they get back on campus and the december exam is right before finals) so it is something to consider if the LSAT or the MCAT is in your future becasue you can schedule to be off that term. In addition she has meet a whole new group of friends in her FSP that she had not interacted with on campus and this goup as bonded and those friendships will continue once they get back to Hanover.</p>
<p>This year many of her core group of friends are on the same schedule as she is. While away in europe, she has managed to meet up with some of their friends who are based in paris, germany, copenhagen, london and spain because of the number of cheap flights that can be obtained (they are all meeting up in rome for thanksgiving). One of her friends is interning in NYC this term and is coming to stay with us for the month of december. Another is staying with us for a few days when she returns from her FSP before flying home since her connecting flight take place in NYC so they work it all out.</p>
<p>She did miss being on campus this term for fall rush because there is a whole group of little sisters that she won't be able to meet until she returns. </p>
<p>While she says that she does miss Hanover and her friends on campus but she weighs it against the opportunties the plan provides and the D-plan was a major draw in her choosing Dartmouth. She does know people who go through with just the required leave terms and never take the opportunity to do an FSP and did not want that to be her.</p>
<p>I hope this helps</p>
<p>It did, thank you for taking the time to respond. If anyone else has anything they would like to share...?</p>
<p>...bump...</p>
<p>I really like the D-Plan--it really does make it a lot easier to get really good internships. Last spring, I got into my internship (which normally has a roughly 5% acceptance during the summer) by calling up a Dartmouth alum in charge of hiring. His response: "When do you want to start?"</p>
<p>Friendships are indeed somewhat inconvenienced by the D-Plan (I was off both spring and summer in odd locations, so I didn't see anyone for six months). But I stayed in contact with everyone through the wonders of blitz, and have found, coming back on campus, that anything lost has been easy to rekindle.</p>
<p>I liked the D-plan alot. You get to bond with people throughout college. Sophomore summer was a big plus, study abroad was amazing in terms of getting to know a set of people, and senior year everyone is together.</p>
<p>it's not hard at all to make friends with people in your own class, because you're all on together freshman year, sophomore summer, and senior year. I find it's a little harder on my friendships with members of other classes, because i'm off many of the terms they are on, and vice versa (for example, I'm an '09 and one of my '08 friends aren't on together at all between my freshman spring and my junior fall). That said though, I am still friends with her, and blitz does make it really easy to stay in touch.</p>
<p>The D plan provides so many opportunities for studying abroad, getting internships, volunteering, etc that students wouldn't normally get if they only had time off from school during the summer. And it really is pretty easy to keep in touch with friends when you are off. I'm going off to Mexico this winter for a language study abroad program, but I plan to keep in touch with all my friends via phone and email. When I get back, I plan to live in the same triple I'm in right now with two of best friends. </p>
<p>I think the D plan presents the biggest problem for juniors, many of whom take off at least one term their junior year and might not see friends for a term or two. Funny article in the D that kinda relates to this: <a href="http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2006111402020%5B/url%5D">http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2006111402020</a></p>
<p>However, I look forward to taking my junior winter off and getting an awesome internship. Overall, I think the D plan's benefits outweigh its disadvantages.</p>