<p>First, are freshmen allowed to bring cars to campus? I assume they cannot, and if that's the case, is travelling around Hanover difficult? Are most of the stores and stuff in one general area, or are they spread throughout the entire town? How difficult is it to travel from place to place?</p>
<p>Also, could I get some opinions about the dormitories? I haven't had a chance to visit Dartmouth, mainly because it is so far away. I am going to apply ED this year and I wanted to know some general information. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>First, Freshman are NOT allowed to bring cars, but Hanover is a very small (and lovely) town and Dartmouth is right there in the heart of it. The stores that are in Hanover are literally across the street from the campus. </p>
<p>(There are no big-box type stores in Hanover however and that kind of shopping requires a trip to nearby Lebanon NH. By car, that is 10 -15 minutes away - by bus about an hour.)</p>
<p>Well, I'm the mom of a freshman, so I now know everything.:)</p>
<p>Dorms are good. </p>
<p>My son got a single, which is not that unusual, and his room was -- well, not enormous, I'll grant you; but quite reasonably sized. You can put the bed high up (like, three feet up) so you can fit all sorts of furniture and ***** under the bed. He's way the hell over in the River Cluster, which is faaaaaar away from the center of campus, but he wisely brought his bicycle, so everything is fine. </p>
<p>The other kids we saw on move-in day were all pleasantly surprised by their dorms -- because they were right in the middle of everything, or because they were newly renovated and were very nice.</p>
<p>We spent the night before move-in day in Hanover, had a nice dinner, wandered the streets. The idea that Hanover has nothing to do is just totally false. The town was jumping. Restaurants, theatres, concerts, lectures -- all sorts of things happen there all the time.</p>
<p>You don't need a car as a first year, as almost anything one could want is on campus or in Hanover (right on campus). Having a car is nice, however, for road trips, to get to the airport, go skiing, etc. Here's a tip on breaking the rules if you want to (as a freshman you can always pay to park at a frat or an off campus house and avoid registering your car with Dartmouth. I don't advise this, but I had more than a few friends do this winter and spring term).</p>
<p>Dorms range from okay to fantastic. A great majority are far better than you'll find at most colleges.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman too and he's in the River Cluster. He's really glad he brought his bike with him although we were told that a shuttle bus runs every ten minutes and stops nearby so i guess he can take that if he wants to once the snows arrives.</p>
<p>I was happily surprised by his dorm- it was bright and clean- and it's a 2-person triple meaning that he and his roommate each have his own room with a bed and clothing closet and then there is a third room in between where they have their desks, a small refrigerator, bookcases, and so on. The building has a common room with a flat screen TV and a full kitchen with stove, oven, microwave, large refrigerator, etc. </p>
<p>So far, so good. Of course, today was the first day of actual classes, so it will be interesting to see how he fared!</p>
<p>My son is in the River Cluster too- he has a small two room double with a not so beautiful view of a construction site and port-a-potties- he has found a short cut to the main campus by walking through Thayer (it will be warmer in the winter)- so far he is having a a great time and got himself involved with the debate tonight working for MSNBC-a great opportunity for a freshman!</p>
<p>Why would you apply ED if you've never visited the college? Maybe applying RD would be more realistic. If you apply ED you should absolutely be sure that is the best college for you. How can you be sure Dartmouth is a perfect match if you've never visited it?</p>
<p>It sucks having to go out to classes; and I'm still not sure whether or not I like being this far-removed from campus, especially once the rain starts (there was a thunderstorm today) and the snow hits.</p>
<p>That said, I haven't exactly gotten bored because there wasn't anything to do yet.</p>