<p>What do you guys thing? Particularly with respect to the quality/character of the student body, the difficulty of getting into classes and the quality of the social life?</p>
<p>WOW. I went to Columbia, and chose between Dartmouth and Brown as a transfer. I seriously could not decide between the two forever and it came down to the last day. I have a ton of friends at Brown. </p>
<p>I transferred from Columbia because 1) I realized that I was missing out on the college experience 2) Dartmouth/ Brown kids seemed to love their school while Columbia kids loved New York.</p>
<p>I really think at Columbia you sacrifice community and spirit for NYC. And in my opinion, NYC will very likely be there later in life (I actually go to columbia for grad school now!) I honestly never felt at home at Columbia, all the non-freshman dorms are really quiet and people disperse all over. The student body is cool and open-minded, but they still aren't very tight. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is more rural, and it has an amazing spirit to it. Dartmouth alumni love their school, and I think its because of how much respect they have for their peers and how the schools just seems to draw people together. If you like the outdoors at all, you will love it. Some of my favorite memories are swimming in the river before class in the summer, snowball fights and sledding, skating on Occum pond, etc. Its pretty amazing how tight the student body is, and how many things there are to do. The school is fratty on the weekends, but these are Ivy League frats, so most houses are not as "jocky" as at other schools. I actually really liked it because unlike other schools the frats are very welcoming. People literally walk into any house, its awesome. I never saw a "list" once when I was there. </p>
<p>There are three-four frat parties every weekend night, which is fun because its almost like a mini city (people usually go to all three of the parties) And there is a very large number of students not in frats, so there are plenty of house parties and other fun things. </p>
<p>Brown is larger and much less community oriented, but as a positive is it has Thayer street (which is awesome), which is a much cooler college town than Hanover. Rhode Island is also a cool place. Without the power of frats, the student body tends to be more liberal not necessarily politically but socially. For example, gay students will have a great time at Dartmouth today, but there is a much larger and more present community at Brown. Brown also is more connected to the world (45min from Boston as opposed to 2hrs for Dartmouth). Its a great school.</p>
<p>Dartmouth.</p>
<p>alright, xanatos. let's try to make it more succinct next time. i'm tired of your rambling.</p>
<p>Between the choices, I would go with either Brown or Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I'd choose Dartmouth for its community. I'd choose Brown for its open curriculum. I'd choose Columbia due to its urban location. Obviously, all three schools are great for academics. Personally, I'd go with Dartmouth College.</p>
<p>I would definitely choose Dartmouth or Brown.</p>
<p>If you prefer the life of NYC to College life: Columbia
If you prefer more of a PC-U: Brown
If you prefer college life + the great outdoors + intellectual diversity: </p>
<p>...............................Dartmouth!</p>
<p>They are all at the top of their form.</p>
<p>Hey ... I'm making the same decision! But I'm honestly leaning toward Dartmouth. I was thinking of considering Duke and UPenn, but I'm not sure they have what I need.</p>
<p>I know this sounds so superficial, but I was just very unhappy when some of my friend's parents were asking me about college, and they had never really heard of Dartmouth or Brown ... this blank look just came across their face. Then when I said I also got into Columbia and UPenn (which I think I like less than Dartmouth and Brown), their faces lit up.</p>
<p>It's a stupid thing, and it would never cause me to pick one college over another, but it's just disappointing when many people, even in an educated area, don't know how good of a school Dartmouth is.</p>
<p>Joey</p>
<p>It depends on who you talk to for sure. As someone who went to both Columbia and Dartmouth, I would say they were exactly equal in people knowing them...</p>
<p>jprencipe--don't feel bad. Where I live, in Toledo, almost nobody has heard about Dartmouth, and of those that do, only a few even know where it is. Just because a school isn't well-known in some circles, does not really mean anything. There are very non-selective schools out there (<em>cough</em>Ohio State<em>cough</em>) that everyone's heard about, and others, for example Wash. U. in St. Louis, that are extremely selective and held in high regard, which I had never heard of until I joined these forums!</p>
<p>Bottom line: don't be upset that most people haven't heard of Dartmouth--rest in the knowledge that, if you go there, you'll have an incomparable college experience that most could only dream of.</p>
<p>Dartmouth for community, for sure.</p>
<p>name recognition really depends on where you will, cause here on the west coast, anyone who has not lived back east, or known a student/alum that went to Dartmouth has no clue where it is, and about 50% didn't know that it existed before i told them i was going there. But you know, it is more important that you like the school, than having other people know the name, and the presitge that comes with the name. it's been said many times before on this site, and others, but when you are looking into work and/or grad school after your years at Brown or Dartmouth or columbia or u penn, your employers and schools will know the names of each of those schools and the level of difficultly that is associated with the ivies. so i guess i would just suggest researching if not visiting to find out the atmosphere of the schools before you reach a decision,</p>
<p>Most people dont have a clue, period. Begin with that premise. For instance, most have no clue (by most, I mean 99%) about the great cultural, political or scientific movements of the last century either but that in no way diminishes their importance, significance or impact. Most people have heard of the Beatles, NSync or the Monkeys, few have heard of Sonny Rollins, Anton Berg or Captain Beefheart. </p>
<p>Chris made the point--if name recognition is the criteria for picking a school, go to Ohio State, Alabama or USC if you must. If you want to go somewhere that will make a difference, you might want to think about what you may know and what others dont; in that case you might want to go to Dartmouth!
Basing a decision on what other people don't know is a fools bargin.</p>
<p>See ya in the fall.</p>
<p>What about Duke/Stanford? LOL Name recognition and brilliance within the student body!!!!!</p>
<p>HOWEVER, GO DARTY OR GO HOME!!!!</p>