<p>Is there as much drinking as it's supposed to have? Also, what is your opinion of the small-town atmosphere?</p>
<p>This has been discussed before but yes, most colleges have a good amount of drinking and Dartmouth is no exception: students usually drink or play beer pong at frats, which there are many of (ever see Animal House?). The administration deals with drinking from a health perspective, not a moral one. Just like other colleges, Dartmouth has a Good Samaritan policy, where you can find medical help for a friend without consequence for either one of you. Additionally, if you don't drink, there is no pressure to... people are very accepting of non-drinkers and there are many non-alcohol related activities during the weekends as well.</p>
<p>As for the small-town atmosphere, I think it's one of the nicest things about Dartmouth. All my friends at Penn or Columbia are so proud of their college cities... but come the weekend, what do they end up doing anyway? Staying on campus and hanging out with their friends there. One of my high school friends at Columbia admitted just the other weekend that in her entire first term there, the only time she left campus was to take the subway to Penn Station and go home for break. Here we have a beautiful campus and surrounding area and there is such a vibrant on-campus culture: shows, workshops, concerts, lectures, etc. that nobody really wants to leave. But even if you do, Montreal and Boston are pretty accessible- just a bus ride away.</p>
<p>just got back from hanover about an hour ago. it was a wonderful visit! i think it is a very individual decision. my son loves it, so i do, too! charming downtown area. snowboarding at dartmouth skiway--he stayed with another student, so i barely saw him, but i do know he had a great, great weekend! i am so looking forward to visiting him there next fall!</p>
<p>RaspberrySmoothie that was one of the things that I liked most about Dartmouth...it has no problem admitting that it is not in a dynamic city because there is so much to do on campus. Although rural colleges turn me off, I will be applying to Dartmouth next year because it is not a typical rural college in that you won't be really bored all the time with so much to do.</p>
<p>would anyone confirm my hesitant response to choose Dartmouth over Columbia, due to its smaller campus. Although, I am very outgoing and love to always have something to occupy my time with other than just schoolwork, would one not agree that having a smaller campus could work to my advantage? It would leave me with less distractions, and thus forcing me to focus more on schoolwork.</p>
<p>I've heard that because the campus is so small, much of the recreation revolves around drinking. Is this true?</p>
<p>K there, chillaxin, you're a little bent on the drinking aspect. As I said before, yes, there is a big drinking culture at Dartmouth but it is by no means the <em>only</em> thing there is to do. It has nothing to do with campus size.</p>
<p>Coddus, the only thing campus has an effect on is a) the amount of time it takes you to get places and b) aesthetic pleasure. It's the dorm culture, not the campus, that usually provides distractions. Regardless, you'll still have to develop (or maintain) good study habits to focus on schoolwork no matter what the campus looks like. Columbia is nice in that it does have somewhat of a campus, where people play frisbee and get together, as opposed to NYU downtown. But in my purely scientific, objective opinion, Dartmouth's is prettier ;).</p>
<p>There is a huge amount of drinking at Dartmouth. When I was there (1992-1996) fraternities dominated the social life, and it was common for people drinking in frat basements to urinate on the floors or casually vomit in the garbage cans and continue drinking (boot and rally).</p>
<p>lol.. Im sure that happens are any college..
No big suprise there</p>
<p>But for the record, when I visited in October it was incredibly fun. I went to a few frat parties and yes they do drink and play pong etc.
But not much peer pressure.. everyone is pretty laid back </p>
<p>I think =)</p>
<p>I personally cherish the small-town atmosphere. Being a nut for hiking, I love the fact that I can walk for 15 minutes and be in the woods. The restaurants that dot the "downtown" are excellent--if a little pricey--and can be a welcome break from even Dartmouth's usually excellent dining selections. All of the amenities of daily life are either on campus, or within a 5-minute walk of it: CVS, North Face, dry cleaning, Ben & Jerry's, post office, a few banks, Gap...the list just goes on.</p>
<p>As far as drinking goes: I won't lie, drinking is very prevalent on campus. I have heard of dorms where every room on a floor is stocked with alcohol, though EW is the exception to the rule. Despite this, I have never felt any pressure to drink. On my floor, there are habitual visitors to the frats, others who go but don't drink, and still others who have never set foot inside a frat. Each group has found a perfectly acceptable niche in the community. Drinking is not a prerequisite to fun at Dartmouth by any means!</p>
<p>How covert is the drinking? As in, are there people passed out on the floors everywhere you go?</p>
<p>coddus: The small town atmosphere isn't necessarily going to cause you to study more. Many times I was just so bored out of my mind that I couldn't even concentrate.</p>
<p>chillaxin: Lol, there's not going to be people passed out on the floors everywhere you go, or even close to that. Yes, most people drink, but I'd say most of them don't go past the point that they're "happily intoxicated," meaning they're not vomiting or passed out or anything like that. (It's easy to if you want to, of course, but obviously not recommended.) If anyone does pass out, usually they're promptly swept up by S&S.</p>