<p>Currently I'm considering an economics major at Dartmouth College, and I've heard many great things from its strong undergraduate teaching program to its unique environment and strong sense of community. Furthermore, I have Wall Street aspirations and hope to land a job in investment banking in the future, and I've heard that Dartmouth does a great job recruiting students onto Wall Street. In fact I was strongly set on Dartmouth College until I read a couple of scary articles on Rolling Stones, and I've been a bit worried since. I took into account that this article could be extremely biased and did a lot of backup research on it to make sure it is biased, but nevertheless I'm still a bit worried.</p>
<p>Although I love spending time with friends and hanging out with them, I'm also the type of guy that likes to spend some time alone reading a book or watching an episode of Friends or How I Met Your Mother. That in mind, I don't plan on joining any frats in college or engaging in Greek Life, and I'm completely averse to drinking. This is what worries me because I've done a lot of research and it seems Dartmouth is known for beer pong, and frat life. I've even read that recruiting opportunities are best only for students who engage in greek life and are in these upper class frats. In fact I read somewhere that "A student with a 3.7 GPA but who is the president of a frat has a lot of better opportunities than a student with just a 4.0 GPA." This makes me worried because if that is the case then I'd rather go with a school like UND Mendoza's School of Business or Haas School of Business where I'd have a better chance of getting recruited on to Wall Street than at Dartmouth where I'd have to engage in these activities to gain such recruiting advantages. If someone at Dartmouth could help shed some light on this and help me make my decision then I'd really appreciate it because I was actually very excited about Dartmouth until I saw this dark side.</p>
<p>OP, I can’t comment on if DM is a good fit for you. Hopefully you can go to Dimensions and see for yourself. I can tell you a bit about greek life though. My D is a junior (girl). She has tons of friends that are non-affiliated, and they absolutely love DM. There are many activities and a very inclusive environment. No one will give you a funny look if you abstain from alcohol. Many kids play pong with water. In terms of greek life and IB banking, I think what it means is the kid with a 3.7 and president of a greek house probabaly has the social skills and interviews very well, hence, does very well with recruiting. Keep your gpa high, get some leadership in whatever activites you choose, and you stand a very good chance of getting an interview with all the companies that come to campus. After that, it is up to you to sell them on yourself. Does greek life help in recruiting? Sure, I think it does help some applicants. But it will not hurt you at all if you choose to stay independent. D has many unaffiliated friends that have great IB jobs.</p>
<p>No matter where you go, you will be competing with the 3.7 fraternity president from Dartmouth. Find the school that fits you best.</p>
<p>If your handle is true, IB is probably not the place that you will change the world with your actions. You can, however, change the world with the compensation you will see with success.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you might contact the banks with whom you would like to work for their guidance on preferred college. They might be able to guide you, on the phone vs. an online trail, as to what would best fit their needs vis a vis your accomplishments over the next four years as a function of institution. The IB’s will be impressed that you have engaged them early, and they will remember assuming you accomplish what they suggest. If you are not comfortable talking with them directly, IB is probably not right for you.</p>
<p>No its not about whether IB is good for me or not. I’m a great speaker and I can talk to anyone at will. I’m not an introvert or anything. I just dont like greek life and engaging in it and I want to know whether that puts me at a disadvantage</p>
<p>Greek life is a BIG deal here at Dartmouth. Don’t let anyone fool you. They have tried to downplay it, but it is a small Ivy and Greek life dominates. There isn’t much here in Hanover outside of Dartmouth, and the majority of undergraduates are involved. That is one of the things I find negative about being here, and one of the reasons I regret my decision to come here.</p>
<p>^that scares me. I heard people on forums saying its possible to not be a part of this Greek Life and engage in other activities? Can any other Dartmouth student shed their views?</p>
<p>Are you going to Dimensions? I hope so, as it seems the above poster has not had a great college experience. If you are going this weekend, you will find tons of unaffiliated kids that absolutely love Dartmouth. There are hundreds of clubs and activities. I totally get that no school is a perfect fit for everyone. But Greek life at Dartmouth is not a reason to avoid the school. I am not sure if Magnum is checking this thread. His son is unaffiliated, and I know he has plenty of friends and an active social life. Most DM kids are not on CC…they are too busy. I hope you are going to Dimensions!</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, D joined a sorority and enjoyed it for a while and then kind of drifted away as other groups became more where she wanted to spend her time. You have to realize that the fraternities and sororities are rather large groups of people. Very few members actually live in the houses. D’s college life is a very expansive Venn diagram, with a lot of non-overlapping and mostly non-Greek space.</p>