Dartmouth Myths

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Hi, I’m an international student and I was wondering about a couple of “facts” I heard about Dartmouth. Please prove or disprove.</p>

<li><p>Dartmouth students are “preppy”- that is, rich & white. (Though some people here on this forum have spoken against this, somehow I have a hard time imagining Dartmouth kids as nerdy or from humble backgrounds or ethnically diverse)</p></li>
<li><p>Dartmouth is the least known of all Ivies. People in my country recognize schools like Cornell or Penn but they fail to recognize Dartmouth as a member of the Ivy League.</p></li>
<li><p>Frats/Sororities dominate the social scene.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s a humanities school; not the best for science majors.</p></li>
<li><p>Hanover is in the middle of nowhere, even worse than Ithaca.</p></li>
<li><p>Not really a myth, but is there a non-Caucasian professor who’s not teaching Chinese Lit or African Studies?</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>1) Myth. Probably the biggest myth of all your "myths"...this place is very, very diverse, to say the least.
2) Hard to say...is name recognition everything? There are so many reasons why Dartmouth is a wonderful place to be. Strong undergraduate focus (strongest of the ivies), countless opportunities to do things you never have or ever will be able to do again. The whole experience (not just the stellar education) here is what equips graduates to be successful. The name of a school can only get you so far. The quality though, is what counts and is the driving force....I could go on and on with this one....
3)True. I'm not going to lie, frats are big here. But by no means are they the ONLY social outlet. There is ALWAYS a TON of stuff to do on campus.
4)Myth. Sciences are very strong here. Many, many people are premed and have strong programs to support that.
5)True/myth....Hanover is in the middle of nowhere, but its not a bad thing. Stuff is always happenign here. What benefits of a city are you looking for that you wouldnt have here?
6)Is this one a joke? Suffice it to say that the faculty is just as diverse as the student body, if not moreso. They are all extremely qualified experts in their respective fields, which means that not all of them are going to be white...</p>

3

<p>Thank you, bulldogbull. Now I'd like to comment on your post.</p>

<p>2) What does it actually mean, "undergraduate focus"? i.e. More access to professors, small classes, better dorms/food/libraries?</p>

<p>5) Since I'm from another country, time it takes to get to nearest international airport is a big one, availability of Chinese/Korean/Indian/etc. restuarants/foodmarkets is another.</p>

<p>6) Yes it is. ;)</p>

4

<p>I'm not a student but...for airports, Hanover--bus-->Boston-->Boston International Airport. I think.</p>

5

<p>2) Academic prestige, particularly on the international level, arises from graduate programs, of which Dartmouth has very few. OTOH, the grad programs in Arts and Sciences are all in the Sciences. Dartmouth's Business school is top-ranked. Outside of the Northeast corridor, many people in America confuse the the Univ. of Pennsylvania with a football school coached by a guy called Joe-Pa; in other words, they confuse an Ivy League school with Penn State (of the Big Ten football conference). Yes, undergraduate focus means smaller classes, access to profs, classes taught by Profs and not TA's, and, for the reserach-inclined, the opportunity to work directly with Profs on research since the school only has a hanful of graduate students which you'd have to compete with.</p>

<p>4) Sciences are strong, but humanities are a real strength. But, more importantly, depends on what you want to do with sciences -- if premed, than any top school provides an excellent education, and a liberal arts-type school provides the type of braoder background that med schools seek (and allows you to stand out from the typical bio-sci applicant). If you want to work on cold fusion, however, MIT or Cal Tech might be a better fit.</p>

<p>5) Ithaca is "four hours from anywhere," as they say at Cornell; actually, four hours is generous -- I've driven it many times and my best time from any big city is 4 hours 15 minutes. Hanover is ~2+ hours from Boston -- great, convenient bus service to downtown Boston and Logan International Airport, as well as Manchester (NH) Airport (~90 minutes away).</p>

<p>btw: Dartmouth is NOT need-blind for international applicants.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>Hi, I'm an international student and I was wondering about a couple of "facts" I heard about Dartmouth. Please prove or disprove.</p>

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth students are "preppy"- that is, rich & white. </li>
</ol>

<p>FALSE: There is a scene like this, but Dartmouth is actually very diverse (33% minority)</p>

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth is the least known of all Ivies. </li>
</ol>

<p>FALSE: Prestige internationally tends to be skewed by graduate programs, but in the US Dartmouth is an incredibly powerful institution, and at the undergrad level it is very prestigious.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Frats/Sororities dominate the social scene.
TRUE. But Dartmouth frat's aren't like the ones at many schools. the scene is very inclusive (everyone is invited to every party). Also, there are many people not involved in the frat scene.</p></li>
<li><p>It's a humanities school; not the best for science majors.
FALSE: What do you mean? Dartmouth science grads tend to do incredibly well at getting into top grad schools. </p></li>
<li><p>Hanover is in the middle of nowhere, even worse than Ithaca.
Sort of true. It is in the sticks, but these are some of the most beautiful woods, rivers, mountains in the country. The local area pop. is around 75,000.</p></li>
<li><p>Not really a myth, but is there a non-Caucasian professor who's not teaching Chinese Lit or African Studies?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Yeah, I had tons of them. Never heard of this myth. Dartmouth has a diverse faculty and some of the most famous Dartmouth professors are minorities. This myth is ridiculous.</p>

7

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth students are "preppy"- that is, rich & white.</li>
</ol>

<p>For the most part, true. Honestly, I wouldn't consider 33% minority "very diverse." From what I recall, most of the minorities were pretty "preppy" themselves. Not everyone is an all-out jock, of course, but most people are of varying degrees of "preppy" and overwhelmingly, I find it hard-pressed to deny that the campus feels "preppy."</p>

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth is the least known of all Ivies.</li>
</ol>

<p>Yes and no. As slipper said, international prestige tends to be skewed towards graduate programs. Which isn't Dartmouth's focus. Let's put it this way: If you enroll as an undergrad, will you be getting the best of what Dartmouth has to offer? Yep. Will people be impressed in your home country as if you say you go to Harvard or Yale? Nope.</p>

<ol>
<li>Frats/Sororities dominate the social scene.</li>
</ol>

<p>True.</p>

<ol>
<li>It's a humanities school; not the best for science majors.</li>
</ol>

<p>As you worded it, true. It is not the best place to go for science majors. This doesn't mean the science programs are bad, at all. Except for the math program. I can think of more disgruntled ex-math majors off the top of my head than any other ex-major... probably even any other ex-major combined.</p>

<ol>
<li>Hanover is in the middle of nowhere, even worse than Ithaca.</li>
</ol>

<p>Yep. There's really no way of getting around this one. To reply to the OP: the nearest int'l airport/big city is approx. 2 hrs each way. To many people, 2 hours isn't bad; to others, 2 hours many times adds up pretty quickly. Closest Asian foodmarket (mostly Indian) is in the next town over (about 10/15 min.) and it is tiny. Closest medium-sized/large one is over an hour away. There's one Korean restaurant in the next town over, too. Two Indian restaunts in town. One Chinese/Japanese restaurant in town and a few in the next town over.</p>

<ol>
<li>Not really a myth, but is there a non-Caucasian professor who's not teaching Chinese Lit or African Studies?</li>
</ol>

<p>Lol. Yeah, quite a few.</p>

8

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth students are "preppy"- that is, rich & white.</li>
</ol>

<p>Yes. Welcome to the Ivy League. I would say more on the 'white' and less on the 'rich' though... 50% are on financial aid.</p>

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth is the least known of all Ivies. </li>
</ol>

<p>True, outside the US. This is primarily because Dartmouth currently doesn't have need-blind admissions for international students. Our student government is working to change that, though. Prior to 1992 Dartmouth had 12% international students, compared to only 5% now.</p>

<ol>
<li>Frats/Sororities dominate the social scene.</li>
</ol>

<p>True. And most people like it that way.</p>

<ol>
<li>It's a humanities school; not the best for science majors.</li>
</ol>

<p>Somewhat true. Humanities departments--English, History, romance languages are strong. There are plenty of science and social science majors, though, and they are strong performers after college. You're at the top of the college heap--you'll do fine, regardless of majors.</p>

<ol>
<li>Hanover is in the middle of nowhere, even worse than Ithaca.</li>
</ol>

<p>True. But nothing is worse than Ithaca. It's beautiful here, and the rural environment is part of Dartmouth's strengths. You have your whole life to live in a city; the small town makes it possible to have campus life (I mean, look at Columbia's joke of a "college social scene")</p>

<ol>
<li>Not really a myth, but is there a non-Caucasian professor who's not teaching Chinese Lit or African Studies?</li>
</ol>

<p>Yes. Plenty of them.</p>

9

<p>Myth - the administration cares about students' undergraduate experiences and not about furthering their own absurdist agenda.</p>

10

<p>Why would you call Columbia's social life a joke? At least Columbia students get out plus they have aceess to the largest city in the US.</p>

11

<p>I dunno, I think Dartmouth is more pretigious than Cornell, but maybe that's because I live in NY and lots of people around here get into Cornell, but not Dartmouth.</p>