<p>So I hate these threads as a rule, but I really am stuck and need some opinions. Haha So basically I was accepted to Dartmouth, Brown, or Cornell (waitlisted by Yale, but I'm going to assume it's out of the mix), and I'm equally loving both Dartmouth and Brown after visiting both.
Dartmouth- campus (amazing nature campus); small size/seemingly close student body, D-plan study abroad opportunities, super small classes
Brown- Open Curriculum, shopping period, more activities provided by a city, better undergrad research opportunity (my perception, correct me if I'm wrong), easier travel access, better policy on outside scholarships.</p>
<p>So what are some personal opinions?</p>
<p>P.S. I'll post this on both forums to be fair.</p>
<p>False. A Dean who worked at Brown for many years, and is now at Dartmouth, told me this. At Brown, you’ll be competing with graduate students.</p>
<p>My perception of Brown is that it is very protesty and liberal. The social scene there is highly diversified, if that means anything to you. I would say Brown is much better for you if you consider yourself a free spirit and you would love to explore various quirky things in college.</p>
<p>Dartmouth has more structure to it, academically and socially speaking. There are a lot of perks as you may have noticed, but if there’s that bleeding heart artist lurking inside of you, I think you know what to do.</p>
<p>at brown, the main focus is undergrads. all brown professors whether they are nobel prize winners or former presidents of a country are obligated to teach and work with undergrads.</p>
<p>i wrote my undergrad thesis with a nobel laureate in physics.</p>
<p>the difference between brown and dartmouth is that at dartmouth they don’t have former presidents or nobel laureates as professors.</p>
<p>And how many former presidents and nobel laureates are professors at Brown that that’s a relevant or significant comparison for the average student who is likely to change their initial intended major?</p>
<p>5 MacArthur genius award winners
4 former heads of state (Italy, Austria, Brazil, Chile)
3 pulitzer prize winners
2 Fields Medalists
1 former US senator
1 former UN ambassador
1 son of Nikita Kruschev
1 founder of the Chinese democratic party
1 nobel laureate</p>
<p>several guggenheim fellows, several former rhodes scholars, dozens of national academies members</p>
<p>I have no idea what a MacArthur genius or a Guggenheim fellow is but none of those things means that the person is good at or even focused on teaching or in the case of former heads of state, senator, son of Kruschev even have a PhD.</p>
<p>To be fair, a lot of people on this board play the Timothy Geithner card a lot. As for spunaugle, you should tell us what type of person you consider yourself to be. We’ll be able to help you more after that.</p>
My sense of it has always been that undergraduate research is much more available at Dartmouth than its Ivy peers. I don’t know how much you can actually work with superstars at Brown (teaching undergrads is not the same as doing research with undergrads), but Dartmouth is so undergrad-focused that there are a ton of research opportunities for undergrads. A lot of departments in the social sciences don’t take any grad students so the profs lunge at any decent undergrad who can do research, and I have friends in the sciences who got research assistantships pretty easily as well.</p>
<p>I’m also not sure how the shopping period works at Brown, but at Dartmouth you have between a week and two weeks to settle on what classes you want for the term…until then it’s mostly a free-for-all. The first week, you can add and drop classes at will online – after that you have to get the prof teaching the class to sign off on any changes and then the registrar will put them through.</p>
<p>spunagle- im having the same issue.
can anyone help me with this specific question: which one is better for pre-law?</p>
<p>my parents seem to think Dartmouth because it is more structured and i can get valuable work experience during less competitive times (like winter term or something)…</p>
<p>i like brown because i think the open curriculum will force me to try new things and become well-rounded on my own terms… </p>
<p>Just as a follow up. After much debate, I have decided on Dartmouth. I have to say though, I still love Brown, and I’m pretty sure the schools were very close on par in about everything, Dartmouth just seemed more of a fit for me. So good luck too ontheradio, let me know where you chose. :)</p>
Dartmouth’s distributive requirements seem to fit that bill better than a completely open curriculum. Besides the writing program, there are no required courses to graduate – you just need to pick courses which fulfill certain distributives. Besides the CI cultural distributive (which for untold reasons has an irritatingly small number of courses), there are enough courses in a variety of areas that you shouldn’t feel forced into anything, while still pushing you outside your comfort zone.</p>
<p>I would go to Brown. Everyone I know who went there seemed to love it. On the other hand, practically everyone I know who went to Dmarth was less than happy with their experience. They all seem to love the french toast at Lou’s…(I loved them as well)</p>
It depends, really. Your anecdote might tell us as much about you and your circle of friends as it does about Brown and Dartmouth. What didn’t your friends like about Dartmouth?</p>
<p>My friends were from multicultural backgrounds and found the community very isolating, despite their attempts to “fit in.” They also found some of the college staff not too receptive to their concerns. According to these friends, they thought the college coddled certain students, despite their transgressions on campus. I am not one for anecdotal evidence, but it is all I can go by given my ‘limited’ ability to give my opinion since I have no association with either school.</p>
<p>^^I think everything on CC is hearsay, so what is the point? BTW, I am sure the parents’ of my friends would send their children to Brown over Dmouth each and every day of the week, so again, what is your point?</p>