<p>well i got one of those likely letters from dartmouth and i'm elated, but i'm just debating.... if in hell's chance i get into stanford also, which would be a better choice? i'm really interested in a good solid core of a liberal arts education, going into international relations or political science maybe... anyone care to offer insight? thanks!!!</p>
<p>how could you go wrong with either school. i would think, for these two schools ,it would really boil down to personal preference. do you prefer the weather in california or new hampshire? are you attracted to the extensive outdoors activities one can take advantage of at dartmouth? is one closer to your home and is that a factor for you? etc. etc..</p>
<p>While I love Dartmouth, is there anyone who wouldn't prefer Stanford's weather. Also, Stanford has more year round outdoor activities, they're endless. I like Dartmouth's campus and size better. I also think the D paln is a huge plus over all the other top schools. They're so different, if you visit both I think you'd know pretty fast which you prefer.</p>
<p>In my experience the fact that Stanford is so intertwined in Silicon Valley is a big plus, but I truly believe that Dartmouth is a more tight-knit school and it is the quintessential college experience. I would visit both. My best friend (now at Cornell med) chose Dart over Stanford and loved every minute of it...my advice is to visit both. These are easily two of my favorite schools (along with Brown), you just can't lose.</p>
<p>i've gone to both schools and if you're doing international relations or political science, academically speaking it doesn't really matter which one you go to. it's more of a matter of taste. at stanford, undergrads are definitely not the center of the attention unlike at dartmouth, but they take a really good care of you.
personally i think four years at hanover is a bit too much.</p>
<p>I'd go with the grade-inflated Stanford -- all most as good as H. :D</p>
<p>"is there anyone who wouldn't prefer Stanford's weather"</p>
<p>for sure ... i think there are many people who would prefer Dartmouth's weather to stanford's ... i, for example, am one of them ... anyway, both schools are obviously great, and you should definitely visit both, i know that was key in making my decision, probably more so than any other factor.</p>
<p>I chose Dartmouth over Stanford.</p>
<p>There are advantages to both.</p>
<p>Dartmouth
+ beautiful campus, tight-knit socially
+ strong student life, fraternities
+ Ivy League</p>
<p>Stanford
+ arguably "better" (minimal edge, though)
+ strong for politics, more high-profile profs
+ warm weather</p>
<p>If you get into both, go visit both and see how you feel. Strongly recommend the admitted student programs.</p>
<p>Stanford! Are you kidding, what could be better than living on the most beautiful campus EVER, with the best weather you're ever going to find, and one of America's best cities 40 minutes away. Dartmouth is without a doubt, a wonderful school but if you get into Stanford . . . I woundn't think twice.</p>
<p>xFire: I think you must have been confused in writing your last post. You wrote "Stanford" and then "most beautiful campus ever". You must have meant to write Dartmouth. There's no comparison between the two campuses. Stanford's campus is nice, architecture is bland, weather is nice but bland but also dusty and also hot at times. If I'm not mistaken, Palo Alto, without piped in water, would be considered desert. If you don't want a real change of seasons, don't want to soak in a fall in New England, don't want to be 20 minutes from your own college ski slope or 10 minutes from kayaking, don't want to build snow sculptures for Winter Carnival, don't like ice hockey, don't want to feel the hill winds in your veins, go to Stanford.</p>
<p>Classes will be smaller at Dartmouth. Complete focus on undergraduate education. Athletes at Dartmouth actually meet Dartmouth's academic standards. (Head of GE and our current Sec'y of Treasury and former head of Goldman Sachs played football at Dartmouth). No way Stanford athletes can compete in PAC 10 and meet even Stanford's academic standards. </p>
<p>Finally, Dartmouth alums unknown to each other can meet anywhere in the world and form an instant bond of friendship and camaraderie. as</p>
<p>Tis a small college but there are those who love it.</p>
<p>Y'know, if you picked Dartmouth, you'd have the opportunity to get a little bit of both--Dartmouth students are allowed to study for a term or a full year at Stanford.</p>
<p>in my personal opinion, i like the fact that dartmouth is soooo green! i love the mountains, i love to hike, i love to take nature walks. now while some people love the cali weather, i have to say new england is where it's at for me. :D</p>
<p>I was admitted into both schools in 2005 and chose Dartmouth over Stanford though Stanford was more generous(including international air tickets in my aid). I personally prefer colder weather because of the concern of the harm that strong sunlight would bring about. And there are really a lot of fun around this northeastern small college. I'm not a huge fan of outdoors because I cannot afford those equipment and don't have a car, but I have enjoyed quite a lot of hiking, fishing and skiing for the past year. Another concern is that New England is full of elite colleges while the colleges on the west side seem like a non-cohesive potpourri.
That said, Stanford is Stanford, a great school, so like what they said in the admission letter--now the exciting next step is on you. I'm still in love with Stanford, but Dartmouth is where I belong. So visit both schools, at least attend some lectures and see for yourself.</p>
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I personally prefer colder weather because of the concern of the harm that strong sunlight would bring about.
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<p>uhhhhhhhhh what?</p>
<p>good luck with both.. i was rejected stanford SCEA, im hoping to get into dartmouth and back in october i was thinking about doing dartmouth ED or stanford SCEA... as for what you said about the "D-Plan" that is one thing that i love about dartmouth but also remember that stanford is also on the quarter system so they actually have very similar schedules</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with you. There were three schools in my list, from which I had to choose one to ED.
As an international student, I couldn't visit the schools. Then I google-earthed them. Harvard looked pale; Yale looked brownish; Dartmouth looked verdantly green.
Although there were other reasons, in this aspect, I knew where I should belong...</p>
<p>What about this: the D-plan enables to you study 3 quarters somewhere else. If you go to the Dartmouth homepage, you can see that Stanford is one of those places where you can go for 3 months. So, if you like both places where much, you can choose Dartmouth and 3 times for 3 months each you can go to Stanford as well! You can also combine the 3*3 months to one 9month session. In the end, you can take advantage of the resources of both institutions and they both appear in your cv! If these two are your top choices, I would really do this.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Dartmouth so I realize I'm not objective, but when he was in high school we visited Stanford where a good friend of my husband's is a professor. This professor, who is tenured and LOVES being at Stanford, strongly advised my son not to apply to Stanford as an undergraduate because of the focus on research rather than on teaching undergraduates. He highly recommended it for graduate or professional school, however.</p>
<p>OP asked this question over a year ago so I think that his decision has already been made (unless bigboy is choosing between stanford and Dartmouth)</p>