<p>Can someone help convince me of possible reasons? </p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC</p>
<p>I am a parent, but my D is a 14 at Dartmouth. She would have chosen Dartmouth over any school. First, there is a huge focus on undergrads. She loves that she deals with only professors and not TA’s. She was able to do research in both her freshman year and this year. The D plan allows for more (and easier to obtain) internships. She has found the student body to be extremely friendly and non-competitive. Plus, the social life is great! She loves Dartmouth’s size. She also loves how safe the campus feels. She can walk anywhere at any hour and feel safe (although as a parent she still needs to be aware). Students could probably give you a ton more reasons, but I can tell you that the Dartmouth students LOVE their school, and the alumnae network is very very strong. A number of her friends chose Dartmouth over HYP, etc, with no regrets. I don’t know what you are looking for in a school, so I can’t say what is right for you. Visit each if you can, and go where you feel you fit in best. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I recommend that you attend Dimensions. Sit in on classes, meet with current students. You need to ask your self what made you apply to Harvard (besides being Harvard)?</p>
<p>My D has quite a few friends that chose Dartmouth over Harvard and Yale for just the reason’s Dumbo stated. During her cycle, we visited both and she was not interested in attending either. However, she has at least 8 girlfriends friends from her class who are starting HBS this fall, in addition to friends at the Med school and Law school. So there is more than one way to get to Harvard 
.</p>
<p>Hopefully Courer will chime in as he has daughter who attend(ed) both Harvard and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>My D felt part of a family when she visited Dartmouth. Welcomed to classes – and welcomed to come back for more. Harvard? She went to where she was told to go, but she hadn’t been sent her special code and was told to go to another building – which was locked with no way to get on or communicate with anyone. Hmmm. Guess which school she chose? There were a lot of other reasons as well, but those were the ones that hit deep.</p>
<p>Think about what you are looking for in a school. Do you like city or more suburban? Larger or smaller? More laid back or more intense? What types of students are you looking for? More competitive or more cooperative? That is not to say that one is “better” than the other. Perhaps you would prefer the more competitive atmosphere of H or Y. Maybe that keeps you motivated. Or maybe you would prefer the more cooperative community at D. Again, it’s all about your personality and how you feel you work best.</p>
<p>D is consistently ranked #1 for undergraduate teaching, year after year. I don’t know about Yale, but at Harvard TAs teach a good number of classes. For that much money, being taught by grad students seems ridiculous!</p>
<p>Here is a quote from the D 2016 facebook group about choosing D over H or Y (hope the original author doesn’t mind): “What I’ve been telling myself is that I can always save Harvard/Yale for graduate school, but I can’t save Dartmouth. It will provide the best undergrad experience for you to excel at those institutions later on for med/law school or anything else.”</p>
<p>Also keep in mind what other things you are looking for in your undergrad experience. If you want flexibility and a time-advantage for internships, the D-plan allows for that. If you want to study abroad, D has one of, if not the, best study abroad programs in the country.</p>
<p>Would choose both Harvard and Yale over Dartmouth…</p>
<p>I’m sure many would think it a no-brainer to choose Harvard or Yale, but the student body is the difference. I am competitive, but I also yearn to be more social and that’s why Dartmouth has been so intriguing for me. I’ve encountered alumni from all three schools and have not liked how isolated/selfish/socially awkward a lot of students at Harvard SEEM. I say SEEM because I only know a few. I will visit all three schools for their respective programs and I will be paying careful attention to the student body and prospective student body rather than “how big are the dorms” or other such questions. I admit I am a little socially awkward at times, but I’ve blossomed so much over these past few years that I don’t want to take a backwards step by going to the wrong school that will perpetuate who I used to be as opposed to who I am becoming. However, there is a big caveat. If I went to Dartmouth, I would sincerely wish to participate in fraternal life, but fear I will have problems for three reasons: 1) I’m not an athlete 2) I’m hispanic 3) I’m gay ← this is my biggest worry. I know that I would have no trouble being open at Harvard or Yale, but whether I could be part of a fraternity, especially as a non-athlete who happens to be gay is questionable. Now, I don’t act stereotypically gay or anything, in fact, I’ve never told anyone. I just don’t want such labels as “gay” to hinder me from blossoming into the fine individual I’ve worked to hard to become.</p>
<p>*another minus as far as Dartmouth is concerned: their classics department is much smaller than that of yale and harvard, but this is almost a non-issue for me as I may switch majors and am probably going into law school as opposed to teaching latin as I originally planned.</p>
<p>I sincerely appreciate all the input. My biggest qualm at the end of the day is that I hope that I don’t choose a school just for prestige.</p>
<p>
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<p>Daughter’s BFF was a classics major (currently at Stanford Law)</p>
<p>Did the Classics FS in Greece</p>
<p>[Programs>Brochure>Off-Campus</a> Programs](<a href=“http://ocp-prod.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=9028&Type=O&sType=O]Programs>Brochure>Off-Campus”>http://ocp-prod.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=9028&Type=O&sType=O)</p>
<p>Along with the classics FS in Rome</p>
<p>[Programs>Brochure>Off-Campus</a> Programs](<a href=“http://ocp-prod.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=9030&Type=O&sType=O]Programs>Brochure>Off-Campus”>http://ocp-prod.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=9030&Type=O&sType=O)</p>
<p>Dartmouth has also made history when in 2006 the students elected Tim Andreadis as the first openly gay person to hold the office of student body president in the Ivy league</p>
<p>[Out</a>, and leading, at Dartmouth - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/09/out_and_leading_at_dartmouth/?page=full]Out”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/09/out_and_leading_at_dartmouth/?page=full)</p>
<p>Again, visit, sit in on classes, talk to students and make the choice that is best for you.</p>
<p>Interficio, </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, when my D visited Harvard and asked why people had chosen it, the answer was, “Doh, it’s Harvard.” At Dartmouth (and at Yale, to be fair), the kids were there because they loved the school and wanted to learn. And, the Dartmouth classics department may be small but that means you get to know the profs (who are universally wonderful as far as I can tell) and the classes are way small too.</p>
<p>Interficio, I chose Dartmouth for precisely the reason you said above: I wanted to attend a school that would fit the confident, outgoing, social person I was gradually becoming, rather than a safer school that fit the shy-ish, more likely to hide behind my brain person I had been. I was choosing between Dartmouth and some very “intellectually intense” schools. I consider Dartmouth my home, and literally cannot imagine being anywhere else. </p>
<p>As for being gay and in a fraternity: you will find that not all fraternities will be welcoming of an openly gay brother. Its a sad truth, but there it is. There are however, several on this campus that regularly pledge openly gay men, both those who are “stereotypically” gay and those who do not fit any stereotypes. You will get a feel for that if you come to campus, as you do have a year to familiarize yourself with the Greek system. </p>
<p>The classics majors I know have loved the department and have taken advantage of some awesome opportunities during their time. They’ve done and are doing some really cool things. There is also a specific classics study abroad program to Greece and a program in Rome. </p>
<p>I think you have it right about going to all three and really paying attention to the student body and the quality of life on campus. Good luck with your choice.</p>
<p>thank you all for your amazing replies!</p>
<p>Green99, I hardly expect effusive acceptance, but it is refreshing to know that I won’t be altogether excluded from fraternity life just for my sexuality. I am VERY excited to get to visit all of these amazing schools!</p>
<p>WAIT, I almost forgot to ask a VERY important question which might makes these things moot. Financially, what does one contribute if he joins a fraternity, in terms of fees and such? Because I’m on nearly complete financial aid. LOL maybe should have asked this first before outing myself on the internet.</p>
<p>dartmouth over harvard, yes. better undergrad focus, better community. choosing dartmouth over yale, however, would make you a fool. yale is all of dartmouth but better – yale rejects GO to dartmouth.</p>
<p>Especially if you enjoy spending time in the pit of despair known as New Haven, CT! Yale for grad school maybe, but undergrad? No way.</p>
<p>Yale isn’t nicknamed the “gay Ivy” for nothing. It has an extremely accepting campus, and you’ll find that Yalies aren’t any less social than students of Dartmouth. From your description, Interficio, it seems that Yale is the best fit for you. Great classics program, great pre-law (and grad school placement), open-minded student body, and top-notch social life.</p>
<p>P.S. Why the violent username? --a fellow Latin student :D</p>
<p>Ahaha it was just my favorite verb from Latin. 1, so I used it for most of my usernames thereupon ahaha. The thing about Yale is it feels a little too “ethereal” if that makes any sense whatsoever. Haha. Aloof might be a better word. Of course I’ll confirm/refute these things in a week when I visit. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I necessarily NEED the environment most welcoming or most full of gay people. Being gay doesn’t define me, as well it shouldn’t. It just happens to be a facet of who I am. </p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re visiting. I don’t think that you’ll find it aloof. At least, not more aloof than the student body of Dartmouth. And the fact that Yale is very welcoming doesn’t mean that your sexual orientation will define your life–not at all! I just think a less dominating frat/Greek culture (which can be exclusive to gays) exists at Yale, which can keep your options open. If you find that you don’t enjoy Greek life, you can find other social groups quite easily (as Greek is a minority at Yale). This would be a little more difficult at Dartmouth, where Greek life is more prominent.</p>
<p>I’m not as familiar about finances for fraternities. I know my sorority is very good about working with people on any financial issues, but I really cannot speak for any other house. It can be pretty expensive (especially fraternity social dues, since frats keep the whole campus in keystone) but I really don’t know how willing any given house would be to work with a brother to make the money work. I’d guess both the amount of the dues themselves and how flexible a house would be is pretty variable.</p>
<p>Dues for Dartmouth fraternities/social houses/societies range a great deal. They are, however, generally separated into two categories, house dues and social dues. House dues, as you might be able to guess, are for non-social activities and needs. Usually, in my fraternity and others I knew of, people would try to pay their house dues (generally around 100 to 150 a quarter). But, of course, people could pay partial house dues or not pay for whatever reason (social houses at Dartmouth generally have endowments/we had a squeeky clean treasurer when it came to managing finances). As for social dues, my fraternity had a treasurer and a dues manager who were open at all times to talk about social dues and payment amounts. My fraternity set social dues at 200, however not everyone would pay that amount for a wide variety of reasons, from financial to just plain being busy and not being too social that quarter, lol. As far as I know, fraternities at Dartmouth are like Dartmouth and other ivy league schools when it comes to admissions. They want you in the fraternity and they’ll figure out how you can pay your dues once you can get in. Not being able to pay your social dues was not a big deal, and it was kept between the member and the officers elected to handle such issues. </p>
<p>Also, somebody said that being openly gay wasn’t kosher in some fraternities, but in my experience, all fraternities/social houses at Dartmouth had openly gay members (And I ought to know since I was in a fraternity and was very social on campus). Having openly gay members was really good I think. And, I can remember having conversations with such members and more than few told me that being in a “fraternity” allowed for them to grow more comfortable and okay with themselves and others in ways that they wouldn’t have at other schools.</p>
<p>But, yeah, just to answer your question. Graduated a few years ago…</p>
<p>Best of luck with your college stuff! It’s an exciting time of life indeed.</p>
<p>One teeny, tiny fact that no one seems to have considered is financial aid. For a family earning 100k with typical assets Dartmouth is roughly 15-20k more expensive per year than Harvard and I suspect Yale as well. If you don’t believe me, check out the respective financial aid calculators. Obviously that’s not an inconsequential consideration for many people.</p>