<p>Can you tell me why you choose Dartmouth over other big famous colleges? I thought Dartmouth is the least famous among the Ivies? Is that true? And who are Dartmouth students?</p>
<p>It depends who you are. My brother went to Dartmouth (chose it over Penn, Duke, Columbia, among others). He’s done incredibly well (worked at Goldman, at a top PE firm, now at HBS), in his experience Dartmouth just dominates business. I think Dartmouth does really well with East Coast companies and does almost Princeton level in terms of grad placement. I wasn’t accepted (I still love the school) but I am headed to Brown. Dartmouth is almost old-school. Its what I would call a hidden gem - those in the know understand its greatness.</p>
<p>Dartmouth students are hard working, fun-loving, friendly and sincerly welcoming - they sign up in droves for the opportunity, as upperclass students, to welcome first-years in the manner in which they were welcomed. The campus is close and inclusive. Students travel abroad more frequently than other ivies. Opportunity for internships and research are facilitated by the unusual ‘d plan’. Undergrads are taught by professors (not TA’s) and oportunities to know them outside the class room are available, and encouraged. You will find graduates do extremely well in business, as per admitone’s post, but you will find them at great law schools and med schools, at non profits, and across the globe. A majority participate in service - in the local community or beyond - while students. Great opportunities exist for student-led initiative. Alumni have a huge loyalty to the school and to each other.</p>
<p>Yeah its funny I guess I’m still in love with Dartmouth. My brother just had the best experience on the planet. At his wedding there were like 30 Dartmouth people - such ana amazingly diverse, totally happy, cool group of people. But luckily I feel the same way about Brown 
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<p>My other brother who went to Harvard just doesn’t have that love. There is something special in the water at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Perhaps that something special in the water is alcohol? I kid I kid. I haven’t yet started, but I can answer why I chose Dartmouth over Columbia. The difference between both is enormous-big city vs small New England town. This being said, I felt like could possibly enjoy both. Once I got into both, they sent cards and letters from various departments and a call from Columbia and a few from Dartmouth. My questions via email were answered fairly quickly by Dartmouth and their Financial Aid offer was significant enough that I didn’t seek for a readjustment at the time (which I did later and they raised it a bit in a very timely manner). Columbia on the other hand, calculated my FA a completely different way which was ok I suppose as they seemed to have a system in place to sort of match what other schools offered. I called their Financial Aid Office various times only to to directed to a voice mailbox which was full. I sent an email and received ambiguous responses as to whether they had fixed the problem or not it never did get fixed. I felt as though Dartmouth had an invested interest in me attending and Columbia just had too many people to deal with to be interested in one person. They can just pull another grateful one out of the waitlist I suppose. This experience is reflective of the amount of students that each school has I imagine.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is the least famous Ivy internationally due to its small size and lack of an abundance of prestigious grad programs. However, Dartmouth has a big reputation in the US, at least as famous as Brown, Columbia, and Penn.</p>
<p>I chose Dartmouth over Wharton because I wanted to explore my interests instead of being holed into one subject. Although getting an iBanking out of Wharton may have been easier (as this is what everybody tells me), I don’t know if that’s what I want to do in a few years.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound redundant, but this is a school where the people who matter know about it. I guess in that way, its prestige is on par w/ Penn and the other Ivies.</p>
<p>Plus, how do you beat the community, the fresh air, the quirkiness?</p>
<p>My Daughter applied to many of the Ivies and top 20 (add Williams, et al) and got into all but two- 14/16. She did not apply to Columbia, Harvard and Yale. Harvard and Yale principally because she felt their prestige, etc., was more based upon graduate school and that they did not have the best undergraduate focus. She actually hated the whole prestige thing. She ended up going to Rice because they offered her a bunch of money and research mentorship and that is what she wanted. When you ask where she would have went if it wasn’t for those things, she would say it was Dartmouth and not Princeton, Brown, or Cornell because of the undergraduate focus, which was just highlighted in USNWR: [Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-ut-rank]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-ut-rank)</p>
<p>I agree with all the good stuff that has been said about Dartmouth. the thing that strikes me about Dartmouth is how well kept and clean and pretty the buildings are-inside and out.</p>
<p>I actually chose Dartmouth over a few of the Ivies as a transfer (and I was coming out of Columbia). Dartmouth just wins on the intangibles. Its graduate placement and recruiting is superb, and in my experience it leads among the non-HYP Ivies in many ways in this regard. Heck it has the highest average salary for its graduates.</p>
<p>But its the special things that were the reason I chose it. Dartmouth showers it students with opportunities - from grants, to international thesis research stipends, to paying for community service experiences. It has arguably the best study abroad in the country. There are no TAs. Dartmouth has the highest alumni giving rate and 75% come back for their 5 year reunion. Professors take you to dinner and the President of the school walks around campus. The D-plan gives incredibly access to Internships and sophomore summer is everyone’s favorite term. The community is loyal and tightknit. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is just a fantastic undergraduate experience that is incredibly unique.</p>
<p>so out of all the Ivies the only ones I’m considering are Princeton, Yale, and Brown–what I’d like to know is how Dartmouth compares to the other Ivies, and other great liberal arts colleges in general, when it comes to academics, research opportunities, study abroad, etc.
What I’d also like to know a lot about is the residential/social life at Dartmouth. From what I hear, though this could be a bunch of hogwash, is that Dartmouth is the partying school of the Ivies full of sororities and fraternities–any comments?
And lastly, how would you describe a typical Dartmouth student??</p>
<p>I’m a '13 so take my account with a grain of salt (although I have been on campus quite a bit).</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Penn are generally known as the two party schools of the Ivy League (relatively speaking), and each will say that they are THE party school. Parties at Penn, however, are more focused on apartment parties/house parties, while Dartmouth is about the Greek life. The Greek system is pretty dominant on the social scene, although there are other outlets and people find their own niches.</p>
<p>I can’t say much about the dorm life as I did not live there for long. However, from my limited experience, it seems that it is more active than other Ivies.</p>
<p>Dartmouth pwns at study abroad, with like 60 percent of undergraduates going on one. Research is focused on helping and using undergraduates. Academically speaking, the professors are generally on par or better than the other non-HYP Ivies.</p>
<p>What I have noticed is that it seems like Dartmouth students are all united by the fact that we all love the college experience. This includes the dorm life, the Greek life, the study abroad, the academics, and the school pride. I have friends who seem apathetic about their school’s traditions or residential life for example, who just want to go to college for the education or for the benefits of having a diploma. But I just feel like every Dartmouth student or alumni I meet is always excited about the idea of college. They’re excited to buy posters for their dorm, to meet their roommates, and to connect with their own class on Facebook. Of course, most students are excited, but we just seem particularly enamored with the thought of having the college experience and community.</p>
<p>Anybody disagree?</p>
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<p>I mean, I’d like to have a championship football team that gets televised on ESPN, large tailgates, and other **** like that, but I pretty much agree. Can’t win them all…</p>
<p>Condiments: Perhaps this will be that year that D can return to it’s former (relative) greatness on the grid iron? </p>
<p>Eh… maybe not. But hey, I can dream, right?</p>
<p>The football team is projected to be on top of the Ivies in 2010 and 2011-- they have been rebuilding and new coaches have been hired. There is a significant drive behind getting the program where it was-- Dartmouth has the most football wins in the Ivies and is the upper tier in championships.</p>
<p>Just a terrific place to spend four years in almost every respect.
Scratch a friendly, self-deprecating student and discover cognitive and talent depths that are amazing. Not quite like any other place. Williams and Princeton are the most similar, but different just the same.
Most Ivy League graduates will spend the bulk of their lives in major metropolitan areas. A great time to experience something different. While you are at it, hike or at least take the 19th century cog railway (which U. S. Grant enjoyed) up Mt. Washington.</p>
<p>James28 - I think danas describes it very well above - so many students are friendly and self-depracating - its a bit of campus culture to underplay accomplishments - but yet are very involved, vary talented people. Like their peers at Princeton and Yale and Harvard (from what reputation informs me) students are very actively in involved in many pursuits. Students feel they can take intiative and make a difference and are encouraged and supported in this. </p>
<p>To get a small feel for the liberal arts academia, take a look at the following links. They are from the most recent Dartmouth Life quarterly and while entire focus of the issue is narrow - the visual arts - you get a sense of the way a liberal arts education allows the opportunity to marry a premed or engineering major, for example with studio art as another example, along with study abroad, and research opportunity and small classes and attentive accomplished faculty for a fulfilling academic life. You will also get a sense of at least who some Dartmouth students (and alumni) are:
[Dartmouth</a> Life - Student Perspectives on the Visual Arts - Summer 2009](<a href=“Dartmouth News | Dartmouth”>Dartmouth News | Dartmouth)</p>
<p>[Dartmouth</a> Life - Student-Athletes - Summer 2009](<a href=“Dartmouth News | Dartmouth”>Dartmouth News | Dartmouth)</p>
<p>[Dartmouth</a> Life - Classroom to Career: Alumni Reflections - Summer 2009](<a href=“Dartmouth News | Dartmouth”>Dartmouth News | Dartmouth)</p>
<p>In my opinion the self-deprecating sense of humor is a great aspect of Dartmouth. You have an incredibly talented, worldly, group of students who also know how to have a good time and not take themselves too seriously. Its rare and refreshing.</p>
<p>“self-deprecating” is not how I would describe students at some of the other Ivies. :D</p>