<p>Hey guys! I'm having a tough time deciding here, so I'll tell you my pro and con lists, interests, etc., and let me know what you think. I'm interested mainly in humanities, possible majors include Religious Studies, Romance Languages and Lit, Comparative Lit, Creative Writing, and Art History. For extracurriculars, I'm into spoken word, theatre, writing, and environmental groups, with some community service thrown in there.</p>
<p>Dartmouth:
Pros-
1) D-plan (4 terms instead of trimester)
2) Ivy Reputation
3) More diverse ideologically (liberals and conservatives)
Cons-
1) Not as great a focus on the arts
2) Lots of Greek Life</p>
<p>Wesleyan:
Pros-
1) Focus on the arts
2) More varied social life (not mainly Greek)
3) Smaller undergrad population size
Cons-
1) Less diverse ideologically (practically all liberal and Dem.)
2) Probably less course variety (less endowment)</p>
<p>Why do you think you wouldn’t have as much focus on the arts at Dartmouth? Have you visited both? My D decided not to apply to Wesleyan after visiting. It sounded like her kind of place online, but when she visited, she realized she wouldn’t fit in.</p>
<p>Seriously, the links between Dartmouth and the last remaining New England LACs go back a long time, way before the Ivy League was officially formed in 1954. Dartmouth still considers itself an LAC and quite frankly, its reputation within the League does not rest on its similarity to Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Dartmouth is completely <em>sui generis</em>.</p>
<p>I don’t think the Ivy League label (or its absence) should trump the feeling that you might not fit in. I’ve known at least a half-dozen Dartmouth alum over the years who did not graduate with particularly fond memories of the place and who are probably among the 30-40% who do not rouse themselves to donate to it every year.</p>
<p>One of the things you have to ask yourself is whether there’s much difference between the insurgent Left and the insurgent Right? It’s interesting that on both the Wesleyan and Dartmouth campuses the moderate middle is occupied by Democrats.</p>
<p>@FlyMetoTheMoon, my impression was that art events at Wesleyan have more attendance and more students participate. Not sure about visual arts, but this is definitely the case with the comparative theatre depts. That having been said, Dartmouth has great facilities, namely because of the money factor. Its brand new Black arts center is amazing.</p>