<p>I posted this in the Dartmouth forum but I feel I should ask this board in order to get a non-biased view.</p>
<p>I really love different things about each of the schools. I love Dartmouth's community/location and I love Columbia's connections in terms of internships in NYC.</p>
<p>I'm not the type of person to even look at rankings so don't bring that sort of garbage up. These are all amazing schools but I need advice on which one would suit me best:</p>
<p>I'm looking for a super traditional college experience. One that I will tell people about School X and be like "Ohhh hahahaha...crazy times..." and things of that nature. My parents didn't go to college so the whole entire "Animal House" college experience has been missing in our family. </p>
<p>Both of these schools are amazing academic powerhouses and I can't even begin to compare them, which is why I think the "Quality of Life" rating is more important to me. If any current students/others could at least tell me about the quality of life in each of these schools, I'd be very grateful!</p>
<p>I’ll play the negative portion of this review. Admissionsgeek, concoll, and other more positive reviewers will come in.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get a traditional college experience at a city school. There’s the lack of space, the density of the population, and the lack of community. </p>
<p>Columbia definitely has great connections to internships in NYC. You can work 10-20 hours a week to boost your resume, but it can be tough to have a job and juggle school, especially if you’re studying engineering. Also remember the Dartmouth has the trimester system and many banks with loyal alumni are happy to take students on “winternships” through the D-Plan. I know for a fact that a BB M&A group takes on a few students each winter and convert them to summer internships.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is the super traditional college experience. Columbia is what it is, a city college at the end of the day.</p>
<p>One of the biggest criticisms of columbia is that it is missing that kind of traditional collegiete/animal house vibe.</p>
<p>though i think there are ways in which you can mimic that at columbia (frats - especially scavenger hunts - bars, and some pretty good parties), there are structural deficiencies that make it hard for you to precisely have that kind of bucolic experience. many of your peers are not hunting for that, so they are ok being more independent; it is hard to have a huge keg party at columbia, even the frats have limited capacity.</p>
<p>the reason to choose columbia is that it is different (and in my eyes better), but if you’re looking for something particular, something traditional, columbia is not the best place to find it.</p>
<p>Dartmouth will give you everything you could want based on you describe (and their internships through the dartmouth plan and alumni connections are great). It wont give you that extra that Columbia offers - layers of complexity, opportunity, frustration and amazement, that which makes you feel like you’re living. You can’t have an entire city to play with at 3am in the morning and a sense of endless adventure that comes with living in NYC and being a student at Columbia (that gives you such a great entry into the city). You can’t feel as free at Dartmouth as you do in a place with so much available; beer gets stale after awhile, trees look oppressive and the snow is claustrophobic. Indeed there is something awesomely liberating about a city, but you have to want to be in it, and want to take advantage of it to truly enjoy a place like Columbia.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that when you said internships in NYC, you meant financial services. Take a look at these posts from college students on Wallstreetoasis. Columbia and Dartmouth are both good but the edge goes to Columbia.</p>
<p>As someone who has attended both I strongly suggest Dartmouth for you particularly. Dartmouth is much more a traditional college experience and its students are amazingly self-deprecating, fun, social, and yet brilliant. It combines the warmth of a liberal arts environment with more ‘random fun’ than you can imagine. Personally I thought it was far more of an adventure than Columbia, which I felt was restrained socially. I think Dartmouth is the choice for you. I highly suggest going to Dimensions, I think you will agree.</p>
<p>As for finance recruiting there’s no difference at all between them - both are top feeders.</p>
<p>Agree with everyone. My son is also deciding primarily between these two and is very strongly leaning toward Columbia. But he loves the urban setting and the intellectual atmosphere. For frats, binge drinking and animal house atmosphere, Dartmouth beats Columbia for sure.</p>
<p>I just finished all of my admit day trips and I’ve finally decided that I’m going to attend Dartmouth this fall. At first I was worried that Dartmouth’s location and size were going to turn me off but the minute I entered Hanover I fell in love. When I was at Princeton, I liked it, but I couldn’t feel at home there. As for Columbia, I found myself trying to convince myself that I liked it, but I just couldn’t handle the small campus and awkward community. But in the end these are all Ivy Leagues and I’m sure I would have ended up with a great future no matter the school. Go Big Green!</p>
<p>Congrats on making your decision! You’ve apparently put a lot of thought into it, visited the schools, and made the right choice for you. Your choice underscores the fact that no school–whether Columbia, Princeton, or any other–is the right choice for everyone.</p>
<p>And my son has decided too - will be going to Columbia in the fall. Was leaning that way anyway but the Dartmouth and Columbia visiting days made his choice very clear. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>I wish you luck at Dartmouth! Dartmouth is obviously a great school and it sounds like it will fit your needs in what you are looking for in college.</p>
<p>Be sure to try out the French Toast at Lou’s… I almost decided to go to Dartmouth just to eat that stuff every Saturday!!! LOL</p>
<p>“I’ve finally decided that I’m going to attend Dartmouth this fall.”</p>
<p>Whether you realize it or not, you’d made that decision when you first posted in this thread! Dartmouth is definitely the perfect school for you; it’s in a location you love and it’ll give you that stereotypically “super-traditional college experience” you so crave. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Good for you, helpmechoose!
You had three amazing options, and you choose the one that fits YOU best. And that is all that matters!
Good luck, and enjoy your next four years ath Dartmouth.</p>
<p>And you can go to Columbia or another urban school for graduate work. Or, using the D plan, spend several terms in urban locations in the US and abroad.</p>
Or, using the D plan, spend several terms in urban locations in the US and abroad.</p>