<p>S is struggling between these two fine schools. He is interested in govt., so that weighs in Georgetown's favor, but wonders if he won't get a better overall education at Dartmouth. The georgraphical remoteness is a negative for Dartmouth, although he skies, plays tennis and bikes and doesn't need the buzz of a large urban campus.</p>
<p>Any comments will be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Good problem to have! I've visited both schools. My daughter was interested in the Georgetown SFS but didn't get in; close family friend went there & loved it (now a Navy officer). It is indeed an excellent program and the DC location creates a lot of opportunities.</p>
<p>My son is a third year student at Dartmouth and has had a fabulous all-round experience. He's studying Geography, French, & Art/Architecture. It is a very undergraduate-centered environment with many of the resources of a larger research university (library, for example). Classes are small -- in his first year he had a film class with something like 50 people, but otherwise class sizes have probably average about 12. All professors, no TAs.</p>
<p>As for the foreign service interest, Dartmouth also has plenty going on (see for example <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Edickey/)%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dickey/)</a>.
Dartmouth students have internships and practicum experiences in any field just about anywhere, and the language programs and foreign study opportunities are first-rate. </p>
<p>My son is also very outdoors-oriented & active, & in this department I don't think anything compares to Dartmouth. There is biking, skiing, hiking, climbing, rowing, fishing etc. literally at the doorstep. All schools have outdoor clubs now, but the tradition and range of the DOC are without compare. </p>
<p>I hope this helps, & again, either choice would be great.</p>
<p>previous thread on Dartmouth v. Georgetown</p>
<p>Government is one of the most popular majors at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>The government department recentely changed its system of majors to give students greater freedom in their fields. </p>
<p>"Students now choose one of four subfields: international relations, comparative politics, political theory and American politics," "In the new plan (which takes effect with the calss of 08), students will pick a puzzle that interests them and formulate a major with the help of an advisor."</p>
<p>As a result, students will no longer adhere to one particular concentration, instead choosing various courses from subfields that are of interest to them</p>
<p>Government department</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Egovt/major/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~govt/major/</a></p>
<p>Course descriptions</p>
<p>Govenment study abroad program in London</p>
<p>Government study abroad program in Washingtyon DC</p>
<p>Rockefeller Center for public policy</p>
<p>Student Internships through the Rockefeller Center</p>
<p>past internships</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>I don't know a great deal about SFS, other than it is very prestigious, and is the source for many career foreign service officers, etc. I don't know any practical details about class sizes, requirements, etc.</p>
<p>I will say this about my daughter's experience at Dartmouth. Government is one of the most popular and over-subscribed majors at Dart. As Sybbie said, they are re-vamping and hiring more teachers, but the experience has been over-subscribed classes, extending beyond the intro classes in some concentrations. I would ask a great many questions - at Dimensions, on LiveJournal, etc. I don't know which are the more popular government concentrations (I suspect politics), but there is a way to figure it out. Allowing students to take classes that interest them within the major, may help spread out some of the overload.
If you look on the Registrar's part of the Dart website, there is a way to see what the class caps are, and how many people over the cap have been admitted to a given class. You can go back a couple of terms, and find specific classes you might be interested in. It is one thing to have an intro class in econ or politics that has 60 people, it is another to soph and junior classes that size. The other practical problem is that freshmen/soph can sometimes have difficulty getting a specific class - which makes declaring a major difficult.
Another question to ask would be competition for the internships and study abroad opportunities - I'm not sure how the large number of gov't majors impacts that.</p>
<p>having said all that, my daughter is quite happy - I'm the one that has been a little disillusioned about class sizes and opportunities. Her smallest class last term was about 25, but a class this term has only 12-15, and the frosh seminar, of course is capped at about 16, so that class was small. She also got her first choice study abroad as a freshman, which was great, a couple of her friends got waitlisted, because their programs are pretty small, and the places get taken by rising juniors.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your words of wisdom. It is truly a "good" problem to have and I am certain either way, S will be happy and receive an excellent education.</p>
<p>One last question: how frequently do Dartmouth students go to Bostonaand/or Providence for weekend fun? Is it a rare occasion or is the trip a regular event? S has good friends who will be at Harvard, Tufts and Brown that he would like to visit occasionally.</p>
<p>I was out road-tripping quite often and its the norm. I probably visited Boston (Harvard) 5-6 times, and Providence (Brown) 5-6 times as well. I actually have some good friends at Brown that I met on my trips there!</p>