Dartmouth vs. UVA

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I received "likely" letters from both of these schools. I never even really thought that I would get into Dartmouth and I only applied there as a last second decision. I have had my heart set on UVA for the past two years. I applied to UVA early decision, but I was deferred. However, I received a "likely letter" in February from UVA. UVA's admission process has truly confused me, but at this point, it appears that I will most likely be accepted to both Darmouth and UVA. </p>

<p>I was wondering, in terms of respectability, are UVA and Dartmouth in the same league? I know UVA is not an ivy league, but it is one of the best public schools in the nation. Would it be a wise decision to go to UVA over Dartmouth? At UVA my major would be "Political and Social Thought" and at Dartmouth, my major is "Government." These two majors aren't exactly identical but they are comparable. I was wondering what school would be the best option for me if I want to pursue a career in public policy or politics?</p>

2

<p>first of all congratulations on getting a likely letter.</p>

<p>I think you have answered your own question.</p>

<p>You state </p>

<p>I have had my heart set on UVA for the past two years.</p>

<p>I never even really thought that I would get into Dartmouth and I only applied there as a last second decision.</p>

<p>UVA is an excellent school where you will get a great education, if you are looking for name recognition it has that too. </p>

<p>Either school will help you get from point "A" to point "B" as far as pursuing a career in public policy/politics.</p>

<p>You have to think about what it is that you want in a school as they are vastly different with UVA being a large research university and the other is a small college with 4000 undergrads in Rural NH. As far as cost, there is a $10,000 difference, is money going to be an issue?</p>

<p>take a sheet of paper fold it in half on one side write down what you like about UVA, what you dislike and the reason that you want to attend. On the other side do the same thing about dartmouth. now compare the list.</p>

<p>Government along with economics are amongst the most popular majors at dartmouth so you will not be at a loss for people and their opinions about the program. </p>

<p>Have you looked through the course offerings at both schools, how do you feel about them? Dartmouth has gov't study abroad program in both London, DC, and at Oxford does that interest you.</p>

<p><a href="http://oracle-www.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.Home%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://oracle-www.dartmouth.edu/ocp/prod/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.Home&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You can do a number of internships through the rockefeller center and minor in Public policy. Is this something you are interested in?</p>

<p><a href="http://rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/students/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/students/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Have you visted either place? I would suggest spending a few days in each place, attending a few classes and talking to a few people.</p>

<p>Posting on the Dartmouth board, you will find people who are Rah-rah Dartmouth, but all their cheers do you no good if they are cheering about things that you don't want.</p>

3

<p>dartmouth has a better poli sci/gov't major by a good margin but uva is still a very well respected school.</p>

<p>it all depends which school you like better. so visit dartmouth and see if you like it better than uva.</p>

4

<p>Visit Dartmouth's "Accepted Students" days and then make the decision. Dartmouth is a better school and its a stronger network/ better placement/ etc, but UVA is a very good school so you can still be wildly successful graduating from there too, you'll just have to work a little harder. </p>

<p>Dartmouth is amazing socially and has a ton of unique things so take a close look when deciding. It has one of the happiest student bodies in the country.</p>

5

<p>I say you should visit both schools and see which one is a better fit. They are quite different from each other, and both UVA and Dartmouth are excellent in their own right. </p>

<p>By the way Slipper1234, as member of the Yale Club of NY (where the Dartmouth Club and the UVA Club of NY are both in residence), I regularly come into contact w/ alums from Dartmouth, and I don't see any difference between each school's graduates when it comes to success. So I don't think that Dartmouth's alumni network or placement is any better than UVA's.</p>

6

<p>i agree that dartmouth has a very strong gov department. As far as politics is concerned, I believe more renowned politicians emerge from Dartmouth than UVA. Still, this is my opinion. But I think you showed a strong passion for UVA, and definitely go for the school you love. At the end of the day, though, you will never feel at a loss at both of these schools, they are the pantheon of American education. Good luck</p>

7

<p>Globalist, that is because you are running into alums in NYC, a city which takes some initiative to end up in for a UVA grad. There is likely to be no difference among grads of UVA, Dartmouth, and Harvard in NYC, but overall there will be a difference (slight one). Its not hard to see Dartmouth is the stronger school. Just compare placement rates into places like HBS, Harvard Law, Yale Law, Penn Med, etc. Dartmouth does amazingly better.</p>

8

<p>UVA is a couple notches below Dartmouth, there is probably less of a jump between Harvard and Dartmouth than between Dartmouth and UVA. But you don't need to go to Harvard to be successful.</p>

9

<p>yeah...I just found out today that I'm in the same position (likelies from Dart and UVa). I'm leaning towards Dart but...I also want to give fair consideration to UVa.</p>

10

<p>i definitely concur with the stance that Dartmouth is the stronger player in the undergrad edu. My sense is that Dartmouth is one of the only universities that ultimately focuses on its undergrad department, which could only benefit us all</p>

11

<p>Megagear65,</p>

<p>What? I don’t think Dartmouth trumps UVa in politics. Here are 3 Political Centers housed at UVA that you should know about:</p>

<p>The Miller Center, which is currently archiving/documenting all the once-classified U.S. White House Presidential tapes:
<a href="http://millercenter.virginia.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://millercenter.virginia.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The Sorensen Institute, which espouses bi-partisanship and has educated a large percentage of Virginia politicians (and growing number of politicians in other states), who have learned to work with both sides of the aisle. This is how Virginia, a very Republican state, can be run by 2 Democratic governors in recent years.
<a href="http://www.coopercenter.org/sorensen/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.coopercenter.org/sorensen/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2005/20/sorensen_grads.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2005/20/sorensen_grads.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The UVA Center for Politics founded by Professor Larry Sabato, the nationally renowned political analyst/pundit who himself donated $1 million to UVa – a promise he made when he was a UVa student before becoming a Rhodes Scholar.
<a href="http://www.centerforpolitics.org/index.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.centerforpolitics.org/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Did you know have UVa has 2 highly-regarded Politics Honors Programs, where your grades are frozen when you enter the programs? Meaning if you have a 4.0 when you start the program your junior year, you will graduate w/ a 4.0.
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/politics/undergrad_program/honors.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/politics/undergrad_program/honors.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/politics/undergrad_program/distinguished.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/politics/undergrad_program/distinguished.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>UVa also has a Diplomat Scholar Program, which brings diplomats to UVa to work with UVa students.
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/09_21_2004/diplomat_scholar.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/09_21_2004/diplomat_scholar.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2006/20060223NigeriaAmbassadorSpch.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2006/20060223NigeriaAmbassadorSpch.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>UVa also offers Transatlanticity:
<a href="http://www.transatlanticity.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.transatlanticity.com/&lt;/a>
Twenty-four Oxford undergraduates and 24 University of Virginia undergraduates comprise a course co-taught by Virginia professor Peter Onuf and Oxford professor Peter Thompson. Oxford and Virginia students will read and debate (via video-conferencing) "The Federalist Papers", Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", Thomas Jefferson's "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and many other political documents penned during the age of the American Revolution. This spring, four Griffin Scholars will engage in month-long dissertation research trips to Oxford and Charlottesville. And in March, a number of faculty and students will present papers and participate in seminars at the annual conference at Oxford. (Plus, I've been told that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's son at Oxford is a student in one of the classes.)</p>

<p>Furthermore, here are politicians (with the positions they held) who went to UVa grad or undergrad and continue to come back and give to the University (well, the ones who are still alive). </p>

<p>George F. Allen ‘74, ‘77: U.S. senator & governor of Virginia
Hanan Ashrawi ‘82: Palestinian spokeswoman, peace activist
Gerald L. Baliles ‘67: governor of Virginia
Allen Barkley (1898): U.S. vice president (under Truman)
B. Evan Bayh III ‘81: U.S. senator & governor of Indiana
Fernando Bolívar (1826): Venezuelan diplomat; UVa’s first Hispanic student; son of Simón Bolívar, Liberator of South America
Christopher S. Bond ‘63: U.S. senator of Missouri
Frederick C. Boucher ’71: U.S. congressman of Virginia
W. L. Lyons Brown, Jr. ‘58: U.S ambassador of Austria
John Campbell ’66: U.S. ambassador of Nigeria
John Cornyn ’95: U.S. senator of Texas
Thomas M. Davis III ’75: U.S. congressman of Virginia
Edward E. Elson ‘56: U.S. ambassador to Denmark
William S. Farish III ‘62: U.S. ambassador to Great Britain
Gene E. Franchini ‘95: chief justice, New Mexico Supreme Court
James Gilmore ‘71, ‘77: governor of Virginia
Virgil H. Goode, Jr. ’73: U.S. congressman of Virginia
Michael Guest ‘81: U.S. ambassador to Romania
Leroy Hassell ‘77: first black chief justice, Virginia Supreme Court
James Heiple ‘88: chief justice, Illinois Supreme Court
W. Nathaniel Howell ‘61, ‘65: ambassador to Kuwait during the 1st Gulf War
Brereton C. Jones ‘61: governor of Kentucky
Alton G. Keel ‘66, ‘70: ambassador to NATO
Edward M. Kennedy. ‘59: U.S. senator of Massachusetts
Robert F. Kennedy ‘51: U.S. senator of New York; U.S. attorney general
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ‘82: environmental activist
Angus S. King ‘69: governor of Maine
Sheila Jackson Lee ’75: U.S. congresswomen of Texas
Thurgood Marshall, Jr. ‘78, ‘81: cabinet secretary for Bill Clinton’s Presidential Cabinet
Janet Napolitano ’83: governor of Arizona
Bill Nelson ‘68: U.S. congressman of Georgia
Frederick E. Nolting, Jr. ’33, ’40, ’42: U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam
Lewis F. Payne ’73: U.S. congressman of Virginia
W. Robert Pearson ’68: U.S. ambassador to Turkey
Charles S. Robb ‘73: U.S. senator & governor of Virginia
Marshall C. Sanford ’88: governor & U.S. congressman of South Carolina
John W. Snow ’66: Treasury Secretary
Javier Solanas ‘71: secretary-general, NATO
John C. Stennis ‘60: U.S. senator of Mississippi
John Charles Thomas ‘72, ‘75: first black justice, Virginia Supreme Court
John V. Tunney ’59: U.S. senator of California
John W. Warner III ‘53: U.S. senator of Virginia
Daniel Wathen ‘88: chief justice, Maine Supreme Court
Lowell Weiker ‘58: governor & U.S. senator of Connecticut
Ashley Wills ’71: U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka
Woodrow Wilson (1880): U.S. president; founder, League of Nations; Nobel Peace laureate</p>

12

<p>Plus, UVa now runs Semester at Sea, which MTV's Road Rules made famous during one of their semester-long transglobal trips.
<a href="http://www.semesteratsea.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.semesteratsea.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And UVa gives you access to hundreds of study abroad programs from Morocco to Tibet to Italy to Costa Rica to Peru to South Africa:
<a href="http://www.studyabroad.virginia.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.Home%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studyabroad.virginia.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.Home&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>Yeah but Dartmouth runs there own study abroad - ie you'll be with other Dartmouth students with Dartmouth professors and get to go on special trips every weekend, etc. Dartmouth's Rockefeller center provides countless opportunities in Washington.</p>

<p>This isn't even close. Dartmouth is a better school.</p>

14

<p>Have you considered size? I really like that Dartmouth is small - 4000 undergrad.</p>

15

<p>UVa runs its own study abroad program too. The places I mentioned - Morrocco, Tibet, etc. - are UVa programs. </p>

<p>Look, I'm not saying that Dartmouth isn't a fantastic school. It surely is! (Though only Harvard, Yale, Princeton, West Point, and Stanford have more Rhodes Scholars than UVa.)</p>

<p>Yes, you have to consider size. If you want a great small liberal arts sized college then Dartmouth is hard to beat, but if you want a fun medium-sized university, then UVa all the way. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06uva_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06uva_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>I know several people who had to make this choice - Dartmouth or U Va - including my own D who is at Dartmouth and loving it. But I know someone who made the choice to go to U Va, pretty much because he wanted someplace that was less expensive and just more fun. I think that Dartmouth is a "better" school. And there is definitely better name recognition and a better network. Just the poeple who knew D had gotten into both schools - those who went to Dartmouth told her if she went there to contact them if she ever wanted a job. Those who went to U Va were much more lukewarm about their experience. </p>

<p>It's a question of which is the right school for you. There is a monetary difference. There is a size difference. But there are some factors to consider which I don't think have been mentioned in this thread. 1- at U Va some 2/3 to 3/4 of the students are from Virginia. And 2 - yes people who wind up at jobs in NYC from either school are probably equally successful, but I would at least find out if the recruiting is on the same national level at U Va as it is at Dartmouth. I would tend to think that it is not, simply because most of the undergrads are from Virginia.</p>

<p>Go to Dimensions and to the equivalent at Virginia. See for yourself.</p>

17

<p>Dartmouth has an unusual school year.</p>

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<p>Which makes it awesome. </p>

<p>Unless UVA is free I can't even believe someone would consider these two as comparable. In my social networks they just aren't, not even close.</p>

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<p>Slipper123,</p>

<p>Two points, the top 3 cities that UVa grads move to after graduation are Washington, D.C., NYC, and Atlanta. There are close to 10,000 in the NY Tri-State area. Plus the largest number of out of state students hail from NY state, so opposed to your earlier comment, it's not hard for UVa grads to come to NY. Plenty of NY firms hire UVa undergrads. I was one of them - wined and dined and recruited to move up here to work.</p>

<p>Re. social circles, when I went to a soiree hosted by alumnus Robert Wright (president, NBC), or a Paper magazine party honoring alumna Tina Fey (former SNL headwriter and writer of "Mean Girls"), or attended a speaking event lead by alumnus Peter Quick (former president, American Stock Exchange), or had drinks w/ alumnus Tiki Barber of the NY Giants, or networked with a fellow alum who also happens to be a Danish count, or partied at the annual UVa vs. Yale Harriman Cup Alumni Polo match in Darien, CT - I didn't say to myself, geez, I wish I had gone to Dartmouth.</p>

20

<p>According to the book Blink, some things aren't worked out best by reasoning. If both schools are attractive, visit both and go with your gut feeling. It's better than trying to write down and comparing which I always thought wasn't the best way to make decision.</p>