<p>My son was admitted to WashU and got a likely letter for Dartmouth. Can anyone give pros and cons for these schools? My son is very undecided on major, interested in biology, neuroscience, cognitive psych but also classics and literature. His EC interests are new media theater and crew. Location not ideal either place, didn't want as cold and remote as Dartmouth but wanted to stay in northeast. Any comparisons or contrast appreciated. Also. Forgive this mom for being shallow, but I think of Dartmouth as more prestigious. Is that still true? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is still at New England area, couple of hours to reach Boston, WashU is nowhere in terms of location. Overall Dartmouth undergraduate education was ranked #1. For undecided kids, it is a good choice. As far as I know, WashU study enviroment is pretty good comparing other schools, barely hear party school, etc. It is a good choice for pre-med kids.</p>
<p>^It is ridiculous to say that Dartmouth is within a couple hours of Boston, yet WashU is “nowhere in terms of location.” St. Louis may not be Boston, but it is still a major city. If you’re looking for an Urban or Suburban campus with access to a city, Dartmouth doesn’t beat WashU (when solely focusing on this category).</p>
<p>Take a visit to both schools. Very different towns~</p>
<p>1) Dartmouth crew is fantastic. I’m not sure that WashU even has a team. If it does, they don’t compete with the likes of Dartmouth. Another thing to consider is that the Dartmouth crew team doesn’t have to practice at 4 am or some ridiculous time because it has exclusive access to the Connecticut River.</p>
<p>2) Dartmouth has the Hopkins Center of the Arts for those who are interested in the fine arts. It’s a terrific resource that WashU probably can’t give its students.</p>
<p>3) The whole “cold and remote” thing is overstated. Boston is 2.5 hours away and Montreal 3 hours away if you’re feeling a nice weekend outing. The buses to those two destinations literally leave right in front of the Dartmouth Green (i.e., center of campus). And I’m also not convinced that Hanover is substantially colder than other areas in the northeast. The difference is 5 or 10 degrees – max. And I’ll happily take that tradeoff for access to the school’s own ski mountain, golf course, river, etc.</p>
<p>EDIT: Dartmouth is definitely the more prestigious – or at the very least the more selective – of the two.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any question Dartmouth is more prestigous than Washington U. WU is a great school, but personally I think Dartmouth is a different level in terms of alumni conntections, etc. With respect to cold, my son wanted to stay in the warmth- from Florida, but family is orignally from St. Louis. We looked at average termperatures in the NE and they were all approximately within 10 degree average temps. He is happy with his decision on going to the #1 undergraduate college/university in the country.</p>
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I have to say, your post is very misleading as you provide MANY incorrect statement about WUSTL, questions your ability to provide a reliable answer. </p>
<h1>1. WUSTL has a team. Being a Ivy league school that categorizes crew as a varsity sport (even though NCAA doesn’t recognize it as one) means that Dartmouth funds its crew team. WUSTL doesn’t. Also, to get on Dartmouth’s crew team means that you have to be a very good rower (varsity not novice). While anyone can join, Darmouth actively recruits and even uses the NCAA clearinghouse, WUSTL doesn’t. I don’t know if you even know your own school because Dartmouth practices in the early mourning too, so you can’t say that WUSTL has a disadvantage. The difference is, WUSTL will be more understanding when it comes down to having to miss practices. Dartmouth takes rowing seriously, just like how Kansas takes its basketball or Alabama takes its football. In other words, the coaches will be more strict on attendance and will care more about rowing. WUSTL crew is more understanding if the member has exams he has to take or has to skip practice for other obligation. Why? Because WUSTL crew is a club sport. Unless, the OP’s son wants to train for the Olympics, it’s more a matter of what he wants to focus on, becoming a better rower while sacrificing some time for education, or focusing more on education and not too much on rowing.</h1>
<h1>2. This just shows your lack of understanding WUSTL and even your own school. Dartmouth doesn’t even have a fine arts school. WUSTL has a fine arts school and its ranked #15 in the US. So obviously, the reality is WUSTL has a terrific resource that Dartmouth can’t give to its students.</h1>
<h1>3. Last time I checked 5-10 degrees is pretty intense. That’s like 40 degrees in Boston compared to 30 Degrees in Hanover, below freezing. St. Louis winter is a lot milder, it reached 70 degrees this year during late February. It also has its fair share of rivers (oh wait, the Mississippi) and lakes. From St. Louis to Chicago can be a simple weekend trip.</h1>
<p>Selectivity doesn’t mean a school is better than another. For example Caltech has a higher acceptance rate than Brown, but Caltech is obviously better for aspiring engineers. It’s a matter of fit.
Prestige doesn’t matter. If you want to argue prestige, WUSTL has much more prestige than Dartmouth in sciences. WUSTL med schools is top 5, meaning the OP’s son can perform cutting edge research. WUSTL also receives many times more federal grant than Dartmouth, meaning much more research opportunities. Since the OP’s son wants to study Biology, neuroscience, cog psych. WUSTL’s med school provides him with a large resource of professors and WUSTL itself has many bio/neuro/cog psych professors that receives millions in grants. Total amount they receives far exceeds Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Dartmouth >>> Wash U, IMO</p>
<p>This is not such a simple question. I visited both schools with my son this year and they have VERY different feels. WU not surprisingly had a very mid western feel and Dartmouth was very stereotypcially New England. I dare say that prestige will also be somewhat regionalized. I am from the NE, so clearly Dartmouth is better known as are all the Ivys and even the small LAC. Go outside of here and not nearly as many have heard of Dartmouth. I’m not trying to start that whole debate thing about prestige, but, does it even really matter once you are on campus? One of the things I have constantly harped on with my son is that he is who defines the schools that he attends rather than the school defining him. What great choices for your son to have, if you can afford it at all, have him visit both and not necessarily on revisit days that are staged to give a certain presentation, but rather, on a typical weekday/weekend where he can get a feel for the daily life. Wishing him the best of luck and congratulations to you on your son’s great success.</p>
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<p>Patently false. Tons of freshmen with zero experience walk on every year.</p>
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<p>The male heavies recently had two 8 am practices, and the girls sometimes decide to practice at 6 am (only when they’re doing two-a-days). Otherwise, practice is in the afternoon.</p>
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<p>I bet everyone on Dartmouth’s team is going to be on the U.S. Olympic team. They’re that talented – especially those with zero experience.</p>
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<p>Congratulations? Dartmouth is right below Princeton in the largest amount of funding per undergrad. The opportunities are there for students. If your son wants to do the fine arts, he can do them at Dartmouth. Apparently he’ll be fine at WashU too. I don’t know if he’s allowed to access the school’s fine arts resources if he’s not majoring in a fine art, but I’m sure the WashU guy will chip in here.</p>
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<p>30 and 40 feel pretty similar, to be honest.</p>
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<p>Current temperature in Hanover is 38. It’s 40 in Boston.</p>
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<p>You know someone is backpedaling when they’re parsing details like this. At the undergraduate level, none of this matters. Dartmouth has incredible access to scientific laboratories, as does WashU. As an undergrad, your kid won’t be doing any groundbreaking original research, so if he has access to strong labs with smart profs, he’ll have a rewarding experience. And he can have this experience at both WashU and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>The answer here is pretty clear: Unless your kid can’t handle a real winter, Dartmouth is the school for him.</p>
<p>But visit both to see which one he prefers…</p>
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<p>I don’t mean to suggest that rankings mean everything, but I did want to clarify that Dartmouth was ranked #1 for Undergraduate * Teaching *. It was #9 overall in the National University Rankings on USNR.</p>
<p>I also just wanted to mention that back-and-forth debates like these between students from two different schools are very helpful to the rest of us. Plus, it is nice to see students loyal to their respective schools.</p>
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I’ll clear this up for WashU- ANYONE can take fantastic classes in the art school at WashU. You don’t have to be a major.
I’m an engineering major, and had I wanted to, they’d have gladly let me minor (or even double major), and it would not have been a big stretch (I’ve taken a handful of photo classes).</p>
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Hardly.<br>
In the northeast? Sure, most likely.<br>
But in other parts of the country, not so much. A girl from my high school (top private school, sends 100% of students to college) got into Dartmouth. Only 2 of us knew it was an ivy. Or that it even existed. Outside of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, the rest the country really couldn’t name all of the ivy schools.
Not saying that most students knew about WashU, but in the parts of the South and the Midwest they certainly do.</p>
<p>This school-hating is ridiculous. Both schools are fantastic, but they are very different with different atmospheres. Your best bet is to visit both and see which you prefer.</p>
<p>My son is a rower at Dartmouth. Although people do walk on as freshman, many do not stick with it. </p>
<p>They never have practices early in the morning- it is usually mid- or late- afternoon. </p>
<p>Is your son a lightweight or heavyweight rower?</p>
<p>My son is lightweight rower. Varsity in his small school but not nearly good enough to be recruited or anything. All this info is incredibly helpful.</p>
<p>Don’t hate the other school, just love yours more ;)</p>
<p>So is my son. If your son decides to go to Dartmouth, the two lightweight coaches- freshman and varsity- are both great. </p>
<p>Is your son going to Dimensions? If so, and if the team is not away at a race, he might be able to meet the coaches and some rowers. Let me know and maybe my son can help arrange something. (He and the rest of the lightweight team are in Oak Ridge TN this week for spring training.)</p>
<p>Heavies actually go to Oak Ridge (and Texas) too!</p>
<p>This thread has been really really helpful! Thanks to all who gave input above. Unfortunately I’m only able to visit WashU but there are so many components of Dartmouth that I love.</p>
<p>Washu is in an earth quake fault area. Ask a geologist and they will tell you it is a matter of time. However, we cannot live in fear. Dartmouth is in a smaller town than Washu. So, the typical social environment is better for kids. Just my opinion. However, Dartmouth tuition is higher and it is a need based school. I don’t believe Washu is a need based school. </p>
<p>There are also other factors that need to be considered when you pick a school. Good luck. No matter where you child ends up, I am sure you make the right decision and go to the right school. Sometime, your guts feeling is the one that you go with after your college visits and other considerations.</p>