<p>Accepted at both. Would it be crazy to turn down an Ivy for a women's college?</p>
<p>Not if you don't like living it up like in Animal House. I don't think Wellesley girls are going to be the ones drinking rum and crashing windows. Though I could be wrong. ;P</p>
<p>Wellesley is the #4 liberal arts college in the country, and there is no shame in that! It depends on what kind of experience you want. Those are two very different environments.</p>
<p>Well, admittedly biased here as a Wellesley admit who wasn't interested in Dartmouth, but in my opinion there is very little difference in education quality OR overall prestige between the two. I'm not trying to knock Dartmouth at all, but it doesn't have the same WOW name factor as many of the other Ivies, and Wellesley has a very well-respected and pretty well-known name itself. Basically: pick the one that makes you happiest, but I really don't think that there is a measurable prestige difference between these two.</p>
<p>not if you like the women's college and environment better. :)</p>
<p>I would consider Dartmouth to be the perfect college experience, but think if you're even asking that question that you would be a better fit at Wellesley.</p>
<p>"I'm not trying to knock Dartmouth at all, but it doesn't have the same WOW name factor as many of the other Ivies."</p>
<p>If you're talking about the ordinary person on the street, I'd say yes. But then again, they also don't know who belongs to the Ivy league, or even what is Ivy league. For people that matters, you have got to be kidding.</p>
<p>I was speaking man on the street. However, for people in the know, Wellesley is a very good name as well (I would think). Again, I'm not putting down Dartmouth--I think that it is every bit as good as/possibly better than Wellesley. I just think that for these two schools specifically, even more so than other pairs, the academic reputation/prestige is not very different.</p>
<p>I was in the same situation a few days ago and chose Dartmouth. If both had offered me the same amount of financial aid it would've been a harder decision, but Dartmouth offered me over $22,000 more than Wellesley, and after much consideration, I'd also decided that I wanted to attend a coed school. Besides that, Dartmouth's size and location appealed to me (I'm a pretty outdoorsy person and love to ski), I liked the flexibility of the D-Plan, and some of Dartmouth's academic programs almost had me drooling (their MRI lab, among others). Both are excellent schools, though, and you really can't go wrong with either in terms of academics. Is it possible for you to stay overnight at both to get a sense of the atmosphere on campus?</p>
<p>edit: Please note that prestige was not a factor in my decision. They're both prestigious schools; trying to split hairs here is just silly.</p>
<p>Yes both schools are great in their own right but to equate Dartmouth's reputation and prestige with Wellesley is absurd. And if someone really believes they are equal, that person should go to Wellesley.</p>
<p>I didn't try to "equate" them. I said that comparing schools in terms of "prestige" is silly, and choosing which one to attend based on it is sillier.</p>
<p>My post was meant for advantagious, not you. Sorry for the misunderstanding.</p>
<p>If you feel you would fit in socially at Dartmouth, I think Dartmouth might be more fun.</p>
<p>Wellesley was the final cut for my D#1. When she did an overnight there she was not impressed with the apparent social scene. She didn't like the idea of having to take buses to MIT to meet MIT-type guys- who in some cases, with other odds, probably couldn't even get a date. Or the name bestowed to said buses, with associated connotation. She didn't think the students she spoke with seemed very happy. Could have been all wrong, of course.</p>
<p>Campus activity level seemed a bit muted on weekends, as many trooped into Boston.</p>
<p>Not much alcohol at Wellesley vs. -by repute only, I imagine- swimming in it at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Academically we thought Wellesley academics were top-level. Though stressful.</p>
<p>I don't want to get into an argument that won't help the OP, but I am somewhat taken aback by how stridently you have worded your posts, SimpleTruth, and very surprised (re: shocked) that the comparison between the two schools is "absurd". To me, that implies that Wellesley is not even near the same league (no pun intended) as Dartmouth, and I...don't understand that. At all. If this is what you believe to be true, I would like some reasons why Wellesley is so far behind Dartmouth and what you believe Dartmouth's academic equals to be and Wellesley's academic equals to be.</p>
<p>Not that you probably care, but my Ivy educated parents seem very assured of the academic rigor and good name of Wellesley and similar caliber schools. My father has even said to me that (gasp!) were he applying today, he would have a really tough time choosing between Princeton and Carleton (a school similar in prestige/repuation to Wellesley) or Wellesley (could he apply there, naturally!). Lest you think otherwise, he is not the kind of person who is saying these things to make me feel better--he has said so for awhile now, long before any admissions decisions came out.</p>