<p>I am considering applying to either Dartmouth or Williams for ED. I've done an overnight at both school (official at Williams, unofficial at Dartmouth). </p>
<p>I really liked the sense of community at Williams but am slightly considered it is a bit too intimate in the sense that whatever you do becomes known. I also really like Williams' connections with Oxford both for study abroad and post graduate fellowships. </p>
<p>I like Hannover better than Williamstown as well as Dartmouth's Ivy status. I am however, a bit concerned about the Greek scene and how it might detract from the intellectualism. </p>
<p>Do Dartmouth profs. invite students to their houses like they do @ Williams? Does not being an athlete have a big social impact at Dartmouth? How big are the largest intro classes at Dartmouth (Econ 101)?
what does the Dartmouth forum think? I know both schools are pretty equal when it comes to grad school placement, with Dartmouth perhaps a little ahead for Wall St. </p>
<p>According to a friend of S’s who recently graduated from Williams, when W abolished frats the houses were gradually taken over by athletic team-related groups that have the worst aspects of frats but are not at all open. At D, the frat scene is very open, and plenty of houses have nothing to do with athletics. There are also co-ed options. </p>
<p>You might want to try to find out more about this from your Williams connections…obviously, this was one person’s opinion.</p>
<p>I literally had the same question when deciding my ED school. I was split between Williams and Dartmouth. I picked Dartmouth. Submitted my app a couple weeks ago. It was just a feeling for me. I thought I would fit in at Dartmouth just a tad better.</p>
<p>post is pretty outdated, the message must have gotten lost in translation from your friend. Williams abolished frat houses in the 1950’s. There is nothing on campus that remotely resembles a fraternity, in terms of housing, and hasn’t been for some time. Certain houses once were dominated by a particular team or clique, but for better or worse, those days are long gone. There is no “rugby dorm” or “football dorm” or “black student dorm” or “theater dorm” or anything like that. The housing draw is structured to ensure that houses typically have a big mix of people. Obviously some folks will be drawn to houses that end up being more social/loud than others in any given year depending on who chooses to live together, but each house has a different character from year-to-year, and it is rare that any particular organization would dominate any but the very tiniest residential structures on campus (which tend to house only seniors, in all events). Most of the dorms at Williams are large enough to feature a very big mix of students. And Williams tends to attract many students who were turned off by fraternity-dominated culture at competing schools. Also, any sort of significant social event on campus is very open, there are no exclusive events whatsoever, as you are suggesting. </p>
<p>I do think that the importance of fraternities at Dartmouth is a material difference vs. Williams, which tends to have a very open social life (though as you note, social life can feel a little TOO intimate for some), and nothing remotely resembling the hierarchy / exclusivity / status-consciousness that typify many frat-dominated social scenes (not speaking specifically of Dartmouth here, just generally). </p>
<p>I’d also disagree that Dartmouth holds any edge over Williams in terms of Wall Street. Academically, and in terms of reputation among grad schools and Wall Streets, the schools are even. So you should choose to apply ED to the one you felt most comfortable at – you really can’t make a bad choice between the two, and I do think they tend to attract fairly similar (though not identical) types of applicants.</p>
<p>Thanks for your perspective, Ephman. The kid in question just graduated last year. I have the impression that he was talking not about dorms, but about some small houses, perhaps the senior houses you describe.</p>
<p>I actually think Williams has more cachet on Wall Street than Dartmouth and most of the other Ivies. I’ve heard it said that you can’t be unemployed if you graduate from Williams; an alum would hire you to avoid sullying the school’s rep.</p>
but maybe you’re not planning on an econ major. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)</p>