Dartmouth's breaks

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I know this may sound like a VERY stupid question, but what do Dartmouth students do during winter break, when all their friends from back home are still at college for three weeks? Also, what do they do when all their friends leave for college and they're stuck at home for three weeks in fall term?</p>

<p>This sounds like a very silly question which probably shouldn't be a consideration, but one of the things that frustrates me about Dartmouth is the way the breaks just don't line up with the breaks of other colleges. Do Dartmouth students go out and do their own thing with other Darts during that time? Or what happens?</p>

<p>Joe</p>

2

<p>jp:</p>

<p>D-Mouth is on the quarter system, and its breaks coincide with most other colleges that are on the quarter system (and there are many).</p>

3

<p>well, it just worried me that most of the colleges my friends are going to are on the semester system. I know that lots of other outstanding colleges operate on the quarter system, just none that any of my friends picked :-p.</p>

<p>Joe</p>

4

<p>You can hang out with you new Dartmouth friends.
And you'll still have summers. But not sophomore summer.
Oh, that probably didn't help.</p>

5

<p>My friend is a freshman this year at a school that operates on the quarter system. There is a little overlap, but the bulk of the time doesn't overlap. She just spent some time with her family, took a weekend trip to 'the big city' to go shopping/see a show, worked a little at a job she had before college, and just relaxed! She also met up with a friend from her college and they drove to State U and they each visited some friends from high school. It's about what you would expect I guess. Yes, you won't get to see your friends for as long, but you can visit them, if they aren't too far away (which is really fun, get a taste of a different campus), and just enjoy your down time.</p>

6

<p>obviously you don't live in California, where most of the schools start late (except for Berkeley where most of my friends are going...).</p>

7

<p>I know that when I am flying back Dartmouth, I will be staying at my friends' dorms to pass the time when no one else is on break. That way, I get to have fun and party at ASU, USC, UCLA etc. and not have to worry about any class work!</p>

8

<p>Okay:</p>

<p>It's a lot of fun to visit people while they're in school, and with the quarter system you can do that, whereas people on the symester system have a harder time visiting each other at school. </p>

<p>Next- for summers, you'll be there when they are for the first one...but honestly, by the next summer, you will really prefer to be with your friends at school. I, for instance, have gone home twice this year, and refuse to spend the summer at home, as do many of my friends. You have things like internships and other job opportunities to take advantage of...why worry about when you get to hang out with friends that have their own lives? It's not worth it- and you'll believe that the spring of your freshman year. </p>

<p>For winter break, I: went to Maryland to visit a friend at his school, went to Georgetown to visit a friend there- then I went back to Wyoming (where I'm from) for two weeks. The first week I didn't even want to see anyone, just my family- Everyone went to work or school from my house, and I spent the day watching judge judy, sitting on my couch, and planning what my mom could cook me for dinner...ha ha. Then my family went to Mexico for a week and a half, and then I came back to Dartmouth and my family went home. </p>

<p>For spring break I went backpacking through Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary with two friends from Dartmouth.</p>

<p>I did actually go home this weekend to surprise my mom for mother's day. My friends had just gotten out of school. It was fun to see them for an hour or two- but after a bit, I realized I had nothing in common with them and we didn't have much to say besides "how was school? how were classes? did you like your roommate...." you know? you no longer share anything in common.</p>

<p>This summer I am meeting my family at our place in Mackinaw City, Michigan for two weeks to hang out on the beach and chill- then I am going to Montreal by myself for 3 days, then I'm coming back to Dartmouth from June 21-August 15 because I'm making buckets of money working for the college while getting to party at a college, rather than drive around with my friends every night to pass the time and live under my parents' rules- and then in August I'll go to Wyoming and visit my family for two weeks, and then in September- I'll probably go to London or Iceland or Sweden for a week or something just to hang out before I go back to school.</p>

<p>As you can see- I'm keeping myself very occupied, and I love it. You will, too.</p>

9

<p>apppro: what are you doing over the summer at Dartmouth? because I already pretty much know that staying at dartmouth would be a big improvement over coming home.</p>

10

<p>I would be interested to know as well. What do most students do summer after freshman year? I want to do something better than go home and work some minimum wage job.</p>

11

<p>Not to put down those jobs, because that's what I'm doing this summer, so I would like a change.</p>

12

<p>Mine is coming home and working as a camp counselor over the summer (yes, she must earn that student contribution). Also is hoping to get a part-time job working at Ralph Lauren so that she can get a discount She willbe back on campus early september for their UGA training.</p>

<p>Her friend across the hall (from florida) is spending the summer in NYC doing an internship and staying with family friends. She is also hoping to work parttime over the summer so that she can get a shopping discount. Will also be back to work as a UGA.</p>

13

<p>Wow Sybbie- the whole shopping discount thing really makes me wish we had a Lacoste or JCrew here in Hanover....oh well. </p>

<p>Takeheart and Saila- the job I have for the summer is for the Dartmouth Policy Debate team. I'm on the team, which is really the only way to get the job I have. I basically work 15-20 hours a week just sitting in the library at a desk and make sure the students that attend our debate summer camps wear their nametags. The rest of the time- I just hang out and party. It's going to be amazing.</p>

<p>For the summer- you can do a number of things, but one must take initiative. One of my friends is working for a New Hampshire rep in DC for the summer, and of course other friends are going home to work "regular summer jobs" (For lack of a better term...). Another of my friends will be in NYC doing something for Scholastic- but I'm not sure what. I'm a fan of backpacking in Europe and think I might do South America at the end of the summer for a few weeks...I just don't know. I guess...this is your time to live. Find something interesting, there are tons of options. I think if you just look around and think "what do I want to do for the summer?" It can happen. I personally just knew I didn't want to be in Wyoming- and then this opportunity arose and I took it immediately. </p>

<p>Sybbie's daughter has a good plan, too. I think it sounds awesome.</p>

14

<p>Oh, and I'm def. not putting down low paying summer jobs. I was paid $6.25/hr working as a furniture mover. It was atrocious. My coworkers were ex-cons and I was threatened to be killed a few times. It gave me character...lol. But really- many of us pay our dues...it's good experience, but god does it suck.</p>

15

<p>I have to deliver the sad, true news. Your high school friends and you will grow apart. I know that's the last thing you want to hear, and probably won't believe me now, especially at this point with Prom and Graduation and the promises of being "friends forever". I'm here to tell you, those promises fade. It's not that you'll stop liking each other, its more that you'll all move on. You will get home and rather hang out with your Dartmouth friends than your home friends, find excuses to go back early to school (or never leave). Breaks go by quickly, you'll be surprised how little time you have for old friends anyway. </p>

<p>And appro was right - you have very little to talk about. You're all forming new, incredible lives on your own, and rarely does that include your old friends. I have a friend from home at Dartmouth and we hardly see each other - I still love her and consider her a great friend, but we have different lives.</p>

<p>And before I get bad respones, yes you will keep some friends and you may forever remain close, but overall you'll move away from your high school life as you become a college student. I wouldn't worry about the quarter system - the timing is an advantage for getting jobs (longer breaks at a time when no one else is looking). You'll always have friends around you, even if they're not the ones you're used to.</p>

16

<p>I'm not really worried about the breaks - I'll probably end up visiting friends at their colleges. The only thing I dislike about the quarter system is having another set of midterms and finals. :(</p>

17

<p>apppro, i didn't know you do policy at dartmouth. how experienced does one have to be to join the team? my partner and i did well in local tourneys, and got to states and ncfl's (and went 4-4 at harvard, so we were mediocre). i didn't debate sr yr tho b/c of a family situation, and we never had a coach so i never could feel like i owned theory (i didn't debate cp's and k's too well either; hm... that just left me a crapass debater, lol). anyway, do you recommend ppl to do it in college? i absolutely loved doing it while i could, but i hear that college debate becomes your life, and i really want to explore other activities in college. also, how big is the team? and is there an actual commitment for the novice team (i assume there's a novice team at d?) to do well at dartmouth? 'coz i get the feeling that schools like emory and northwestern only focus on their ndt teams whereas liberty, catholic, etc. actually have novice/jv teams that do some serious annihilation. oh also, are the debaters all guys at dartmouth? i'm a girl; i don't think that's a problem (male-dominated team), just curious.</p>

18

<p>I actually found plenty of time to spend with my high school friends. There are some big overlaps (summer, winter break), so its not a big deal. I have gotten closer to a number of my high school friends since graduating from high school. Everytime we are in the same city we hang out.</p>

19

<p>taurustorus-</p>

<p>Well- to tell you how good you need to be, I was actually an LD'er in high school, so that tells you how experienced I was coming in. I had gone to nationals and all in LD- but knew nothing about CX. I just really wanted to debate. Much to my coach's dismay, I am not as committed as he would like, but the good thing about our team is that it requires commitment, yes, but only as much as you'd like. It certainly hasn't become MY life- and probably should take up a lot more time next year. I went to three tournaments this year. Catholic, Liberty (f'in scary people), and Navy. The more experienced debaters go to Berkeley, UT Dallas, somewhere in Florida, Northwestern, Harvard, blah blah. </p>

<p>the team is roughly 20 people depending on the time of year- sometimes people have to leave for a while because of other situations...there are 5 female debaters that I can think of off the top of my head. I don't think it's "male dominated"- and the team is a very awesome group of people. I don't hang out with them a lot, but I do like everyone. </p>

<p>I recommend going to a meeting at the beginning of the year and checking it out. You can try a tournament or two and see how you like it...it's pretty laid back, and we have amazing resources if you really want to get involved.</p>

20

<p>Oh- as far as Novice...JV...etc. I did JV this year, actually, because I didn't really know anything. The coaches are willing to help like you wouldn't believe, and I personally don't use them enough as my resources. Yes, Liberty and Northwestern have their novice and JV teams- I don't exactly know how they go about it....we were the only JV team on our team this year.</p>