<p>I met a friend last summer through a summer school, and I felt that I had the most fun, the most rewarding intellectual experience. This is my strongest trait (one that really impressed him, I gather), and it is usually stifled in the grade-obsessed, status-obsessed bourgeois school community that I'm in (although my best friend is pretty intellectual, but not as much as I'd prefer) Even though he's known me for less than a month in person, we still exchange lengthy, personal e-mails, and it'd be great if I can get him to write me.</p>
<p>I think they’re looking for someone who’s known you for at least a few months-someone who knows you on a personal level, not just as an intellectual.</p>
<p>My friend who wrote my peer eval is really shy, so she didn’t explore too many personal anecdotes in depth (but there was one significant one). She mainly talked about my extracurriculars and my involvement in school, and said that I was (insert a bunch of really nice adjectives here). Even though I know Dartmouth would’ve liked to see a bunch of personal anecdotes, I feel like this peer eval was good b/c it showed off my ECs and personal qualities. Yay!</p>
<p>I have two thoughts on this. The first is that you should pick whoever can write the best recommendation for you, not who has known you the longest. It is not the job of Dartmouth admissions people to evaluate your friendship but rather how you would contribute to the Dartmouth community. If you think the friend from summer school will put you in the best light, you should ask him. </p>
<p>My second thought is that it might not help you if he writes too much about intellectual pursuits. I think Dartmouth uses the peer rec to get a sense of what you are like as a friend and would be like as a hall mate, and a another rec about how smart you are could not be too revealing for them. </p>
<p>I mean it’s up to you, that’s just what I’m thinking.</p>
<p>^Good post & I agree with you. I don’t think the peer eval will be a huge part in their decisions, though, after everything is said and done.</p>