<p>how difficult is it to maintain,say, an A-B average in Hanover? Obviously moreso than other places because its an Ivy plus it depends on the course, but in general it is ridiculous or pretty reasonable?</p>
<p>Hmmm. A-B, is pretty normal. This may be a comment on grade inflation, but the median grade for most classes is B or B+, and yes, they are different. Obviously, it also depends on the course you taking. Calculus or Chem 1 (my schedule last term, eek!) can be lower, and seminar type classes can have a median of A. That being said, Dartmouth students do work very hard. I have not attended other Ivies (wink), so I don't know much to compare, but I would say that a B to B+ average is certainly doable without much hairloss.</p>
<p>I'd agree with Greensleeves: I had straight B+'s last term, and I believe that the median in all of my classes was also B+. I'm anticipating (but hoping for better than) mostly B's this term--I'm now in two large science courses.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that just because students state that they can maintain a B/B+ that it does not mean that there is no effort on the part of the student or that classes are easy B's becasue there is still work involved. </p>
<p>Classes are held on the quater system which means that they run in 10 week cycles. </p>
<p>During those 10 weeks your classes meet either 2 or 3 times a week. In addition, each professor has an X-hour which they can use at their discretion. Some professors hold an additional class each during their X-hours, some use the time to hold discussion groups and others only use their X-hour for reviews. It varies by teacher. </p>
<p>If you have a science class with with lab, your class meets 3 times a week, depending on the science, your lab will meet for 4 hours a week. This does not include the 2 hours of pre-lab , where you do problems to help you set up the experiments and wiritng up your lab reports after class. There are also 2 formal lab reports during the term. </p>
<p>If you take foreign language, your class meets 3 times a week. In addition to class time you have an additional 45 minute drill 4 days a week.</p>
<p>Surviving the quarter system takes a great deal of time management on the part of the student because every thing does happen quickly. Not keeping up with the reading can be a kiss of death and one that doesn't manage their time will find themselves up against a schedule where they have multiple papers and exams happening at the same time.</p>