<p>I am deciding on whether or not I want to attend Dartmouth rather than Northwestern or UChicago. I feel that Dartmouth, although more close-knit, is extremely isolated and cold. Also, since I'm not much of a party-goer, I'm worried about frat-life; I also want moderately easy classes and grade inflation. Do any current Dartmouth students have complaints about Dartmouth? Please play Devil's Advocate. I'm most likely majoring in either biology (pre-med) or finance.</p>
<p>UChicago has the least prominent frat scene out of those three schools.</p>
<p>1) Dartmouth is much better than Chicago and Northwestern for finance.</p>
<p>2) Dartmouth is easier than Chicago. Don’t know about Northwestern.</p>
<p>3) Chicago is frigid too. The wind that comes off that water is just as cold as a Hanover winter. The difference is that there are winter activities here – skiing, snowshoeing, etc. – that you can’t find in Chicago. So the winters in Chicago just plain blow; at least you get some activities out of a Dartmouth winter.</p>
<p>4) Don’t go to the frats if you don’t want to. Plenty of people, particularly those who live in sub-free housing, don’t go to the frats.</p>
<p>EDIT: I have friends at Chicago. Anyone who tells you that the frat scene doesn’t dominate is (somewhat) correct. Anyone who tells you that people don’t drink themselves silly at Chicago is just plain wrong. People drink a ton at Chicago (as they do at every school).</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound like a resume builder, but does everyone at Dartmouth have a niche to fill, such as leadership or research? Unless there’s a substantial difference between Dartmouth and Northwestern, I’m leaning towards Northwestern because it’s more practical (closer to where I live, have friends going there too). I don’t know anyone going to Dartmouth…</p>
<p>If I were you I would go to dimensions and see how much you like Dartmouth. It has an edge over Northwestern in finance, and Dartmouth’s tightknit campus and resources are a standout. But I think visiting will show you if its worth it for you personally.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m going to Dimensions on April 14-16. However, I’m also on the waitlist for Brown. Is Brown funner than Dartmouth. I’m kind of work-phobic now (after burning out in HS). That’s why I’m wary of UChicago. But really – Dartmouth only has a slight edge over NW despite being seemingly well-known? If that’s really the case, I’d definitely go to NW instead.</p>
<p>Something about you just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s just the way you write, and you’re not actually like this in real life – but I’m not going to cut you any slack because I’m in a ****y mood and in need of an outlet.</p>
<p>Deflate your ego. I assure you that Dartmouth doesn’t need you. Go to NU if you don’t have the balls to leave your high school friends and meet new people.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This question doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This question is stupid. It’s obviously a personal decision.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You burned out in high school? Unless you went to an elite prep school, this is pathetic. You won’t cut it at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What does this mean? Your writing is terrible.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, avoid all challenges. Excellent idea. </p>
<p>Don’t come to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>^ never become a high school teacher, haha</p>
<p>Yeah well, I’m not exactly in a good mood either after getting so many rejections. Admittedly, my writing was poor and my questions were hastily written, but you don’t exactly reflect well on Dartmouth.</p>
<p>DartmouthForever… a person after my own heart!</p>
<p>afkatm- hey, at least DartmouthForever qualified that he was in a bad mood. Dartmouth vs. Northwestern vs. UChicago isn’t a bad choice to make- don’t be in a bad mood yourself! I don’t know much about the individual schools, but I’m sure they’re all going to require a good amount of work, being the prestigious universities that they are. I’d take the time to check out their websites and look at the programs. If they seem similar to you, and you’d rather be closer to home, then go with Northwestern or UChicago. I’d also check out internships. But honestly I don’t think you could go wrong with any of those! Congratulations, isn’t is great that your hard work paid off?</p>
<p>Afkatm- The edge was never mentioned as slight. Its an edge.</p>
<p>I was playing devil’s advocate…there’s no need for DartmouthForever to ■■■■■ the hell out of me.
I actually did go to a very competitive school; I tried very, very hard and I don’t appreciate you mocking my effort.
My original question was phrased poorly; what I meant was whether or not the class material was unnecessarily tedious (UChicago has the reputation of teaching students concepts they will never use in life). I hope the Dartmouth community as a whole is more tolerant than you.</p>
<p>Thankfully they are. And thankfully, as a community, we’re not in a ****y mood like I was earlier. </p>
<p>My apologies. But still – it’s generally not a good idea for the prospective student to play devil’s advocate in the way you did. It makes you seem ungrateful for the opportunity presented to you.</p>
<p>Why don’t you collect as much information as possible (outside of CC) in the next couple of weeks. Visit the schools if possible. Talk to people on campus and then come back ask more questions if you need to.</p>
<p>You seem to have an “embarrassment of riches” but still seem unhappy. Are you afraid of making the wrong decision? For some people having too many choices is stressful. </p>
<p>We encouraged our children to only apply to schools they knew they would be happy to attend. No matter what.</p>
<p>Think back to why these schools appealed to you in the first place.</p>
<p>After getting so many rejections? Be thankful you got into Dartmouth, NU, and UChicago, as those are incredibly selective, amazing schools to attend. Though from your attitude, I think you’d be better suited to a pretty strong state school that would match your desire for “moderately easy academics.” Not hating or anything, just stating that if that’s what you are looking for, then NU/Dartmouth/UChicago are not the places to go.</p>
<p>@ afkatm
I’ve visited dartmouth before, and to be honest there are many people who are passive/ aggressive, and even more at nighttime when people are drunk. You will meet people at nighttime in a ****y mood like DartmouthForever in this case. Also, I believe the frat scene was underemphasized by other posters. Frat life DOMINATES- in Dartmouth, about 65% of the student population is in a frat/ sorority. This creates a completely different atmosphere than other ivy leagues (even cornell which is isolated only has 30% of the student population in a frat/ sorority). </p>
<p>The frat life and significantly more heavy drinking at Dartmouth are reasons why I still have doubts if I want to commit to dartmouth. I am not a frat-type person either, and if I attend, believe I will be doing things with the Dartmouth Outing Club and cornered in the minority of the student population. It’s a difficult choice to make: do you want to go to a less prestigous school but be able to make friends with the majority of the population or do you want to go to dartmouth and possibly corner yourself with the minority?</p>
<p>^^You are sorely mistaken if you think the people who drink can’t be your best friends. I don’t drink a drop, and some of my best friends here get hammered out of their minds on the weekends.</p>
<p>Very few of my friends don’t drink, but of those that do, very few drink every night on every weekend. Most will only drink on a Friday or a Saturday night.</p>
<p>If you think someone isn’t your best friend because they want to do something without you for one or two nights per week, then you need to reassess your idea of a friendship.</p>
<p>Oh, also, I don’t know who you’re hanging around, but 95%+ of drinkers are really happy when they drink, not ****y or belligerent.</p>
<p>EDIT: You are also sorely mistaken if you think there is substantially more drinking at Dartmouth than at other top schools. I went to Yale’s, Princeton’s, and Stanford’s admission weekends, and found a similar scene at those schools. The only difference is that Dartmouth’s nightlife is more open and inclusive; whereas, at those schools, the nightlife is more fragmented and underground.</p>
<p>Take your pick–but wherever you go, there will be more alcohol than you can imagine.</p>
<p>I’m going to try to bring this thread from a giant flame to a small simmer by putting what DartmouthForever is saying more “delicately.” Basically, you sound like you’re more of a “pre-professional” person than a “liberal arts” type person. In other words, you sound very results-oriented - you have an end goal in mind, and you want to give yourself the best chance to get to that end goal (through easy classes and grade inflation that will presumably boost your grades and make you look more attractive to med schools, Wall Street, or whatever else). You don’t sound like the kind of guy who is interested in expanding your horizons or learning for the sake of learning.</p>
<p>For this reason, Dartmouth and Chicago would both not be very good fits for you. Chicago, along with being known as a pretty harsh environment academically, has a core curriculum that will require you to take a broad swath of classes. Dartmouth actually has less grade inflation than a lot of the other Ivy League schools, and the econ and hard sciences in particular are notorious for being tough and having fairly low median grades. It’s also a very liberal arts type of school where there are a lot of classes offered that are interesting and may expand your horizon but don’t have a ton of direct real world application, which sounds more like what you would prefer. Basically, it sounds like Northwestern might be the closest fit for you out of these three schools, although it is still far from a perfect fit.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>@nooblet: I’m in your shoes. I’m not a frat-type person and I’m still deciding on whether or not I want to commit. The frat life is one of the major reasons I’m still undecided. I’m curious as to what school you’re leaning towards right now.</p>
<p>Xanatos has it right: I’m more of a “pre-professional” person at the moment; however, I also want to have fun at college through participating in traditions and having an active social life. Although I wouldn’t call myself uninterested in learning different things, there are some academic subjects I prefer to avoid. I was unaware that Dartmouth has noticeably less grade inflation and tougher science courses. Even so, it’s possible that I can form connections more easily at Dartmouth and graduate with a more attractive degree.</p>
<p>First of all, friday and saturday night is A LOT of your free time you have. you also need to take into consideration preperation before going to friday/ saturday night frat parties (time spent getting alcahol, organizing ****, ect). You will be studying a lot on the weekdays. you might have some time on weekdays to chill, but friday saturday and sunday morning is basically all you will have to chill. </p>
<p>Maybe your friends are happy when they drink, but ive visited dartmouth overnight- and when I did, my perspective (as a sober visitor) was that most people were aggressive and in a *<strong><em>y mood. Also, I can imagine what the drinking is like at dartmouth because ive visited overnight and went to multiple frat parties just to get a feel. ive also stayed over at other schools, and the drinking is much less intense (i.e. no alcahol oozing all over the floor with smell of *</em></strong> and vomit). </p>
<p>Besides the drinking and dominance of frats, I like everything else about dartmouth (DOC, overnight trips, ease of switching majors, ect)</p>