Hi Everyone 
I only just realized how incredibly rural and tight-knit Dartmouth really is. I was really happy to hear this, as I live in a very similar environment. I’m from northern Canada and do online school (have for entire high school), so I have spent nearly all of my time at my cottage in a rural part of my province. It’s not the biggest cottage, but it’s shared by four families (all relatives) and we love it up here. Ever since I was a few months old, I have been spending every bit of my time (that I could) up here-- it’s the best.
So, as you can see, I think I would fit in really well to the Dartmouth community. Does anyone know how this will impact my application? Do they seek out people who they think will thrive on their campus? Anything else I should know?
Thank you!
In one respect, Dartmouth does not care. As a top tier Uni, it has plenty of city slickers, farm kids, suburban brats, and rural types. They assume that all will/can thrive on the campus. Moreover, academic terms (quarters) are barely 10 weeks long, so even the most urbane won’t be in the Wilderness for long.
OTOH, your life experience does add some diversity to campus, so that by itself is interesting.
@bluebayou
Thanks for the help 
Does this apply to most universities, or are you talking about Dartmouth specifically?
^^most selective Unis will appreciate your distinctive life story. Try to weave it into your essay or make sure your GC mentions it somehow.
I’m not sure that you have a completely accurate sense of Dartmouth. It is not a larger Ivy equivalent of Marlboro, and that was the vibe I was getting from your post. I could very well be wrong. Not for the first time and undoubtedly not for the last. Dartmouth is not in a big city, but Hanover is a rather hip little town – and what it lacks can generally be found in the surrounding areas like West Leb and White River. I don’t want to put you off Dartmouth, which I think is one of the best colleges in the world, but I would ask you to do some intensive research to make sure that it is the environment you think it is – for you. And I totally agree with @bluebayou that there are oodles of colleges out there that would value what you would contribute to their community.
@AboutTheSame
That could very well be the case. I just started checking out Dartmouth on Thursday and haven’t looked too much since (been busy).
I think what you are saying is that Hanover isn’t in the middle of nowhere, per se, but rather in a small hip town (please let me know if I’m wrong here). If so, I can totally understand that. Regardless, I think it would be a great school for me because I’m really comfortable in a smaller community and I love the outdoors (I know the outdoors clubs on campus are extremely popular!).
I’ll be sure to do more research on Dartmouth! Thank you for the help 
“I think it would be a great school for me because I’m really comfortable in a smaller community and I love the outdoors (I know the outdoors clubs on campus are extremely popular!).”
You might want to take a look at some small liberal arts schools that fit that description as well - Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Colorado College, Middlebury, St. Lawrence, Williams, to name a handful.
@doschicos
I’ll definitely check those out-- thanks! I tried to stay away from LACs when making my list because I’m not sure how well I would fit in (I know I contradicted that above). I’m very opinionated and I know what I like and what I don’t; I’m not sure how well I would function when I am forced to take a ton of “breadth” courses.
Also, as an online student, I don’t know if a big or small community would be good for me (I contradicted again, sorry). I just looked at Dartmouth and thought 'wow, that’s a lot like my life right now. I think I can see myself there." I probably wouldn’t want >5k student, but I’ll check out all the schools you listed to make sure.
Thanks:)
@FakeName1332 I think you have a misconception about LACs. LACs often times have looser course requirements than universities do, which allows students do have more academic freedom. Other than a few LACs like Colgate, the majority don’t have a core curriculum or general ed reqs. Williams and Bowdoin, for example, both have very loose distribution requirements just like Dartmouth.
Bigger issue is whether you match, beyond D being way out and your home being remote. They’re looking for kids who go after their drives, engage in meaningful (to the colleges) ways with peers, take on challenges relevant to life on campus, have some measurable impact in their records, and can clearly show all this, not leave it to adcoms to read between the lines. (At tippy tops, they don’t tend to guess or suppose. They can turn to the next kid and see it.)
I’d drop down a notch from the colleges doschicos mentioned. Even go for colleges that admit primarily on stats.
EDIT:
The one part of my search that I haven’t yet researched is requirements. I have a wide range of schools, but I don’t know the specific general requirements they have. My list might look a lot different after this 
@writingpumpkin03
Oh? My mistake! I did some research on the differences at the start of my search but I guess I screwed it up somewhere. I’ll definitely check out some of these schools.
Again, size is still a concern. So much so that I am actually touring a bunch of different schools in the states to try and figure it out. I haven’t been in a typical classroom before, so I’m not sure if I would function best in big lectures or small discussions. It might be difficult for me to adjust to a small community. Although, I do live in a very small community so there’s that.
@lookingforward
Wow. That was extremeelllyy helpful. Thank you. I’m pretty bad at evaluating myself, so take that into consideration, but I think I check off four of those boxes. I know 4/5 isn’t going to be enough, but I hope that I think it’s a good start for a match.
“I’d drop down a notch from the colleges doschicos mentioned. Even go for colleges that admit primarily on stats.”
My ideology for this whole process is that I will test the waters at top universities (for me) in the states. If I can’t get in, then I will go to a school in Canada. I appreciate the reality check (those are extremely important in college admissions), but I don’t plan on applying to mid-tier colleges that admit primarily on stats. I could very well be wrong here, but I think most colleges that admit primarily on stats are going to be like t200, right? Probably not worth the money at that point.