<p>Exactly as the title says. Anything special to see, do, eat, observe?</p>
<p>Do I need to bring anything such as a transcript? I sure wouldn't think so (just a tour and info session).</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>no you do not have to bring a transcript. Classes will be in session for sophomore summer. You should see if you can sit in on one.</p>
<p>Cool!! Go on a tour, check out Baker library's Tower Room and Sanborn library, eat at Food Court in Thayer Dining Hall, get a smoothie at the Blend, chill on the green, wander around the Hop and Hood, find someone to let you into the dorms so you can see what they look like. </p>
<p>Oh! And definitely go to a frat if you know anyone here who can show you around. You should see what all the fuss is about pong.</p>
<p>eat at lous</p>
<p>"eat at lous"</p>
<p>seconded. definitely order the big green. </p>
<p>i definitely agree with others that you should visit sanborn library. there are some other beautiful places on campus, but the tour should be good. it was when i went on mine in june of 2005.</p>
<p>
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eat at lous
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</p>
<p>Oh God yes. I ate there at Dimensions, and the food was fantastic.</p>
<p>hope that the weather is nice, because without nice weather dartmouth loses a lot of appeal. but seriously, if you want to go to a wayyyy better school, check out brown. haha, jk. but, brown is better.</p>
<p>shaqdaddy, and I suppose we'll be getting our tour from a bunch of drunk hippies at Brown, if we do go there...</p>
<p>If you're staying overnight with a student, definitely try to go fratting with them. It doesn't matter whether you're the kind of person who likes that kind of thing or not. Frat life is bigger at Dartmouth than most other schools, and applying here without understanding that is like applying here under the assumption that Hanover is the size of New York City.</p>
<p>Half_baked, your post is the kind that makes me very nervous about Dartmouth. DS is applying there (class of 2012), but neither he nor I are into any type of drinking. He's a bright student who thinks he'll love the academics and opportunities at Dartmouth. Just when we think he'll fit in at Dartmouth, we see a post like yours, and get worried again!!!!!</p>
<p>ILoveMyKids well if DS is applying there it isnt necessary that he should get into drinking. I have seen a load of students (there are a number of threads related to this) who don't want to drink and they are absolutely comfortable about that at Dartmouth. So there no need to worry :)</p>
<p>To take advantage of your visit, definitely go up to random Dartmouth students and ask them questions. They are all really helpful, and they have so much to say about why you should come to dartmouth. Also, you get a slightly different view of what the school is like. It still amazes me how willing the students are to share their love of Dartmouth!</p>
<p>I Love My Kids, I'm the Mom of a soph at Dart who was/is a teetotaller. She began her college search very anti-Greek, and gradually changed, to the point that she rushed a sorority at Dart. She may have drunk a little at Dartmouth, but she is quite conscious of the legalities. She has gone abroad, and enjoyed wine with dinner, Guinness on St. Pat's Day, and hard cider?!</p>
<p>We looked for colleges without drinking cultures, and frankly, they don't exist outside of very strongly religious schools. Also, some schools that have more subdued drinking scenes, replace alcohol with pot, and that was definitely not my daughter's style. Dart is notorious on CC, but doesn't hold a candle to any SEC school on football weekend. What I have learned through D's 2 college years, is that the tolerance for non-drinkers varies, the availability of other social outlets varies, the tolerance of the individual person for being "a little out of the mainstream" varies - all things that can only be assessed by the individual child on a visit.
What is different about Dart from some other NE schools is that frats dominate the social life, that is not necessarily bad, what is the difference if it is sports teams that dominate the groups or ECs or eating clubs, etc? I think the point is to get enough of a feel for the student to know whether or not he will be happy.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this post is too late in case you are well into your visit, but the admissions officer actually addressed the fraternity and drinking concerns during his presenation when we visited. He was a Dartmouth graduate, and he was not into fraternities and drinking, and he said no one ever forces you to drink or be part of a fraternity (he never was) and it worked for him. Also, if you can, it would really be great to visit the department of your DS' intended major. We did (theater in my S' case), and they were wonderful, accomodating and extremely helpful.</p>
<p>True:
No one will force you to drink
You can have a great Dartmouth experience without drinking
Many people choose not to drink
You can enjoy atmospheres that are alcohol driven (the frats, etc) without consuming alcohol yourself</p>
<p>Now that those are out of the way, let's face reality:
The social scene at Dartmouth is heavily Greek-oriented
Not all Greeks drink, but most do
Dartmouth is a great school rooted in strong, pround traditions - many/most of which involve alcohol
There isn't a social stigma per se against people who don't drink, but you'll definitely stand out a little awkwardly
A huge majority of Dartmouth students are Greeks (and the huge majority of Greeks drink) an I'm sure most of the non-Greeks drink too
This means that, of the hundreds of brilliant academics, political leaders, and captains of industry Dartmouth produces each year, the vast majority of them drink</p>
<p>None of this should surprise anyone, even someone who's never heard of Dartmouth before. Drinking happens at all colleges - deal with it. There may not be a social stigma against not drinking, but you're unlikely to be able to leverage your status as a non-drinker into any kind of social prestige. Which, by the way, is not a bad thing. Do you think that when your precious little baby enters the professional world, that never touching a drop of alcohol is always a benefit? I doubt it. Alcoholism is definitely a bad thing in EVERY instance, but especially in the business or law world, you're much more likely to be able to integrate seamlessly into the established professional networks if you're not the only one who turns down the invite to go grab a drink after work.</p>
<p>Kids are 18 when they get to college, and they need to do a bit of growing up. For instance, I'm going into the business world. I also spent my entire life before college as a vegetarian. However, I fully realized the disadvantage, no matter how slight, this would put me at (ie, not being able to take a client to a nice steak place). I'm not a voracious eater of meat now, but I can eat meat without being uncomfortable about it. Being able to sip on alcohol is the same kind of skill. Besides, given the number of highly successful individuals who come out of Dartmouth after 4 years of heavy drinking, I'd say that it's a lot like a vetting process. If you can make it through Dartmouth (very rigorous academics, heavy drinking), you can make it anywhere, and that's exactly what Dartmouth students do.</p>
<p>half_baked, you're kind of lauding drinking? If someone doesn't want to drink, then don't drink. These are also very intelligent students we're talking about here. They should be able to accept that.</p>
<p>I second half_baked's post about the drinking scene at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I agree with half baked.</p>
<p>Well there are intelligent students who like to drink too :D</p>
<p>The number of college students who participate in "binge drinking" -- or drinking for the purpose of getting drunk -- remains at 44 percent of all students despite increased efforts by colleges to curb the trend, according to the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study released in March.</p>
<p>Last week a new study revealed that drinking by college students contributes to an astonishing 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries, and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape each year.</p>
<p>"The harm that college students do to themselves and others as a result of excessive drinking exceeds what many would have expected,"</p>
<p>But as far as I know that there have been not any serious mishaps at Dartmouth due to drinking. I maybe wrong though.</p>