Dartmouth lags behind all the top large public universities (Berk/Mich/UCLA/UNC) in research and consistently ranks below them in the departmental rankings/research output/publications .
Dartmouth is not very strong in science or engineering but is strong in liberal arts/humanities studies.
Feels closer to LAC’s such as Williams/Weslyan than Cornell/Michigan or Columbia/Princeton.
Should Dartmouth be reclassified to the LAC rankings and placed above Williams?
The Ivy League is a college sports league- that’s what the schools have in common. They just happen to be some of the best schools in the country.
Why is this a concern to you?
LAC’s do not have medical schools BTW.
Thinking you don’t know much about Dartmouth. Or some of the other highly respected schools and why they are.
“Why is this a concern to you? LAC’s do not have medical schools BTW.”
That’s true but Dartmouth’s medical school isn’t very strong. Does it have one, yes. Is it a top medical school? Without a doubt ranks below the top ivys (Harvard/Stanford/Penn), and top privates (Hopkins/Duke) and top public’s (Berk/Mich/UCLA/UNC) medical school and some average schools like Ohio State/U. Colorodo.
Dartmouth “feeeels” like a LAC. I would argue it shouldn’t be in the national rankings and placed into the LAC rankings above Williams/Davis/Wesleyan, etc.
I have never heard that ranking of graduate school can be a reason why it should be ranked LAC. No LAC has over 2000 graduate students.
Dartmouth IS an Ivy League school, therefore, it is a private school, like ALL OTHER Ivy League schools. Maybe its rural location is why Dartmouth is not ranked as high in the sciences.
Honestly, who cares? It’s still an amazing school. Whether or not it’s an “Ivy League” is irrelevant.
This is one of the most ignorant threads I’ve seen. You have no idea what the term Ivy League even means. Dartmouth is an Ivy League college and that has nothing to to with its ranking or research output.
I think the OP was a Dartmouth reject last year.
Dartmouth has 4200 undergrads, and 2100 grad/professional students. Brown has 6200/2000. U of Rochester has 5600/4600. Case Western has around 4600/5600. All four are universities, albeit on the smaller side.
To answer your question, Dartmouth should not be reclassified as an LAC.
Not sure why your all taking this personal. I didn’t say Dartmouth was bad school. I think its a phenomenal school! I merely pointing out it really fits in the liberal arts category. There is a big drop off in terms of research work done/departmental rankings at ivy’s such as Harvard/Yale/Stanford/Columbia/Penn/Princeton and Dartmouth. It’s very noticeable. I can’t recall any major headline research breakthroughs occurring at Dartmouth in the last 10 years or reading any major publications published at Dartmouth, or a faculty member being nominated a Noble Prize as I would from a Chicago, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton.
To the poster above. I actually didn’t apply to Dartmouth. I was accepted to Duke however which I think would suggest that I definitely meet all of Dartmouth’s minimum admission standards.
OP, how is my answering your question, “taking this personal?” I just put the numbers out there. I really don’t care how you want to label it.
Many people will agree that Dartmouth has a lot of LAC spirit compared to other ivy schools but if someone ask it is under LAC category. You hardly meet someone agree the statement.
I can’t figure out why OP cares to sift grains of sand. It’s a U based on its programs, including graduate. To say it ranks lower than someplace else is immaterial.
Ok well let me pose the question this way.
Is Dartmouth closer to a top research institution such as the University of Michigan or closer to a top liberal arts college such as Williams/Welesly/Swarthmore??
Looks like a Duke student has a lot of times on his hands this weekend.
Colleges/universities exist on a continuum. No two are exactly alike, and they are made up of so many different components that no two can really be compared head to head. Harvard and Yale are probably as different from one another as Columbia and Brown, but they are all in the same athletic league.
To answer your question, I’d suggest more like UMich. Yes, Williams has a minute PG program, but it is so small (and limited to just 2 departments), that IMO Dartmouth is closer to Michigan.
@jamesgorman Stanford is not in the Ivy League. The Ivy League is an old sports conference.
(UNC, I believe.)
Instead I say, let’s ask the questions.
Why the obsession with Dartmouth?