<p>Honestly, Dartmouth is one of the best schools for undergrads as very famous professors really do care about students and also, is clear my first choice college as I did ED.</p>
<p>@AboutTheSame
I’ve read your comments before and found them very clear and helpful. Thank you.
The only thing I really do not know about that, is the Greek Letter Organizations and Societies (GLOS): [Greek</a> Life and Societies](<a href=“Home | Office of Residential Life”>Home | Office of Residential Life)</p>
<p>Would you please clarify me? (any information, advantages, probably disadvantage…)</p>
<p>Oh my, since I am only the parent of an alum and have no personal experience, I am probably not the right person to answer this question – and it is a topic that has been hotly debated (to put it nicely) on many threads on this site. I’ll see if I can lay out some basic facts without judging things. I think it’s fair to say that the Greek system is the main social life on campus. It’s not the only one, but it’s dominant. You do not have to join a house to participate. You can have many friends and a thriving social life without participating. Much alcohol will be around, but you do not have to partake. If you do not learn to play pong, your Dartmouth experience will not be less meaningful, but there may be a lot of inside jokes/lore that you will not get. You should know that the houses are mainly social organizations and not living spaces. Any given fraternity or sorority will have a membership that is five to 10 times greater than the number of rooms available in the physical house. I was surprised when D decided to rush, but it certainly didn’t do her any harm. Her house & the Greek social system were a significant part of her time at Dartmouth, but not very high on the list of what was really meaningful – and far below her team, her major, and her roommates & friends. There are many opinions on the wisdom/desirability of the Greek system: I view it though the lenses of a parent whose child emerged not only unscathed but maybe the better for having associated with some folks she would not otherwise have had much occasion to deal with. That’s my 10 cents (used to be 2 cents, but you have to account for inflation).</p>
<p>YOU stated that the quarter system worked against intellectual engagement. I provided a completely relevant example of an institution particularly known for its intellectual orientation that also uses the quarter system: the University of Chicago. (Where, as a matter of fact, I have been a student, but that is neither here nor there.) Others provided other examples, which tend to show that you were wrong about the quarter system having any deleterious effect on intellectualism. </p>
<p>My son is a '16. He loves the school in all the key categories (except maybe meal plan design - food is fine): academics, the arts, friends, fraternities and on and on. He’s in the middle of rush term and loving that too. He pledged a house and is getting to know the brothers. They have been great to him so far. The negative press is unfortunate but grossly exaggerates the bad choices some students make. Thankfully the student body is heavily dominated by kind, smart and funny kids. Prospective students would be wise to keep Dartmouth on your list.<br>
p.s. He loves the D Plan too - flexibility, access to internships and foreign study etc. He has not felt shortchanged on the breadth of topics.</p>
<p>My son too is a member of the class of 2016 and is in the middle of rush this fall. I echo everything that Aspiringlibby just wrote. All is great in Hanover.</p>
<p>D chose Dartmouth over H and never regretted it. Many reasons. Not sure you have enough posts to PM but you can try. My user name is also a gmail address if it would help to bounce idea off someone else. Look at this way: you just have more than one great choice.</p>
<p>A friend of mine is a Dartmouth '17 and chose it over Princeton (as well as Middlebury, Amherst, Williams, and several other top schools). She doesn’t regret it a bit. I think it’s far more warm and welcoming than P at least (to be honest, I’ve not met one person who’s happy at P), though I do have other friends at H and Y who are having a great time there. Make of all that what you will, but I personally think you’ve made a good decision.</p>
<p>This is especially true in the Thayer engineering program. You really don’t have enough time for these intensive subjects. It’s a little better for liberal arts classes but not ideal.</p>
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<p>@ccuser - curious how you got into HYPD at this time of year. Please post your stats/info.</p>
Consolation already pointed out that you completely missed the point in that only term lengths, how they affect the student, and who uses them are being compared. How in the world does the number of Nobel Prizes impact that discussion. But besides that, Stanford and Chicago (and Northwestern) are universities, with extensive graduate school programs. Dartmouth is a college, with nothing comparable in that area. I think it is safe to say that is far more the reason for the Nobel disparity.</p>
<p>Manusia - I realize Dartmouth has some graduate programs, but they are relatively limited and one can hardly compare the extensiveness of what they have to HYP, etc. To quote a friend who works at Dartmouth
So OK, it is a bit of a hybrid between being a classic college and a university. But since what I was replying to was the post that was trying to compare schools by Nobel Prizes won, my point is entirely valid.</p>