<p>What's life at Dartmouth like? I've heard a bunch of different things...that it's totally isolated, that the social scene in Hanover is lame, etc. How are the sports too? And, coming from a place that gets virtually NO snow - what's the weather like? Favorite classes/departments?</p>
<p>Basically any info is welcome :-)</p>
<p>YouTube</a> - Drinkin' Time</p>
<p>YouTube</a> - Dartmouth student drinks 6 cups of beer in under 10 seconds</p>
<p>The closest big city (Boston) is 2 hours away, but the nearest town resembling civilization (West Lebanon) is a 10 minute drive. I and many others have never found a good reason to leave campus frequently, though - we took a bus to West Leb early in the term to buy some necessities and that was it.</p>
<p>Whether you find the social scene lame is up to you. I would find it lame, but that's because I don't like the idea of getting wasted and hooking up with people I don't know - it's not a big deal for me because I'm an introvert anyway. You can find other things to do with your friends (the Hopkins Center for the arts always has something going on and there are a lot of events to go for), and I doubt you'll be bored much anyway.</p>
<p>Don't know much about sports. The weather is also dependent on the individual. I'm from the tropics but I had no trouble adjusting to the cold. I haven't heard anyone really complaining. You will need a bit of time to get used to it.</p>
<p>I modified this from another post I wrote a while ago...</p>
<p>1) Academics/ recruiting</p>
<p>Dartmouth has very high placement rates into the top grad schools (top 7 overall), largely in my opinion due to the fact that Dartmouth offers so much to its undergrads. Dartmouth is more than twice as rich than all the non HYP Ivies on a per student basis, and it prides itself on spending its resources on undergrads. This mean lots more grants, more scholarships, more opportunities to have events with professors, etc. Dartmouth is awesome in terms of teaching and professor engagement, with ZERO T/As teaching classes. I was an anthro major and I got $10K for my thesis research and TWO incredibly active thesis advisors. I literally had some classes with less than five people at the upper levels. Dartmouth professors take you to dinner, they encourage you, and they are amazing. I think another reason Dartmouth grads do so well at grad school admissions is the fact that they know their professors so well. Frankly its amazing. Dartmouth does have a terrific LAC-like feel. People love to discard the D-plan but I thought it was awesome. Sophomore summer is most students favorite term.</p>
<p>Dartmouth's distributives are very broad but I liked being forced me to take a couple classes (like Acting for my art) that I might otherwise not have taken.</p>
<ol>
<li>Recruiting
Dartmouth does incredibly well with the elite finance/ consulting firms, only after HYP. There are three reasons for the incredible placement. 1) Dartmouth has had one of the best legacies in business of any school in the country, and these ties continue to this day. 2) Dartmouth alumni tend to favor their own more than most schools alums. 3) The D-plan allows Dartmouth students to get internships throughout the year, this is the biggest advantage. You essentially have no other competition for full time internships during the year, and this is what gets you through the door at most firms.</li>
</ol>
<p>Study Abroad?
Most students at Dartmouth go on a study abroad, many go on 2-3. Its not only a thing to do, its a way of life. The language programs are OUTSTANDING, you not only have small classes a preperation, you have drill with its "rassias method" which is an amazingly fun way to really learn a language. Study abroad programs include a professor and about 20 other Dartmouth students (which is different from other schools which have people from al schools). There are special trips every weekend and you get to become incredibly close to your fellow Dartmouth students. Also since Dartmouth is on the quarter system it allows for multiple study abroads.</p>
<p>3) Campus location and closest city/town location
Hanover is beautiful and quaint, but I found the town to be slightly stodgy and its not catered to students. ON the other hand, Dartmouth's location in the mountains is amazing. The outdoor access is awesome, people ski during the winters on the skiway, jump in the river in summers. To be honest only a select group of students are into the hardcore outdoors. Its the casual outdoor stuff like snowball fights during the winter, riding your bike through the beautiful fall leaves, the swimming in the river during summers, BBQs by houses on the river, the awesome stars when you are out at night, etc, etc. During the summer the campus feels like a magical summer camp, during the winters its charming and warm.</p>
<p>4) Social scene</p>
<p>Dartmouth is very community oriented. The Greek scene is huge, but its unlike any other greek scene anywhere. The houses are all open for parties to everyone and there's actually a campus list publishing the big parties that weekend. What usually happens is there will be two-three big dance parties a night plus lots of houses will have smaller groups hanging out. The cool thing is there is usally alot of energy as everyone is going to the same key places or are at least aware of the big parties. Its absolutely open and everyone is absolutely friendly. In addition to the greek scene there is a house party scene, smaller gatherings in dorms, plus niche scenes like the organic farm crowd or the Ledyard Canoe club crowd. The nights are full of activity. I would say that its easily one of the top 2 most active Ivies on a given weekend night. Dartmouth's downside might be that its jock culture does have power with the frats, places like Chi Heorot, Theta Delt, and Psi U are centered around sports teams and I think this can intimidating. The upside is there is a large social scene outside these places.</p>
<p>5) Campus population
People interact between groups at Dartmouth amazingly well. Yet I think some minority groups find comfort in sticking together and someone who grew up only hanging out with a particular minority crowd might like a place like Brown more. Also, a place like Brown does "feel" more international in terms of student makeup.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is a very "liberal" school, however Dartmouth is more accepting of people with the minority (conservative/ libertarian) point of view than some of the other Ivies. Overall I'd say 75-80% of Dartmouth is liberal.</p>
<p>Dartmouth students overwhelmingly are the playful, fun loving, brilliant type. People tend to play down themselves which is great and refreshing among the Ivies. </p>
<p>I've been to and know alums from many many schools and Dartmouth seems much more tightknit and friendly than most schools. Its like a family. Its not perfect for everyone but I personally could not imagine a better college experience.</p>
<p>Thank you so so so much for the info! It answered a lot of my questions :-)</p>
<p>Slipper, you rock!!</p>
<p>My son is a 12</p>
<p>He wants to fullfill all the items you mention. He wants to spend a quarter in St. Pete learning Russian. Dartmouth will continue to fly under the radar. Branding will let it stay under HYPS.</p>
<p>aim14, the social scene at Dartmouth is anything but lame. Someone correct me if you think I'm wrong, but I'm doubting that anyone will disagree with me on this one.</p>
<p>bulldog, I never assumed/thought it was :-) - I forgot to add in the original post that I was just stating some of the things I had heard. I have heard both sides - so I wanted to get some more input :-)</p>
<p>The social scene at Dartmouth is “cool” if your only interest is drinking and loudly discussing athletics. If you’re female and you don’t think you want to spend all of your time in fraternity basements feeling vaguely nauseous and hating the vapid conversations occurring around you, don’t apply. I go here and I hate it.</p>