<p>i got a likely a couple weeks ago and i freaking love dartmouth but its weird becuz i have this nightmare that ill make the wrong decision and hate my next 4 yrs. i got into uchicago with 10,000 scholarship for 4 years (that plus my need based will prolly cover full tution) and so basically i need reaffirmation that darmouth kicks ass...</p>
<p>Depends on who you are. Uchicago is not going to be NEARLY as much fun as Dartmouth. Also, you can't go skiing every weekend, and, the job hookups are much better out of Dartmouth in my opinion because of the possibility of an internship at times other kids can't get them cause of the D plan <--Crazy run on sentence. And, its Ivy League and the colors are better. To be honest, I can't even see a issue here, except that you don't know if you're into Dartmouth yet.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to visit both schools. Definitely go to dimensions and Uchicago's admitted student's days. If money is going to be an issue (congrats on the 10k in merit $), talk with your parents to see what needs to happen for Dartmouth to be a financially feasible option for your family.</p>
<p>You have 2 great choices at 2 vastly different schools.</p>
<p>i think i definitely agree with u on the whole fun thing. dartmouth is gonna be a hella more fun. plus i love their male acapella group (the aires) thats reason enough to go. i can not wait till dimensions to hear them. Oh, and thanks for the vote of confidence on the being accepted part, it would make it for a really akw situation for the dartmouth ppl, cuz i have already signed up for dimensions.</p>
<p>College is an investment. I passed up a $120,000 scholarship from Hopkins for Dartmouth. And Uchicago's social life? ...uh....what. No offense to them or anything, but you'll love Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Trust me.</p>
<p>yo robocop do you have any particular hooks? your SAT scores seemed a little low among those students receiving likely letters (no offense, i'm sure you probably compensate for those in some other way).</p>
<p>Dartmouth and UChicago are awesome schools btw, you should be proud of yourself.</p>
<p>umm i am black. that prolly helped. i also went to LEAD dartmouth so i could check every single on of the boxes for how i obtained information on dartmouth. so it was pretty obvious i knew the school pretty well. but overall prolly my community service (over 1000+ hours), and honors that teachers recommended me for (thus my recs were really good to). i encourage every junior to apply to LEAD...idk i think it helps a lot.</p>
<p>If you come to Chicago, you'll be working your ass off. Just to let you know. You'll have more fun at Dartmouth. So what do you want?</p>
<p>Robocop, read the thread below. Not exactly similar but it may help. </p>
<p>First, congratulations on both Dartmouth and Chicago. Come April, yours will be a happy (but maybe difficult) decision.</p>
<p>As a Chicago kid, I don't know much about Dartmouth (it wasn't on my radar when I was in high school), but it has a lot of fans on this message board, which is great. What really made me fall in love with Chicago was that I wanted a school where I knew I would be pushed academically, and I wanted to be in an environment where I felt intellectually challenged and I couldn't just "slide" by. I assumed that no matter where I went, I would pick up friends and I would find fun things to do, which has turned out to be the case for me at Chicago.</p>
<p>Though Chicago is challenging, it's certainly not overwhelming, and there's a solid party scene/ frat scene, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. I don't know what it looks like compared to say, a big state school, but I figure you can only attend a few parties on a given night anyway, what does it matter if there are 5 or 50? I think there's this myth that if you attend Chicago, you are giving yourself over so the sadomasochist Gods of Academia.... and I think the typical Chicagoan drinks too much, plays Smash Bros. too much, and goes to concerts in the city too much for that to be true.</p>
<p>Then again, don't just choose Chicago because it's (virtually) free, or because it's cheaper than other schools. I'm sure you will have a lot of other college acceptances coming your way-- choose the school where it's easiest for you to be happy and where you can afford the pricetag.</p>
<p>bah! I have the exact same problem!! : /</p>
<p>Congratulations Robo and Bonnie - nice problem to have. As others have said, try to attend both accepted students events - if they conflict, arrange to visit one of the campuses on your own and stay with a student. Your decision should be much easier after that. Your decision will have to be based on the whole picture - but once you make it, you probably won't have room for regrets - you are going to get a great education with a great group of peers.</p>
<p>Hm. Well if unalove's going to vouch for Chicago, I might as well do one for Dartmouth.</p>
<p>In academics, I've never felt so challenged in my life...and I'm for a really good school in NJ, (ranked first last year) and I think that it really prepared me well for college, but the pace of Dartmouth is really fast. It may sound like 3 courses / term would be cake, but it's really not. The labs are more compact, midterms come up way fast, and textbooks are usually made for semesters. But, at the same time, I think that the flexible terms allow for a plethora of other opportunities, including more free time during the afternoon to pursue sports, hospital shadowing, club meetings, etc. I dont know if phuriku's comment was shrouded insult, but Dartmouth is absolutely amazing socially. EVERYONE makes a concerted effort to make you feel welcome, and of course, after you get here, that same attitude continues. The frats are beyond friendly, and you dont have to pay for alcohol ever (if you're into drinking). </p>
<p>Bottom line though--- college will be as challenging as you make it out to be: obviously you can take the cake classes for all four years in any college, but I think both Chicago and Dartmouth offer a really good mix of fun and work. In every sense of the word.</p>