<p>I can't believe it!!! I got a likely letter today!!! And I only applied to Dartmouth at the last minute because I was freaking out about not applying to enough places and not getting into anywhere. But I also got a likely letter from Wellesley, which I thought would be my first choice......until now. Does anyone have any advice or comments about Dartmouth vs. Wellesley? Also, since I know practically NOTHING about Dartmouth.....please tell me interesting things/why you applied/what it's known for/social life at Darmouth. Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to answer!!</p>
<p>Congratulations!!!</p>
<p>Well I think one of the big things is the co-ed issue. Do you prefer single-sex over co-ed for a certain reason?</p>
<p>Firstly, major congratulations are in order! So, yeah, congratulations! :p There's a lot of information you can find out about Dartmouth from just tooling around on this board, but here's a quick summary of why I applied:</p>
<p>-Dartmouth has trimesters (well, really quarters but one is in the summer) - this means that if you can't stand a class it's over quickly. Plus only having three classes at once is totally appealing.
-Sophomore summer, when sophomores have the run of the campus for a summer quarter, sounds awesome. Plus this way you can study abroad somewhere warm in a winter term if you want to, or have an internship during a time when businesses aren't super-swamped with interns.
-GREAT study abroad options, and a student body that really takes advantage of them. I can't decide between the U.K. and France, so the quarter system means I can do both and not miss out on a whole year of Dartmouth goodness.
-There's an active Greek system, which is something I wanted in a college. But rush isn't until sophomore winter so you have time to get acclimatized to the campus, which I thought was nice.
-The food was the best of any college I visited, with multiple dining halls that offer lots of options. It was actually edible - I ordered a custom-made sandwich like I was at Panera or something!
-Great skiing... enough said. (Actually, not quite enough - I'd like to add I know people that schedule all their classes on three days a week winter term so they can ski for two full days a week... a perfect plan, in my opinion.)
-I like how because it's pretty rural, everything is really centered on campus - students don't go off into a city all the time so there's a huge sense of school spirit and community. But it's still close enough (compared to where I live currently) for weekend trips to Boston and NYC.
-Perfect size student body and campus - large enough for me not to feel stifled but small enough not to be overwhelmed.
-The college itself is beautiful, and all the students were friendly and excited to talk to a prospective student. They obviously really loved it there, which said more about the college than any brochure could.
-Oh what else? ANIMAL HOUSE!! Right, any school with John Belushi as their unofficial mascot is definitely worth applying to! (Just kidding here...)</p>
<p>And great academics, but who really cares about going to class anyway?! ;)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!! Especially gracilisae!!!
I think I would definitely prefer co-ed, except I think I have some weird sentimental attachment to the idea of going to an all girls college. Is Darthmouth's academics especially rigorous and challenging? What is Hanover like? Where exactly IS New Hampshire? (I have no sense of US geography). What are some of the major cities close to Hanover? </p>
<p>Anyone else going to the Dimensions of Dartmouth thing???</p>
<p>I'm going to Dimensions - maybe I'll find you there - I also got a likely from Wellesley, but I definitely prefer Dartmouth. For me, its because I want to study foreign language, and Dartmouth has one of the best programs in the country.</p>
<p>wellesleygrl,</p>
<p>we need to sve you from all the motherhens at wellesley. I've been to wellesly (town) and hanover (dartmouthtown) I can't imagine spending four years in the suburban dreck of wellesley mass. There's a reason they take the 1hour+ bus to cambridge every weekend. lol</p>
<p>dartmouth/hanover is the quaintest town I've ever been to. Happy people everywhere (instead of the sour-puss expression you see all over wellesley). There's a reason people from hanover talk about there love for dartmouth and the girls from wellesley are always faux-complaining about their workload etc.</p>
<p>The college of wellesley is pretty impressive looking...the town and school spirit blows IMHO (my sister went to wellesley, and I base my opinion on family trips and her opinions /experiences).</p>
<p>I really liked wellesley...visited a couple times. The second time I had the same experience described by Kal: Depressed and complaining of work load and lack of social outlets.</p>
<p>If you love outdoors activities --also winter ones-- and are not put off by a heavy drinking frat scene choose Dartmouth--where you can also get a great education--. If you value intimate female friendships and personal attention from professors and a split between hardworking weekdays vs. social weekends with easy access to Boston--then Wellesley. But either way , both are great schools. Congratulations, so far.</p>
<p>I would say Dartmouth profs are equally accessible and personal and my female friends had more of their fair share of intimate female friendships, but happened to have male ones as well. Beyond the frats and even the outdoors, Dartmouth has an amazing community. Whether its sledding at midnight or baking a cake for a friends birthday party, many of my favorite memories were from non beer drinking activities. Sure huge party nights exist, but so do the late nights studying something awesome and sipping hot chocolate with your friends in Collis. There is just so much to do and there are so many awesome people to do things with.</p>
<p>i am so jealous of all people who got likely, it's ironic how i am true to the school and still don't have likely, but then again, my stats are weaker, so... adds up.
congrads</p>
<p>thank you everyone for your responses!!! I've been looking at the dartmouth website and I think i'm beginning to like the school a lot.... and it's SOOOO nice of them to do this early notice thing.</p>