<p>This is for anyone who has visited Dartmouth or knows any Dartmouth students/alumni. My daughter has applied, but we haven't visited yet because of the distance from our California home. I'm wondering: Are most kids at Dartmouth rich and/or snobby? Do a lot of students go on expensive weekend outings to Boston, etc? Is it expensive to be part of a sorority?We are very middle class -- public school teachers -- and if we can afford to send our daughter to Dartmouth, it will be quite a stretch. She will not have a car or much money for expensive social activities. I'm worried that she might feel left out of the social loop. She worked very hard in high school and wants to go to a college where she will have a good social as well as academic life. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about this at all, I think Dartmouth actually is a place where wealth is played down. The "wealth" oriented groups exist, as they do on any campus, but in my opinion Dartmouth is far better at this than the other Ivies (aka Princeton and Harvard). I lived in a senior apt where on of my friends came from a under 20K household, while another's dad was the CEO of a company and had multiple houses. You would never know it. Wealth, at least in my social circles, just wasn't important at all. </p>
<p>I think one reason for this is while in Hanover its not as if you spend much money. Another is people at Dartmouth, in my experience, just don't flaunt things like this. Its just not the culture. My dad actually was willing to give me his Acura to take to school and I insisted on taking our old honda because I didn't want to be seen as flaunting my car.</p>
<p>my sorority's dues come to about $300/active term (usually not more than 7 or 8 terms b/c of rushing sophomore year/the D-plan), but that's without any financial aid, which is very easy to get (you just tell the treasurer why you need it and then you get it).</p>
<p>The majority of the student body here is fairly well off, but money is really a non-issue here.</p>
<p>I have to agree with slipper on this one. I am a parent of a current junior and he is absolutely correct in the fact that most kids with money at dartmouth play (the self call is very much frowned upon, however there are a few that call attention to themselves but they really are in the minority). </p>
<p>One of the things that I constantly tell people about Dartmouth students, they are about the nicest group of people you will ever want to meet. There is a real sense of cohesiveness on campus and I do think that the friends and connections they make on campus will last a life time. We are not rich by any stretch of the imagination however my D's have friends from all economic backgrounds and when they are together as a group you don't know who has what.</p>
<p>Regarding sorority life, my D is also in a sorority and we had the discussion up front, since it does come under social life, she was responsible for paying for it through work or savings. </p>
<p>Dues are paid quarterly (D pays her own dues). However,you do not pay dues when you are not on campus(leave term, study abroad) ) When D lived in her house there was a $50 surcharge. I do think that the expenses vary between males and femalesespecially when it comes to things like formals, which frats/sororities hold every quarter (girls tend to get more dressed up; dresses, shoes, etc where as guys may end up wearing a pair if slacks and a shirt).</p>
<p>My D pays about 425 per term (national sorority. You do not pay when you are on an off term (she like many of the juniors in her house are off fall/winter or winter/spring ). This year she will only pay the $425. Even in greek life no one is ever turned away for an inability to pay and if some one is short on funds, as Garr stated it is very discretely handled by the treasurer.</p>
<p>Outside of that she spends very little money on at school to the point that she rarely walks around with money unless she has something specific she needs to do.</p>
<p>SoCal middle class parent of a Frosh here....</p>
<p>One of the big things that turned son off of that school in CT was the obvious arrogance of the tour guide, altho she tried hard to sound just like regular people. He called the other day to say that he FINALLY met an arrogant student at Dartmouth -- he was shocked that one got thru the admissions gauntlet. LOL</p>
<p>No need for a car; I don't expect that he'll ever have a car on campus, unless we win the lotto. Great bus service to Boston, but most kids just hang on campus bcos there is so much to do in Hanover.</p>
<p>Like sybbie's D, my Son spends very little money at school, altho he used up his laundry budget buying stuff at Winter Carnival -- stuff for his little sister, he claims. But, he's a guy, so he can wait till he comes home to wash. :D</p>
<p>Activities are extremely inexpensive -- $5 for first-rate theater performances, for example.</p>
<p>Middle income parent here -
Absolutely agree with all of the above. As for the stretch factor, you might be interested in the charts on this page to see what you might expect in the way of financial aid - every family's situation is different obviously and you can't bank on this chart as indicative of the amount of aid your family might recieve, but it at least gives you a frame of reference:
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/financialaid/fafaq.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/financialaid/fafaq.html</a></p>
<p>These charts were revealing to me. Based only on the students, the way they interact and their on-campus lifestyles, I would not have guessed that more than half of last year's matriculants (but perhaps about 1/2 of those who are US citizens) have family income in excess of $105,000. Nor would I have guessed that 126 of those still recieve substantial need-based scholarship.</p>
<p>Nother Dart parent, I guess you would say upper middle income. Dart kids by and large are not snobby at all, although I am certain there are some.
D's sorority dues are similar to what is listed (wonder if Garrr! is in D's sorority?).</p>
<p>There are really only 2 terms to be snobby, because in winter you can't show off very many pretty clothes. Seriously, the kids seem to dress alike and play down wealth. There aren't expensive restaurants, clubs or concerts to go to, so like others, D spends very little money. She has taken up skiing and bought ice skates, but she got her ice skates at Walmart, I think, and the season lift ticket is cheap.
Another anti-snob factor is all the coming and going and changing of rooms. If daughter had been going to big state U, she probably would drive a nice car (vs no car at Dart, and a very cheap car at home), she would have a TV and microwave and other gadgets (no time, no space and way too much trouble to store when you live too far away to drive home). We might well have bought her a condominium - very common down here for upper mids with more than one child to send to college - pick their school and buy a house or condo for them.
Probably the most expensive single Dartmouth tradition that you might consider extra work or budget for is study abroad. A large proprotion of the campus goes abroad which is a little unusual for an Ivy. FA pays for much of that expense, but it is a shame to go and not travel some, so that money has to come from somewhere.</p>
<p>Though I will admit that I had the same concern when I applied as well, being an individual of rather modest means, my worries have been largely groundless. The "average" Dartmouth student--if there is such a thing--seems to come from an upper-middle or upper-class family. I concur with virtually everyone here in that Dartmouth students are by and large the nicest group of people one could hope to meet, and snobbish students are few and far between. I've only met a few (typically in the "rich" frats), and have only been the recipient of snobbishness from one or two individuals, hardly enough to be a real deterrent.</p>
<p>Also if you look at many of the other top schools, the "rich" students tend to hold alot of weight on campus. Examples: Harvard- Final Clubs, Yale- Secret societies, Princeton: The "best" eating clubs. This just isn't the case at Dartmouth. The "wealth oriented" frats are probably Psi U and SAE and these two don't carry any special power over other frats. Dartmouth just isn;t geared this way.</p>
<p>This is very old. OP is asking the same question over and over again at every ivy forum. Why are you so concerned about money? Why are you not more concerned the kind of education your daughter may be getting at these institutions? Are you using CC to do research?</p>
<p>Like everyone said, most people are decently-to-extremely well off and they do expensive things (mostly out of town, because there's not really anything to spend massive $$$ on in Hanover) but they don't make a big deal about it.</p>
<p>Ha, I actually think Fall and Winter are the terms where people wear fancy clothes. (Sweaters and coats and scarves and the like.) Once it warms up above 40, people start wearing t-shirts and flip flops.</p>
<p>Maybe, Dcd, it appears to DD that people all look alike in the winter because she's from the South - she can immediately tell which are the expensive designer flip-flops and Ts, but the coat is a coat, and she still has to touch the cashmere ;).</p>
<p>I'm from California.</p>
<p>About 50% of the student body is on financial aid; all my friends who receive packages have consistantly had 100% of demonstrated needs met. Airfare is expensive, true; I only come home 2x a year (Christmas break, before summer).</p>
<p>The truth is people here have a wide variety of backgrounds and wealth. Some people are very, very wealthy... and will go on those trips. Many more, though, are in the same financial situation. Lots of people spend time with their friends on breaks, or go on (often-sponsored) service trips. Foreign study allows for going traveling abroad, often cheaply (my experience in Glasgow this fall was that airfare cost less than $50 to Europe!). </p>
<p>Money isn't really talked about. Sure there are preppy people, rich people, "snobs" etc... but that's the reality of a fantastic school. It's not the majority though, and it's probably better than other schools.</p>
<p>Or you can earn some extra cash by popping other people's collars...current going rate is 100, 2 if it's a pink Lacoste</p>
<p>You might want to examine the Ivies in terms of percentage of students receiving Finacial Aid. The results might surprise you!</p>
<p>Class of 2009 % of Students on Financial Aid (U.S. News & World Report)</p>
<p>55% Princeton
52% Harvard
45% Yale
43% Stanford
???? Dartmouth</p>
<p>Class of 2010 % of Students From Public Schools</p>
<p>61% Princeton
54.4% Yale
???? Dartmouth</p>
<p>This is for the class of 2010, but...</p>
<p>66% from public schools.
46% receive scholarship assistance (not counting loans, I believe).
12% are Pell Grant recipients.
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/pdfs/secondary_school_report_2006.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/pdfs/secondary_school_report_2006.pdf</a></p>