<p>I'm from the southwest portion of the US in a fairly affluent neighborhood, but it seems that many of the people don't know what Dartmouth is. It seems like most people know mainly about HYPSM but that's about it. I know that with getting your first job, the name-brand value of your school plays a significant role. How is Dartmouth in this respect? </p>
<p>You will get a good education at Dartmouth. It is very well regarded in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. If you want return to the Southwest after you graduate college, and name recognition is important to you, maybe Dartmouth isn’t your college.</p>
<p>"I know that with getting your first job, the name-brand value of your school plays a significant role. " Less so than you think IMHO</p>
<p>Yeah, I think that name-brand definitely is stronger regionally for a lot of places. I’ve just gotten some confused looks when I tell people I’m interested in Dartmouth, UChicago, Columbia, and UPenn, I get some strange looks. Duke not so much but probably because of basketball and not really academics. </p>
<p>OP, why are you so concerned about what other people think, some of whom probably could not find New Hampshire on a map?</p>
<p>LOL, bingo, tomofboston!!</p>
<p>Even internationally, Dartmouth has the lowest name-brand recognition of any Ivy League. While it is ranked #10 on the current US News ranking, in the internationally well regarded QS and Times Higher Education ranking it ranks well below. Currently it ranks within the 120s. Colleges like JHU, UC Berkeley and Duke ranks higher since they have better recognition worldwide. </p>
<p>That said Dartmouth provides one of the best education and life experiences you could have (according to my research!). Also it’s undergraduate commitment is far better than any college in the US (ranking #1 in undergraduate teaching in the US news). Compared to other Ivy leagues it is far more closely knit. It’s study abroad programs are very good and it’s FinAid is very generous (It is also one of the 6 colleges in the US that is need-blind for international students).</p>
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<p>They are ranked higher in rankings of RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES because Dartmouth is not a full-fledged research university with graduate departments in almost everything. The reality is that Dartmouth is very unusual in this regard: in some ways the nation’s largest and best LAC, in other ways a leading university. </p>
<p>OP, I think you would find that well-educated, well-connected and sophisticated people everywhere in the US will have heard of Dartmouth. The “man on the street” will have heard of HYP and some football/basketball schools. Do you care about their opinion? </p>
<p>As for international opinion…tell me, how many people in the US do you think have heard of the Sorbonne, and of those how many think it is the premier school in France? How many do you think have heard of HEC, ENS, et al? Yet the latter are the actual elite institutions of France.</p>
<p>“Even internationally, Dartmouth has the lowest name-brand recognition of any Ivy League.”</p>
<p>Also, where I live, “UPenn” or “Penn, in Philly” gets me questions like “Penn State has a branch in Philly?”
And yet everyone knows Harvard! :P</p>
<p>D went to Dartmouth; I went to Reed. “Name-brand value” of the latter is probably even lower – except among people whose opinion I value. If where you end up applying for your first job does not recognize the value of a Dartmouth education, you will have applied to the wrong place/s. </p>
<p>Yes Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Penn and Columbia don’t have the name recognition as HPY. </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse Not necessarily. Cornell, UPenn and Columbia has better recognition too. Brown and Dartmouth not so much.</p>
<p>@consolation agreed. Since Dartmouth’s main concern is undergraduate education, it has lesser name-brand recognition.</p>
<p>I have no stats on this, but, yes, it does seem that Dartmouth’s name recognition is less. The UG focus, the sie of the school, that is it farther away from the other main cities, that it gets fewer apps, make that seem the fact. But I’m just saying that HPY have very high name recognition world wide. The drop down is significant when one gets to the other ivies. That Cornell, UPenn, Columbia have a lot of name recognition in NY alone, due to vicinity and so many applying and having those affiliated living here makes a big difference. Penn suffers from confusion with Penn State, however</p>
<p>Since the purpose of going to college is to get an education, you would probably obtain an excellent one at Dartmouth. Name brands are priorities for retailers and of course bragging rights for parents, but I’m beyond very comfortable with Dartmouth now that I know what I paid for and my children received. </p>
<p>Also When I tell people out here that I think Reed is the best college in Oregon, they have no idea what I am taking about. But if you ask an educator, professional or executive, they simply agree. </p>
<p>The fact that Dartmouth ranks consistently in top 20 schools in the country is nothing to sneer at regardless of its status as lower ivy…</p>
<p>“However, corporate america views A as being a notch or two above B and C”</p>
<p>Corporate America? Here’s corporate america: a hiring manager reviewing resumes. They are smart enough to know that unqualified idiots will apply from school A and gems from schools B and C and daresay, even the “unranked” colleges.</p>
<p>The cachet of a college’s reputation goes quickly out the window when it gets down to brass tacks, folks.</p>
<p>^^ exactly! the only moment when a college brand name is of use in corporate America is when the hiring person looks through the resumes. Then it all comes down to the interview with the person.</p>
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<p>For a school like Dartmouth, your hypothesis is off base. Most at Dartmouth pursue their job search either through corporate recruiting (by definition the companies that come to Hanover know the value) or through the Dartmouth alumni network. I suspect that Dartmouth is in the upper half, if not the top, of Ivy alums taking calls and helping undergrads with their job searches. </p>