<p>I have applied and been accepted to Dartmouth and several other schools - Carleton, Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Reed, and UW-Madison. I have narrowed down my list of colleges to just Dartmouth and Harvey Mudd; unfortunately, I'm now having a very hard time deciding between them.
So:
Why should I choose Dartmouth over Harvey Mudd? Both are small colleges primarily focused on undergraduate education, incorporate a lot of research into the curriculum, and have very good reputations. What makes Dartmouth special?</p>
<p>Also, I am particularly interested in the mathematics department. How good is it? What variety of classes are offered?</p>
<p>Finally, one more question that sounds terribly pessimistic but that I find helpful: what is the worst thing about Dartmouth?</p>
<p>Dartmouth is a very social place and, to me, a large liberal arts college. You are likely to meet people with diverse interests academically. With about 4000 students, there are decent sized groups of people following just about any available interest and major. There are activities special to Dartmouth (home coming bonfire, Winter Carnival) that people tend to look forward to and participate in enthusiastically.
Harvey Mudd is of course much smaller and more focussed on Math and Sciences. If you love Math and immersing yourself in it with as few diversions as possible, Harvey Mudd may be for you.
Most people would enjoy their 4 years at Dartmouth more. That said, my son's roomate on and off at Dartmouth was a Physics major, who always wished he had gone to Cal Tech, but was not admitted.</p>