<p>Answer to 2nd question:
No, you don't <em>have</em> to buy the laptop from the school. The hardware and software requirements that the school speaks of is no big deal at all. No one actually checks what hardware you have. Your laptop or computer just has to be able to run Windows or Mac OS, and have an ethernet or wi-fi card (to connect to the internet). ANY laptop on the market will meet the requirements, and no one checks your laptop if you bring one from home. As for the software requirements, almost everything is downloadable from the Dartmouth website, with the exception of MS Office. I bought a laptop myself (for much cheaper than what the school was selling for) and installed Open Office instead, a freeware Office replacement. It looks almost identical to MS Office and opens all the same files. </p>
<p>As for the Dorms,</p>
<p>I wish I had a digital camera to take pictures with, but I don't.<br>
The river dorms are really ugly both outside, and in the hallways, but they're quite roomy. Most rooms in the River dorms are 2 room doubles, 3 room doubles (2 singles and a common room), or singles.<br>
The Choates are dorms built in the late 50's, and purposely very boxy. Back in the day, they were on the cutting edge of architecture. Now they're just ugly. The guy who designed the Choates dorm also designed graduate housing for Harvard. The dorms have a kitchen and big common room in a separate building but are connected to the building by glass bridge-tunnels. The idea was to bring people from separate buildings together into a large common room. Rooms in the choates are pretty comfortable. The third floors of all the dorms in the Choates are comprised mostly of spacious singles. I ended up with a <em>huge</em> corner single, which is the same size as many doubles. The college actually had more singles than people requested, for the class of 2010. So if you ask for a single, I'm pretty sure you'll get one. </p>
<p>The new McLaughlin dorms on campus are all amazing. The hallways are really wide, and I've heard of people riding bikes through the halls there. The dorms also have many bathrooms on a floor, and its designed so that each bathroom is really only used by 2 rooms (about 4 people). It's hard to explain without looking at the floor plan. Most of the rooms in the new dorms are 2 room doubles, so they're very spacious. The default setup in these rooms is with 2 beds in one room, and 2 desks in the other room. This means you can sleep while your room mate studies in the other room. Some people choose to seperate the two room double into 2 singles. You get a bit more privacy this way.</p>
<p>The Russel Sage dorms are mixed housing, but they try to make all-freshmen floors. The dorms seemed pretty nice when I visited, with plenty of wood paneling and private half-baths. </p>
<p>The Fahey and Mclane dormitories are set up on the inside just like the McLaughlin dorms, except they have a different look on the outside. Fahey-Mclane and Russel Sage together are called "Tuck Mall", and they have the most central location on campus. I'd say Fahey and Mclane are the best dorms for freshmen, or anyone really.</p>
<p>East Wheelock is really nice on the inside, and <em>very</em> spacious. These are defn. the best dorms physically, but some ppl claim the dorms are a bit far from the main campus. This isn't true, as the East Wheelock dorms are closer to the green than the River dorms. And it's really still only a 5-10 min. walk. East Wheelock is also right across from the gym, and has its own snack bar which runs at night. East Wheelock has an anti-social, nerd, and Asian stereotype. However, most of the people I've met from East Wheelock are actually some of the coolest and chillest people I've met on campus, and I plan on applying there for sophomore housing (I got stuck with a horrible room draw number)</p>
<p>I live in the Choates right now.</p>