The best things about Dartmouth are...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>What are your favorite things about the college? :)</p>

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<p>Being able to take your professors out to lunch. Nice grants and opportunities like the Senior Fellowship or the James O. Freedman research awards. A relatively painless bureaucracy. I basically like the academic stuff here, and the fact that I got to know many of my professors on a pretty close basis.</p>

<p>Many things here are terrible though. For example, dorm life here is perhaps the worst abomination of any Ivy League institution. I've also spoken on other things at length.</p>

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<p>I have to stick up for Dartmouth following aerial's post above. I have two kids at Dartmouth, a junior and a freshman, and neither would complain about the dorm life there. </p>

<p>In terms of the quality of the dorms, the McLaughlin Cluster has to be among the top of its peer institutions. The rooms are spacious, new, with beautiful kitchens and common rooms. Sure there are other dorms which aren't as nice, but they're not that much out of line with the average accommodations at other universities (and believe me, with two kids in college, we've seen our share).</p>

<p>Perhaps aerial was referring to the fact that, after freshman year, the students sometimes have to switch dorms between terms. Yes, that can be a pain, but it really has not been that big of a deal to my junior.</p>

<p>Both my kids have made lifelong friends from their halls, so to say that dorm life is an abomination is more than misleading, it's wrong. (Although obviously aerial, you personally have had a bad experience.) In fact, the camaraderie and long-lasting friendships experienced by Dartmouth students are, I think, two of many great reasons to love the school.</p>

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<p>
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The rooms are spacious, new, with beautiful kitchens and common rooms. Sure there are other dorms which aren't as nice, but they're not that much out of line with the average accommodations at other universities

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<p>Because clearly, I was talking about the quality of the dorms.</p>

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Perhaps aerial was referring to the fact that, after freshman year, the students sometimes have to switch dorms between terms. Yes, that can be a pain, but it really has not been that big of a deal to my junior.

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<p>Even this completely misses my point, although the movement in between terms does contribute to the crappy dorm life here.</p>

<p>Shazz12, Dartmouth students are close because of the fairly widespread and inclusive Greek scene (among perhaps other more minor things). I can assure you that the deserted halls in Hitchcock, Mid Mass, or Ripley contribute almost nothing to these long-lasting friendships you speak of. Go take a look at the house system at Harvard, or Yale's Residential Colleges, and the difference will be clear.</p>

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Go take a look at the house system at Harvard, or Yale's Residential Colleges, and the difference will be clear.

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Other people's lawn is always greener. I am sure that if one lives there long enough, he/she'll find something to complain too.</p>

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<p>^OK great, and your point is?</p>

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<p>
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For example, dorm life here is perhaps the worst abomination of any Ivy League institution.

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<p>Worse than Cornell or UPenn? I agree it's not great but I wouldn't call it an abomination. I don't think our dorm system actively hinders friendships too much. From a standpoint based on pure number of friends, I think EW is actually superior to most of our dorms, though - it seems to me that people from EW often know each other much more than people who randomly happen to live in the same dorm elsewhere. I'm not sure what about EW engenders this.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Dartmouth students are close because of the fairly widespread and inclusive Greek scene (among perhaps other more minor things). I can assure you that the deserted halls in Hitchcock, Mid Mass, or Ripley contribute almost nothing to these long-lasting friendships you speak of. Go take a look at the house system at Harvard, or Yale's Residential Colleges, and the difference will be clear.

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<p>It's just culture for the most part. Dartmouth's culture expects you to build a base of friends around the people you meet during freshman orientation, and later, in your Greek society. In some respects this may have its advantages - I feel that while the Harvard/Yale system builds strong bonds within individual houses/residential colleges, it does make it harder for people to mix outside those self-contained communities. At least in Dartmouth you're not obligated to mix with more or less the same set of people constantly.</p>

<p>It's clear you're not very into the Greek system, and I don't blame you, since neither am I. I can live with what we have now, since I can do with a casual game of pong or dance party every now and then - I'm satisfied with my social life here. You obviously prefer the MIT crowd, judging from how often you went down freshman year, and seem to have decided you really hate the frats after spending much of freshman year pretending you thought they were awesome.</p>

<p>Dude, transfer out to somewhere you fit in and be happy - it sucks that you're not having a good time here. But don't make it seem as if what's a con to you must by implication be a con for everyone else. For me a lot of them are neutral things, and for a lot of other people they're actually pluses. The residential life here may be an abomination to you, but it's fine for me, and great for a lot of other people. Different strokes for different folks, man.</p>

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<p>johnleemk, your post is borderline incoherent and really doesn't address the OP's point. Someone else has already tried to address a point I've made, and I find it quite strange that I'm the only one who has actually answered to the OP directly. </p>

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I feel that while the Harvard/Yale system builds strong bonds within individual houses/residential colleges, it does make it harder for people to mix outside those self-contained communities. At least in Dartmouth you're not obligated to mix with more or less the same set of people constantly.

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<p>Oh really? But that's not exactly what dcd posted about a year back - that it gets harder and harder to mix into newer groups as you get older at Dartmouth. You've pointed out that the prime opportunities for establishing your social groups are there during Orientation and rush. But for those people who never really took the time freshman year to establish a clique, but want to start sophomore year - what about those guys?</p>

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I feel that while the Harvard/Yale system builds strong bonds within individual houses/residential colleges, it does make it harder for people to mix outside those self-contained communities.

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<p>That's laughable, and just incredibly false. Please do not make bold logical conjectures for which you have no experience to speak on. People in the House System or Residential Colleges do not effectively segregate themselves from the rest of campus. Not only are these systems hallmarks of dorm life community at the respective colleges, but people from different houses/colleges also visit each other quite frequently. </p>

<p>In fact, you could replace "Harvard/Yale" with "Dartmouth" and "houses/residential colleges" with "fraternity houses" and your statement would still make sense logically, but might not necessarily be true (although, just for the edification of CC readers, it pretty much is true). Please be more careful before you write!</p>

<p>
[quote]
Dude, transfer out to somewhere you fit in and be happy - it sucks that you're not having a good time here. But don't make it seem as if what's a con to you must by implication be a con for everyone else. For me a lot of them are neutral things, and for a lot of other people they're actually pluses. The residential life here may be an abomination to you, but it's fine for me, and great for a lot of other people. Different strokes for different folks, man.

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<p>Dude, don't post if you have nothing constructive to say in this thread. It sucks that you can't keep your Dartmouth fever in check, I know, so you must respond with rebuttals every time I try to post a valid criticism of the school (notice how most of the other Dartmouth lovers have remained silent). But don't try to mislead prospective students by effectively censoring the "bad" posts about Dartmouth. I like Dartmouth for many of the things it has given me. But I also write balanced posts and point out the negatives of our school. I think that's the only fair thing to do.</p>

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[quote]
The residential life here may be an abomination to you, but it's fine for me, and great for a lot of other people. Different strokes for different folks, man.

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<p>Yes, I see you thought it fine that most of your floor left you for the fraternities, as you have so poignantly stated in another thread. Perhaps living on an empty floor with no hall activity is cool to you. But yeah! Different strokes for different folks, man!</p>

<p>...</p>

<p>GTFO.</p>

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<p>As a parent, I love how Dartmouth is a fit, academically, socially and intellectually, for so many types of people. My freshman is enjoying a variety of classes as she decides on her second major... She hopes to pledge next fall. Meanwhile, my junior discovered his academic passion at Dartmouth, never went through Rush and rarely drinks. Both have a happy social life and participate in fascinating and important extra-curricular activities during their "spare" time.</p>

<p>And where else in the world can you get a world-class education AND take snowboarding for PE. On your own mountain, no less!</p>

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<p>Teaching quality. Dartmouth has long been noted for the quality and involvement of its faculty.</p>

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<p>Wow, aerialblue, you're really going over the top there. I would agree with johnleemk. As someone who perhaps stepped into a frat four times in four years, I found the residential life pretty good--perhaps not as strong as Harvard or Yale, but certainly not an 'abomination.' I made a lot of friends on my junior and senior floors, and I don't feel like I'm atypical. </p>

<p>Good things about Dartmouth:
-The accessibility and helpfulness of the professors. I've written about this in some previous posts.
-Location, location, location. Not too many other places you have such great access to hiking, canoeing, etc.
-Resources for students: thesis grants, graduate study grants, lots of funding to do independent projects, really good financial aid. Apart from the money aspect, you get access to really good research and extracurricular resources.
-Community: almost everyone feels a really strong connection to the place. This leads to a lot of good alumni networking.</p>

<p>Things that could be improved:
-I think here's room for more dining options, particularly late night and during sophomore summer.
-I think the curriculum needs an update--I think at times it gets a bit piecemeal with really lax distributive requirements and relatively lax major requirements (though in some departments this is changing).
-The D Plan--is both a plus and minus. It allows you to do some really amazing internships and gives you unparalleled flexibility, but also compacts things like math and science into short terms, where it might be easier to learn them over longer periods.</p>

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<p>aerialblue is trying to transfer to Columbia. He's decided Dartmouth is not a fit; doesn't mean other students don't love Dartmouth with all their heart.</p>

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<p>To the original poster:
I love Dartmouth's off-campus programs and the professors, a great majority of whom are very approachable. I even have nice things to say about the dining system, which is really quite better (in taste and nutrition) than your typical "sloppy joe and fries" college dining hall.</p>

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<p>aerialblue, your dismissal of johnleemk as "borderline incoherent" rings hollow when you are practically foaming at the mouth with an obvious agenda against social life at Dartmouth.</p>

<p>In case you think I can't "keep my Dartmouth fever in check," I'm an unaffiliated '11 just like you, and I could find a lot of things wrong with Dartmouth beyond its imperfections in social life. God knows I complain about the weather, the location and the distributive requirements all the time. (At the same time, I note that many people love those three things.) I also bemoan the sense of entitlement of a few annoying classmates (hint: it's not johnleemk). And yes, even the "relatively painless bureaucracy" that you have little problem with--I have a pretty big problem with it! But your attacks on the residential/social life at Dartmouth are completely unfounded, and I suspect your recent experiences with the Greek system have destroyed what little credibility you had.</p>

<p>I won't comment on Harvard's and Yale's (and Princeton's) Residential College system, but you're not giving Dartmouth's system enough credit. You say the "deserted halls in Hitchcock, Mid Mass, or Ripley" aren't conducive to "long-lasting friendships." Ignoring the fact that AZD and Alpha Phi live there (since Greek houses clearly aren't good enough for you), have you forgotten about the affinity housing in those clusters? The French Language floor (in Hitchcock) has a great community. For examples in other locations, just look at the apartments in East Wheelock (suites for four with great amenities), Amarna, the NAD house, and practically a dozen others. Or even off-campus options. </p>

<p>Then there's the fact that many of us get along fine without having our best friends live on the same floor anymore. Or were they ever? I met my best friends at Dartmouth on my DOC trip, at Orientation events, in classes, at work, in student organizations, and on off-campus programs. I'm still great friends with two of my former floormates, but I chose not to put all my eggs in one basket, and made friends through other avenues. In fact, some of these friends are my new floormates and "building-mates," because I chose to put myself close to them at room draw (admittedly not an option for everyone). But surely you can agree that most of my experience is typical of a Dartmouth student.</p>

<p>Of course, reality never seemed your strong suit, and you'd much prefer to berate other posters for having "nothing constructive to say," never noting the irony. The OP asked for your "favorite things about the college," so your comment that "[m]any things here are terrible" was entirely unsolicited, even if it were true (it's not). You also say that johnleemk's floor "left [him] for the fraternities," even though his current roommate, and the three who are living in Mid Mass (practically his roommates too) aren't affiliated. You or johnleemk can correct me on that one if I'm wrong. And most ironic of all--the two who've "left" johnleemk for the frats still hang out with their floor from time to time. It seems to me that it was you (and two others) who left the floor for the fraternities, but the difference is that the Greek system didn't work out for you, to put it nicely.</p>

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<p>Aerial. You ok? You're usually a little bitter about things at Dartmouth, but that last post was a little out of line.</p>

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<p>the best thing about dartmouth is that it chases the losers away to other schools</p>

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<p>


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<p>You agree with him, because he says exactly what you want to hear. I think you're absolutely confused over what actually constitutes "good" dorm life, but I should point out that it's hard to go lower than deserted hallways with pretty much no community - which is the case for the upperclass dorms. Give credit where credit is due; things like sophomore summer or Greek life are generally considered good things for social bonding. But don't try to validate something that even the Dartmouth administration itself posits as a problem here.</p>

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aerialblue is trying to transfer to Columbia. He's decided Dartmouth is not a fit; doesn't mean other students don't love Dartmouth with all their heart.

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Aerial. You ok? You're usually a little bitter about things at Dartmouth, but that last post was a little out of line.

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the best thing about dartmouth is that it chases the losers away to other schools

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<p>Clearly, the posters here are mostly concerned about arguing with me than actually addressing the main point of this thread. I have always stated that most of the students at Dartmouth are incredibly happy to be here. Unlike perhaps most of you, I actually want Dartmouth to be better than it actually is. People like slipper, sybbie, and whatnot already give numerous detailed posts about why Dartmouth is an excellent place to go to college, and perhaps some of you are a little disgruntled that I have to post the opposite - because no one else will. Sure, if you just want to say good things about the school and never address its problems so that we can never figure out ways to fix them, then why even bother having a discussion board in the first place?</p>

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<p>I find it absolutely hilarious that you posted about 3 lines of trivially obvious things about Dartmouth, and then spent entire paragraphs trying to attack my post. Clearly, your priority here is not in helping the OP!</p>

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aerialblue, your dismissal of johnleemk as "borderline incoherent" rings hollow when you are practically foaming at the mouth with an obvious agenda against social life at Dartmouth.

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<p>Forrest Gump had more brain activity with which to make this statement. johnleemk wrote something about "pretending that its awesome," and any REASONABLY INTELLIGENT person will be able to point out just how nonsensical he was - I still have no idea what he's talking about in some parts of his post!</p>

<p>Now, I don't know if you're paranoid, just plain idiotic, or choose to ignore all of the non-trivial criticisms on here. Ooo the cold is terrible...great, like WE ALL DIDN'T KNOW THAT.</p>

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<p>That's great that you think those things. Though, it doesn't really matter what you think. Dartmouth is known to have a less red-tape administration relative to its Ivy League peers. To be honest, if you think Dartmouth's administration is that bad, I invite you to go take a look at Columbia or Harvard's. Try getting something done there.</p>

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<p>Honestly, do you even read what you write? Even rednecks have more intelligence with which to write something like that.</p>

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<p>If you're going to invoke something, at least point out something that's actually in favor of Dartmouth. THE FACT THAT AZD, ALPHA PHI, AND SEVERAL MINORITY GROUPS HAVE INSUFFICIENT HOUSING IS NOT A POINT IN FAVOR OF THE SCHOOL. </p>

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<p>The difference between me and other posters is that I actually point out non-obvious things (i.e., things that don't have to do with the weather) that could be improved at Dartmouth. In case your feeble mind hasn't noticed, johnleemk didn't address the OP...AT ALL. Now, perhaps you don't care whether or not Dartmouth addresses the problems that it has. Perhaps you don't care to ask questions about how we can make Dartmouth a better place.</p>

<p>And that's unfortunate, because I thought you loved the school.</p>

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<p>UPDATE: OK, so I've received PMs and message board replies from people who are thankful for the comprehensive posts I usually write. Great to know that some prospective students are reasonably impartial in their assessment of things (for now at least!). </p>

<p>Compare this to say...MYSOJ1230...who probably hasn't written one post with substance in a while (if at all).</p>

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<p>webster ave.
i do wish we did have the residential house system, but it's hard with the D-plan always making housing complicated. you win some, you lose some.
i did, however, absolutely love the Greek system.
and Hanover, NH. even in winter.
the campus was organized, at least in my day, so that you're never walking too much. very centralized. but it was VAST and had everything nearby, from the golf courses to the IM fields to the observatory, etc. i don't know that impact the recent expansions have.
and really, Hanover, NH is such a beautiful freakin place. I just can't say enough. If you've ever stepped foot on campus and breathed a sigh of love, throw your caution to the wind and commit to this place. i was, and had always been, a city boy. Yet I would love to go back to Hanover and live there for the rest of my life.</p>

<p>as for aerialblue:</p>

<p>dude, you had internet when you went off to college, no? you knew dartmouth was middle of bumble*<strong><em>, nowhere, and that it was heavily, heavily greek. academically, dartmouth doesn't offer anything so *</em></strong>ing fantastic that you can't get at other schools. so why choose D?</p>

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<p>again to reiterate:</p>

<p>isolated location in middle of nowhere
spending 4 years in a drunken haze playing pong
3 classes per term, 2 in my soph + sr springs (maximize what little sun Hanover gets)
sophomore summer and the D plan
the fact that i could not walk from dorm -> class or class -> dining hall without saying hello to 10 people and 2 profs (who of course had no clue who I was since I was not really in class)</p>

<p>loved it.</p>

<p>did not like:
the administration trying to change Dartmouth into a lesser Penn.
the administration trying to deprive Dartmouth of its very soul.</p>

<p>it's a niche school. not for the general public.
it's not perfect. it has its flaws. many flaws that may even be easily solved.
but that's the point.</p>

<p>at least, it was, until people like aerialblue took over and wanted to make it a run-of-the-mill school</p>

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<p>Fair question km7hill. The fact that Dartmouth is rural was not a negative point for me - in fact, I kind of actually appreciate the beautiful scenery here. To be fair, I was something like the dcd of the present. I knew Dartmouth was a tad anti-intellectual during Dimensions, but I thought I could deal with that as a college student. I saw how everyone else was pretty content and I thought, hey, maybe I will be too. It's really, really difficult to completely gauge everything about the school on a visit, but you get better at figuring out what you really want from the college experience as you move along in college.</p>

<p>Also, to be fair, people like slipper were quite persuasive. This is especially why I now feel that having a dissenting voice on these threads is especially important. I just can't emphasize enough the importance of fit to high school students.</p>