<p>Im still trying to get my head around the D-Plan. Are there any current or ex-students who could share how they will spend/have spent their four years (i.e. on campus terms, off-campus terms, leaves)?</p>
<p>And another question - what do you do between terms?</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore and currently on his quarter off (spring for him but you can design anyone you want and can always change). You get an internship, travel, or simply work.</p>
<p>All sophomores have to attend summer quarter. The D plan was first designed to put "4000 heads in 3000 beds." They will have more dorms this fall, but I think the D plan will stay</p>
<p>In between terms I would go home to stay with family, just like at any other college. I wouldn't over think the D-Plan before you get to campus. You have all of your freshman year to figure out what you're going to do. And even then you can keep changing your mind if you decide to do an LSA or FSP <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Efrstyear/work/policies/offcampus.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frstyear/work/policies/offcampus.html</a>. I would take a look at some of the study abroad options to see if any interest you b/c the best thing about the D-Plan, imo, is study abroad. Everyone does something different so I'm sure there are other opinions out there. Hopefully some more people will respond.</p>
<p>There are sooo many things you can do with the D-Plan like:</p>
<p>-internships in NY/DC/other big cities
-funding to do research/hiking/field work abroad
-LSA's/FSPS
-stay on campus and work or hang out (it's actually quite fun- you get to do all the clubs and activities you've wanted to try without any of the schoolwork)
-go home
-exchange terms at other American colleges or universities abroad</p>
<p>So you're saying that funding is available for internships? We're not even sure we can send our son to Dartmouth at all because of cost, much less come up with extra money to do something during the semester off. He wouldn't care if he couldn't study abroad, but we wouldn't have the money to fund transportation and living expenses for an unpaid internship that wasn't close to home.</p>
<p>Yes, your son would be able to get funding for his unpaid internship to cover his travel and living expenses through the :</p>
<p>Rockefeller center for Public Policy</p>
<p>Tucker Foundation </p>
<p>If if he should want to study abroad, the FA office will work with you.</p>
<p>Unpaid internships are not the only way to go. I must admit, it is quite difficult to have an unpaid internship really make money for you. While you can apply to Rocky, Tucker, Career Services, the Dickey Center and other organizations for funding, MANY people know about these options and so it's not guaranteed that you will get sufficient funding to not only pay for your living expenses, but to also pay for your FA leave term contribution.</p>
<p>However, there are tons of paid internships that are just as fun and exciting. Career services has what seems like a million different paid internship opportunities that you can access, some of them are with Dartmouth alum and so they're only available for Dartmouth students. I could have never afforded to do an unpaid internship, but there were still many cool things to do that could actually pay me.</p>
<p>I agree with the poster who said you're overthinking the D-plan. It isn't that big of a deal. Instead of 2 semesters during the year, you have three terms. </p>
<p>Vacations are pretty similar because at Dartmouth they are between terms, so you get a long Christmas break, and a Spring break in March. You do the same thing between terms that any student at any college does - go home, go on a vacation, go visit friends at other schools. And because the terms coincide with the breaks, you have finals before each break, so you don't have to worry about any work over Christmas or Spring break, which is a really really good thing.</p>
<p>You have to be on campus Fall, Winter and Spring of your first year and your last year, and sophomore summer. Because you are there sophomore summer you get to pick one term during sophomore and junior year to be off. And you would do THE SAME THING that you would have done the summer of your sophomore year. Get a job, an internship, travel... The difference is that there may be less competition for some of those jobs and internships. </p>
<p>You can do foreign study/language study abroad during any of the terms you would otherwise be on campus your second and third years, the same way you would do it at any other school. The difference is that because Dartmouth operates on terms you have more flexibility. You can do 2 different study abroad programs without committing an entire year to it. And if you want you can do three different study abroad programs.</p>
<p>The D-plan just gives you a little more flexibility because you're not locked into whatever you're doing for as long a period of time as other colleges on semester plans. It gives you more options.</p>
<p>TheGFG -</p>
<p>Also, the LSA or FSP or a college exchange, while an off-campus term, is still one of the 12 total quarters required of a student in the 4 years. Your tuition room and board payments (and financial aid) apply toward this term and with little if any additional cost beyond airfare (which can really be reasonable) and spending $ which is completely within his control. So, he could still have a great off campus experience and work for pay during the three required leave terms.</p>
<p>The quarter system causes Dartmouth to start and get out later than most other schools, so there's more of a chance that your breaks will not completely coincide with your friends'.</p>
<p>They say that your sophomore summer and senior year you're required to stay on campus, but there are ways around it. I went on study abroads my sophomore summer and senior winter.</p>