Hi SkivingSnackBox,
I’m a '17 at Dartmouth. Male. Unaffiliated.
I had similar worries before matriculation here, but I found them quickly dispelled.
Greek Life here is very different from other universities. Parties are often open to campus. Tails and formals are closed, but you can easily invite yourself with a friend inside (and with only 4000 undergrads, you’re bound to have a way into events you want). There are plenty of dry events, and frats/sororities often hold notable events e.g. dinner with General Mattis of the US Army, a panel with Rick Perry, corporate recruiting interviews, charity drives etc. Sure you have your share of douchey frat boys and crack head srat girls, but they are by far the minority. I’m friends with a lot of people who are affiliated and they never make me drink or do anything that makes me feel uncomfortable. (Fun anecdote - I was playing pong in a frat once, about a week before an exam. When my friends who are brothers learnt of my upcoming test, they refused to let me drink and drank for me. Afterwards, I actually went to study in the library lol.)
By far, media outlets like the Rolling Stones and Huffpost like to aggrandise our crimes, especially since we’re an Ivy League school.
If you want to avoid the Greek scene completely, that’s possible too. Social life shouldn’t be terrible, as you form friends around clubs, activities, and common interests. I encourage you to check out this website to see if there are things you may be interested in, and then reach out to those groups: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~coso/organizations/ Let your passions guide you!
As for quality of education, Dartmouth’s undergraduate program is undoubtedly unparalleled. I think we’ve been ranked No. 1 for undergrad for 5 consecutive years on US News and World. There are proteins, equations, laws, even monuments named after our professors! (As do other good institutions though… lol) Class sizes beyond the foundational courses are all small and intimate. Most students I know are involved with research with a faculty member. I personally work in a lab working on a classified project for DARPA. As for our legacy, Dartmouth produced BASIC (the first computer language), the first medical x-ray, Dr. Seuss, Robert Frost, Artificial Intelligence, etc. etc. Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy, The Lego Movie, Star Wars 8, all are shows made by Dartmouth alums. We basically own Wall Street and Hollywood, like how Stanford pretty much owns Silicon Valley.
Dartmouth is a great community, and you’re bound to find your niche. Even the anti-integration people have their own little renegade group to hate on everyone else lol. It’s unfortunate and a bit annoying, but we welcome their voice and existence anyways. That’s how Dartmouth is.
Hope that answered some of your worries.
Work hard, apply, and hopefully you’ll get in! 