Transfer to Dartmouth or a top UK school?

Hello all,

I’ve never actually posted in college confidential, but I’ve browsed many forums over the years. Whilst this site was always a source of tremendous anxiety, it always seemed that posters were knowledgable and could provide unbiased advice. This is exactly what I’m after now.

This is rather complicated, so if I do a poor job of explaining, please ask elaborate questions. I did 1.5 years at a USNWR top 5 liberal arts college, and was utterly miserable. I found the place to be enormously cliche, professors seemed quite narrow-minded and rewarded those who echoed their own sentiments rather than pushed themselves intellectually, and found the social environment paradoxical in that it was a small place but tremendously hard to get involved in things such as competitive sport and clubs. Furthermore, it had a horrible combination of being extremely diverse and also extremely small, which meant that people were so different I found it difficult to find a group of like-minded individuals with which to spend time, especially as a politically conservative individual. So after 3 semesters, I left for Italy for a semester abroad.

During the fall and spring semesters, I applied to four schools: a top 5 UK school, Penn, Yale and Dartmouth. I now find myself with offers from the UK school, Penn and Dartmouth. To be honest, I’ve sort of put Penn aside for now due to its fiercely competitive (among students as opposed to vigorously collaborative academics which I suppose) and pre-professional nature. I hope to get a good job post-graduation, but feel that will come into place on its own and is not something which should be the driving force for my education.

So I am looking for advice for UK vs Dartmouth. I should note that I learned of my UK acceptance much earlier, and that I had various conversations with two high-school entrants who were deciding between this school and Yale for one and Harvard for the other. I argued adamantly that the UK school offers a better, more focused education, especially within the humanities and I study history. And I agree with this in the case of Harvard and Yale. I would choose UK over either. But the issue I find is that even with my British background I do feel slightly out of place in the UK, and while I am an advocate of pushing one’s boundaries, I also want to be happy and comfortable in university. I don’t want to feel as though I have to sacrifice my identity slightly in order to fit in to a different culture.

Dartmouth was that school I most wanted to attend out of high-school. I believed it was a perfect combination of size and liberal arts focus on undergraduate teaching, set in a beautiful environment with enough people to combat its geographical isolation. I think that both the UK school and Dartmouth will fix those problems I experienced at my current school, though going to the UK is more of an unknown. I was wait listed at Dartmouth in high-school, this being the year they over-enrolled and didn’t take anyone from the wait list, but I often think that if I had found a place there I wouldn’t be in this situation right now; I would be much more content with my college experience. I was quite suspicious of my current school going in, thinking I may have a problem with its size.

Finally, I will note that while the UK would be three years and Dartmouth either 2 or 2.5 depending on transfer credits, the UK would be marginally less expensive.

I would also note that I am a UK citizen, could work in both countries, but that I much prefer NH (where I went to high-school) to London, although of course there are lovely areas outside of London.

I understand their academic differences, but feel both could be made to fit to my interests, and as a transfer student I would effectively spend a majority of my time within my major (history) at either. I don’t know any graduates from the UK school but everyone I’ve interacted with from Dartmouth (current students, past teachers, older generations) have been tremendously impressive individuals and kind. The alumni network there is unbelievable, in both a social and professional sense.

Please don’t just write the name of one or the other but give supportive reasoning for your selection, preferably relative to either my exact predicament or what you would do in a more general sense if in my position.

Sorry for the long read but I thank you for your advice in advance.

How much of a difference does 4,000 versus 1,800 students make? I think you might in absolute numbers find more like-minded conservatives at Dartmouth than at your current school, but I don’t think the overall student body of the two differ too much from each other. All top US schools tend to lean liberal and libertarian rather than conservative. Also, if you believe that professors at your current school are narrow-minded and reward only those that echo their sentiments, I think you might encounter the same problem at Dartmouth, or even in the UK. I would assume that the larger the place, the more there are students and professors that share your political outlook.

What are you planning to do after graduation? U.S. visas are notoriously difficult to acquire, and Dartmouth does not have the same recognition in the UK. The alumni network of Dartmouth would only be an advantage in the U.S.

Your post is a love-letter to Dartmouth- it is clear that you have a strong desire to go. We could tell you that you are looking through rose-coloured glasses, but it won’t matter, b/c my hunch is you won’t be happy if you don’t scratch that itch. My guess is that the itch is especially strong b/c you they rejected you initially, and there is some vindication in finally getting a place.

In point of fact it is possible to have exactly that experience at both Dartmouth and in the UK (and a whole lot of other schools: it matters a lot what you bring to the experience, and a little on luck).

You might as well just own that you have a crush on Dartmouth and go there. Bonus: you won’t have to work as hard at Dartmouth, and you will be out faster.

Every school is a cliche of one kind or another, it just depends on which cliche one is considering.