Any thoughts on these programs? Alumni networks? internships/jobs?
Dartmouth engineering is typically more than 4 years (12 quarters) for the ABET accredited program.
If you want to graduate in 4 years, Dartmouth offers a non-ABET BA in Engineering Sciences. This is arguably “Engineering Lite”, and it would definitely not be an ideal degree for a practicing engineer. But it could be a great degree for someone interested in technical management or finance, especially if combined with a double major in something like economics or Chinese. It would be relatively easy to add a double-major to the BA Engineering Sciences program and still graduate in 4 years; this would be much more difficult with a traditional ABET BS Engineering program.
You could, of course, then stay at Dartmouth for a 5th year and get a traditional ABET engineering degree. But if that’s your goal, it would obviously be faster and cheaper to go to a traditional 4-year ABET program.