<p>I'm currently having a fit trying to decide between these two. On one hand the familiarity of California beckons, while on the other a little voice in my mind wonders if this isnt a chance of branch out in life and acclimate to a new enviornment. The pros and cons of both a large school such as UCLA are in deadlock against those of small Dartmouth. The new face of a UC vs that of the older Ivy...the beaches of LA vs the Ski ranges of Dartmouth...and so on and so forth. The only constant seems to be the caliber of academic excellence, which either college would offer.</p>
<p>So I'm forced to ask the question: what would YOU do given these choices, and why? Have some of you faced a similar choice? Perhaps listening to the arguments of others is the only way I can come to a conclusion.</p>
<p>since you applied to the most of the UCs, I assume you are in-state. If $ is not an issue, Dartmouth is an easy decision if you want to branch out of your element. Last year at our SoCal HS, ~30 kids were accepted to UCLA and they put them all in the same dorm -- so much for meeting new people! My Son is a Frosh at Dartmouth -- the history department is amazing. When he was home for the holidays, he was counting the days to go back.</p>
<p>Definitely go to Dimensions -- you'll be glad you did. You can always return to Calif for a job (Dart has alums everywhere) or grad school -- the UC strengths.</p>
<p>I went to a school out of my familiar part of the country "back in the day", and was happy that I did. I got to experience another part of the world that influences my thinking to this day.
Someone pointed out (at a school other than Dartmouth) that most people going to elite schools are going to spend most of their productive lives in large metropolitan areas. This is a chance to live 4 years in a different environment.
Of course the two are wonderful choices!</p>
<p>Like everyone else says, visit Dartmouth if possible and get an impression.</p>
<p>Getting out of your comfort zone can be rewarding. The danger is if you get too far out, it may end up backfiring.</p>
<p>Where are you planning on ending up? If you want to stay on the east coast, Dartmouth is a fine choice, but if you want to run back to CA after your four years are up, don't even bother considering Dartmouth. Sadly, barely anyone out here knows about it, except for the academic types.</p>
<p>Money isnt an issue, after the finiancial aid the cost of attending UCLA or Dartmouth only differs about 4k a year. I've decided that I am indeed going to have to visit and get a feel for the campus myself, because I am still unsure.</p>
<p>And I can sympathize with the idea that Dartmouth is mostly known among the educated from personal experience, but arent these people the ones who are going to be hiring anyway?</p>
<p>One of the factors that I have not mentioned is that 4--possibly 5-- of my good friends are going to UCLA. Should this play as a large factor in my choice? Or is the closeness of Dartmouth going to nullfly out any advantage I might have at UCLA from already knowing/having a niche to start off with?</p>
<p>If its only a 4K difference I would take Dartmouth. You'll get alot more for your money, the attention and access to resources you get at Dartmouth is incredible. All the top recruiters are active on campus and students do remarkably well at graduate placement partially due to the strong recommendations from professors and access to academic resources(there are tons of undergrad grants). At Dartmouth there is a culture of being "interesting". 2/3 go on study abroad, scores do thesis research abroad, etc. My brother goes to a top 5 state school and I think I personally got much more out of the Dartmouth experience. The exposure to opportunities is just much higher. I love UCLA (I lived there for summer) but I think you'll get more out of Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Socially Dartmouth is a great place to meet people. Lots of infratructure exists to making friendships: sophomore summer, study abroad, your major, your dorm, orientation trips, etc. Make sure you go on a DOC trip. Even if you don't like the 5-10people on your trip, you meet about a 100 person chunk of your class during the experience and its a great way to start the year.</p>
<p>BTW: The one exception to all of this is if you want to work in entertainment. In that case UCLA (along with USC) beat almost any school in the country.</p>
<p>Before this year, I thought UCLA was a really good school (and it still is) because it is so well-known. So when many of my friends have gotten in OOS, I was like, "wow! That's so cool!" But they were all like, "uhh... it's UCLA..." apparently "well-known" doesn't make a school "prestigious." UCLA is a big party school.</p>
<p>Is the 4k difference counting or not counting loans?</p>
<p>It's true that the educated types are usually (but not always) going to be in higher positions -- but it's misleading to say they are the ones doing the hiring. They may have the final say, but the initial screening processes, interviews, etc, are done by random, "Joe six pack"-type HR people, most of who have no idea what Dartmouth is but would be impressed if, say, he saw UCLA or UCSD on a resume.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about whether or not you'll have friends right off the bat. At a new school where most people don't know each other, it won't be too hard to find people to buddy up to. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that any of these people (or even the close friends that you know now) will stay friends. It's nice to have friends around, of course, but I don't think it should be a factor when making decisions.</p>