Wash U vs. Dartmouth

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>I just came back from Wash U's Multicultural Weekend, and now I'm really conflicted. </p>

<p>Wash U seems like it really spoils its students (which is a good thing). The dorms are amazing, the food is delicious, and the campus is gorgeous. More importantly, everyone there is really nice and people just seem so happy. </p>

<p>On the other hand, I also got accepted into Dartmouth which also had a great campus and pretty good dorms/food as well. </p>

<p>I really like Wash U, and I'm thinking of choosing it over Dartmouth, but Dartmouth also has a lot of things going for it. First of all, it's an Ivy and it was ranked #1 by US news and world report for undergraduate teaching: Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report
The fact that Dartmouth is an Ivy is not that important, but the close knit community befitting of the smallest Ivy makes me think that after graduation, the alumni connections at Dartmouth will help me a lot more. Plus, Dartmouth has an amazing study abroad program while I have not heard that much about Wash U's.</p>

<p>Another thing that doesn't make my decision easier is that people who I know who've gone to both schools are all extremely happy at their respective schools.</p>

<p>I guess I just wanted to see what other people thought and if they could add anything else about either of these two schools that I didn't know about which could influence my decision.</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

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<p>Im sure you will be happy at both schools. I guess you should look into your academic interests as the tie breaker?
if you’re interested in the sciences/pre-med–>washu
studying abroad options–>dartmouth</p>

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<p>Thanks muppetsecks, but what about pre-law?</p>

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<p>WashU also has study abroad programs. I dont know what’s so different about Dartmouth’s program, but the one in the Econ department, students can go to Oxford, LSE, and somewhere else. What I suggest is go visit Dartmouth. Dartmouth is one of the ivies which have many cross applicants with WashU. One benefit of going to WashU is that you can wear Red Sweatshirt when you’re tired of wearing Green ones. hahaha</p>

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<p>location, location, location!</p>

<p>A medium-sized/larger city, versus a small college town? Each has it’s clear pros and cons. When you’re in high school making your decision, it is difficult to actually predict how often you’ll go off-campus. You won’t know this until you’re actually in college. </p>

<p>To me, Wash U has a great balance of having a beautiful campus that feels secluded because of it’s design, yet when you venture 5 minutes off-campus you have city stuff to do all around you. </p>

<p>Dartmouth will also feel secluded when you’re on campus because of it’s design… but then you go 5 minutes off campus and you’re in the middle of rural New Hampshire.</p>

<p>If you are truly unsure of what type of environment you actually want, then you can treat this sort of like a Game Theory problem. Say, for instance, that you went to one of these two places and during your freshman year you determine either that: 1) you ended up actually wanting an actual city, or 2) you ended up actually being satisfied with always staying on campus 100% of the time. If Number 1 ends up applying to you, then good thing you chose Wash U because you have tons of stuff to do off-campus. If Number 2 ends up applying to you, then you can be happy at both places because both have an active on-campus life and collegiate-feeling campus. Wash U would be the less risky option and has a big payoff in either scenario; it has a greater likelihood of not disappointing in terms of location. This, of course, is all provided that at this point you are unsure of what location will better suit you. </p>

<p>You’ll get a great education with similar opportunities at both places. Wash U may have more educational programs, per se (5 colleges and 90 majors, vs 2 colleges and about 50 majors), but at this point I’ve assume that whatever you want to study can be found in both places. Doubt there will be any noticeable difference in quality between both places, although only a transfer student who has been to both can actually speak to that!!</p>

<p>I’m not sure where you’re from, but is weather important? Dartmouth will probably be, on average, a good 20 degrees colder in any given month than Wash U will be. And it already gets pretty cold here in the winter.</p>

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<p>I think we have at least one transfer from Dartmouth. He transferred after one quarter. I think the reason was fit.</p>

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<p>BearCub also brings up a good thing to note: the quarter system at Dartmouth vs the semester schedule at WashU.</p>

<p>What kind of student are you? There are students who do better taking fewer classes but going at a faster pace (better fit at Dartmouth), then there are students who do better with the more “traditional” college schedule (better fit at WashU).
Unfortunately, it’s hard to know this as a high school student since most high schools operate on a full-year schedule.</p>

<p>I know a good handful of pre-law students, and a handful of pre-law seniors especially. Everyone I know has gotten into a good law school.</p>

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<p>Honestly I think Dartmouth. Its more prestigious overall, but in no way is it a worse social experience. The custom attention you’ll get at Dartmouth will be significant. At least in my world, Dartmouth is just a stronger school. For example look at lists of undergrad schools represented at Harvard and Yale law. Dartmouth does 3 times as well as WashU, not insignificant in the least. For the WSJ study of placement I think Dartmouth was 7 or 8 whereas WashU was 41. I think the Dartmouth edge is too strong.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for the all the advice. </p>

<p>Admitone, I have looked at the WSJ rankings for feeder schools. If those rankings were for 2009 or 2008. I’ll probably go to Dartmouth. However, (correct me if I’m wrong) but it is my understanding that those rankings are about 7 years outdated? I’m not saying that they are not to be taken into account, but a lot of things could happen in 7 years. That being said, I still feel like academically Dartmouth probably has the slight edge.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the academics at Wash U is already really good, and as vbball90 has said, environment wise Wash U is probably the better choice. Also, I felt like I could really fit in when I visited during Multicultural weekend. </p>

<p>Johnson181 and BearClub, you guys are right. There is a big difference in how Wash U and Dartmouth structures their academic calenders and I just wish I knew which one I would be more comfortable with.</p>

<p>Anyways, I guess I’m hoping that when I go visit Dartmouth in two days, I’ll either love it or hate it (thus making my decision for me :D)</p>

<p>Thanks again everyone!</p>