<p>Dartmouth vs WashU
My son was admitted to WashU and got a likely letter for Dartmouth. Can anyone give pros and cons for these schools? My son is very undecided on major, interested in biology, neuroscience, cognitive psych but also classics and literature. His EC interests are new media theater and crew. Location not ideal either place, didn't want as cold and remote as Dartmouth but wanted to stay in northeast. Any comparisons or contrast appreciated. Also. Forgive this mom for being shallow, but I think of Dartmouth as more prestigious. Is that still true? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>First off about prestige: unless you want to go straight to wall street out of college or your son has a huge ego to tend to, the discrepancy between Wash U and Dartmouth is small. Dartmouth is ranked #9 nationally and Wash U is 13, employers know this and really will not care that much about your degree as long as you go to a top 15 (and don’t quote me on this but I believe Wash U has higher average test scores?)</p>
<p>For a private school Wash U is extremely strong in the sciences and I am sure your son would find all the opportunities to study neuroscience he wants at Wash U. Dartmouth has a more liberal-arts oriented curriculum and I couldn’t tell you about the strength of their science programs. Either way choosing between these two schools is a good problem to have.</p>
<p>^Yes, Dartmouth is much better for the ego, but I would say that the schools are virtually identical in quality. I would say that WashU would be more laid-back and openly friendly; while both schools may be described as work-hard play-hard, Dartmouth (obviously) has a much more northeastern mentality.</p>
<p>Bottom line, he should try visiting.</p>
<p>My son is having a similar problem. He applied ED, got deferred, and is now unsure about where he wants to go. My husband is a Dartmouth grad and would love to see him attend Dartmouth. The problem is, my son would rather go to Wash U now. He has been accepted to Wash U, but no likely letter from Dartmouth. Obviously, Dartmouth has the prestige of an ivy and it’s hard to turn that down, but ultimately, you have to let your son decide what is best for HIM.</p>
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In my opinion, the opportunities to pursue science at WUSTL exceeds Dartmouth. WUSTL is known for its research. WUSTL is pretty much funded like no other. It is ranked #7 in the amount of NIH grant money it recieves. Dartmouth is ranked 68.
[Top</a> NIH grant funding by institutions, states for 2010](<a href=“Top NIH grant funding by institutions, states for 2010 - MedCity News”>Top NIH grant funding by institutions, states for 2010 - MedCity News)
This essentially means that there is ample research opportunities at WUSTL. Students can research at both the Med school or at the main Danforth campus. Med school professors are open about having undergraduates. I know that at Ivy schools, there are many professors at the med schools that don’t have any undergrads or have undergrads doing very simple work (work that can’t really be considered research: collecting data from a machine, preparing cell cultures but not actually testing them, etc.). WUSTL professors will have you work with a graduate student on their project or if you’re lucky, they will give you a project which gives you the chance to publish.</p>
<p>Just want to throw out that Wash U is extraordinarily interdisciplinary and encouraging of pursuing more than one field of study. I don’t know how restrictive or flexible Dartmouth is. </p>
<p>High-level research opportunities will probably be more abundant at Wash U, which isn’t to say that they don’t exist at Dartmouth, but the breadth and depth will likely be greater at Wash U.</p>
<p>Biggest difference will be location. I’m the kind of person that thinks that if you are not absolutely set on being in a rural atmosphere like Dartmouth, you are more likely to be disappointed than delighted after the first couple of weeks. Wash U is in a great location for those “wishy washy” people that aren’t really sure what type of setting best suits them… medium-sized city, campus itself is in a pretty low-key neighborhood but lots within walking or easy transit distance, not freezing cold or too hot, etc. Kind of has something for everyone. In the alternative, there is really nothing new to take advantage of beyond your first semester in rural New Hampshire. If someone is unsure if they’ll like that going in, then it’s probably going to be a very long 4 years ahead. </p>
<p>I’m from the east coast and while Dartmouth will carry more layman prestige, I doubt your son will be working for anyone where that even matters. Especially for the fields for which he has an interest (which will lead him to grad school, and then either academia or research or medicine).</p>
<p>As someone else mentioned, you really need to visit both, trying to project which school will make them happiest by the time they reach Senior year, and for long afterwards.</p>
<p>In my opinion Dartmouth does better with employers and its graduate placement is stronger across disciplines (based on personal experience as well as data I’ve seen such as the WSJ survey on grad placement). Also the Dartmouth experience is incredibly undergrad focused which pays huge dividends. Dartmouth is a standout in many ways even among the Ivies in the way it showers grants and resources on its undergrads.</p>
<p>I think that in the east coast, there’s an aura around the Ivys. The further west you go, the less this matters. So, there may be an edge for Dartmouth on reputation.</p>
<p>However, at the end of the day, both Dartmouth and Wash U are recognized as top institutions, and people find excellent jobs in all parts of the country from each.</p>
<p>My guess based on visits for my child is that Wash U has more of an emphasis for hard sciences, though I do note that their engineering schools are equally ranked.</p>
<p>If it were my child’s decision (and it possibly could be), I think it comes down to intangibles.</p>
<p>^^Unless you’re from California, where <em>everyone</em> thinks Wash U is some crappy school Washington state. And I doubt it’s much different for smaller firms on the West Coast.</p>
<p>bio and neuroscience offerings will be stronger at Wash U but no slouch at Dartmouth. Converse could be argued about his humanities interests. Ultimately, it will be six of one/1/2 dozen of another if he applies to graduate/professional schools. See no advantage either way, both will be very well respected. Slipper is right about industry/corporate connections out of Dartmouth. There’s a very strong alumni family of Green apparel lovers looking to help brethren. Wouldn’t lend any credence to dated WSJ data, though.</p>
<p>I’d encourage him to follow his heart while paying careful attention to his wallet.</p>
<p>Current Wustl BME here. Just echoing what everyone has said. They are a bit more liberal artsy, but our sciences are better. Both are great choices. If he does come here, he won’t have any issue with his indecisiveness (ie. classes here are extremely flexible). I have a friend who went architecture for two years. Decided it wasn’t for him. He went BME, used a little AP credit, and graduated on time as a BME (one of our hardest majors). If your son leans premed or wants research, here is better, but both choices are excellent either way.</p>
<p>Two excellent choices. Dartmouth is very strong at the undergraduate level, and consistently gets high marks for teaching. However, if your son is at all undecided, WashU is very accommodating for double majors and interdisciplinary study. As others have noted, your decision should come down to measures of personal fit: the small town vibe of Hanover vs. the semi-urban feel of WashU; Dartmouth tends to lean conservative and is more Greek-dominant, while WashU is more middle-of-the-road and laid back; strengths in sciences vs. liberal arts, etc. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>I’m actually anti-both.
They’re both in weird locations (no offense, like New Hampshire? St. Louis?) and are really really expensive. If he’s smart enough to get in, he probably got into a lot of other schools too.
I heard Wash. U’s very cutthroat, and that and the location deterred me from a college like that. I heard Dartmouth’s pretty Greek-oriented, and it’s kind of segregated from its surrounding area, which wasn’t what I was personally inclined towards. </p>
<p>Both schools are very strong, but location was one of the biggest factors in my college decision. Prestige was important too, but not as much as location. I didn’t like the idea of a party school- but then again, Dartmouth probably has like quiz bowl nerd type parties a lot too in addition to frat. And Dartmouth parties are probably a lot more decent and PG 13 than the majority of college parties.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents. Personally, I would go to WashU because I’d feel like people might have very inflated egos at Dartmouth, and the idea of New Hampshire and snow and cold really, reallly freaks me out.</p>
<p>^^“I heard” and “I feel”??? Did you ever visit these schools? Did you ever talk to students at both of these schools? Way to be credible. These two statements just make your completely unreliable. WUSTL cutthroat (last time I checked, WUSTL is known for being a collaborative school that is academically challenging)? Dartmouth segregated (Dartmouth has community service projects in Hanover, they participate politically in Hanover)?
Your post is all based on myth and stereotypes. Very unreliable and misleading.</p>
<p>^I don’t think he is misinformed. I think he is a ■■■■■ who was probably waitlisted and looking to free up spots.</p>
<p>Yeah, that guy’s comments weren’t really helpful or based on anything substantive, but let’s have a little decorum?</p>
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LOL. Quite the opposite, actually.</p>