<p>Just curious about their accessibility, etc.</p>
<p>Dartmouth functions as a LAC, profs actually teach their classes. There are almost no TAs. Accessibility is unusually good.</p>
<p>Probably among the top 5 schools in this regard. AMAZING. This is what Dartmouth is known for. Dinner at profs homes, lots of availability, etc. Very little bureaucracy.</p>
<p>That's really good to know. Thanks!!</p>
<p>I had dinner at several professors' homes. When I was considering applying to graduate school, I stopped by the office hours of a professor I hadn't had in two years--he greeted me by name and spent over two hours discussing options and potential schools. Another professor in a larger course (70 students) spent part of his break memorizing students' faces so he could call everyone by name on the first day. Others went to bat for me before departmental committees, funding boards, and more. I still keep in contact with several of them.</p>
<p>All in all, a great experience.</p>
<p>Agreed with all of the above. The professors here are phenomenal. You'll get the research opportunities and whatnot that you'll seek for.</p>
<p>The Professors are absolutely amazing. I guess I would think about it this way:</p>
<p>Given that Dartmouth is in such a secluded area and is far off from any major city...it's much more focused on a comprehensive undergrad education than on research. We leave that to places like Northwestern and Harvard (jk). The professors move to the middle of nowhere simply to teach and to interact with their students. The graduate body is extremely small, so if anything, the profs focus more on the undergrads.</p>
<p>I took one of my professors to lunch sometime last year. Initially thought it was awkward, but she (Pamela Krossley of the History Dept) ended up telling me all of these interesting stories...so it ended up being completely fine and a really enjoyable experience.</p>
<p>(Yea btw, there's this option at Dartmouth where you can take a prof to lunch at the Hanover Inn. For Free)</p>
<p>^^ the idea that profs focus more on undergrads can be overstated, depending on department and undergrad class in question ... some Profs definitely look down on teaching UG's and really only care about their own research and grad students.</p>
<p>Also, there are roughly 1500 grad students at Dartmouth - while they are mostly hidden (you won't really see any unless you patrol sci buildings and they'll TA your lab sections)</p>
<p>BUT, Professors are incredibly helpful, and, due to the fact that there aren't really enough grad students to do all the professors' research for them, they often enlist UG's help as well, which is a great opportunity to get your name on cutting-edge paper.</p>
<p>Chances are you'll meet and get to know your Profs in a social setting as well as in an academic one.</p>
<p>I mean...I was talking specifically for Dartmouth. The whole first sentence can be applied to any and every university right?</p>
<p>Yeah, I do think it's possible to overstate how much professors care about/take an interest in students. Maybe my experience is unusual, but I've found that maybe half the professors I've dealt with are really nice and friendly, really care about their students, and the other half are more removed. The other half are usually pretty awesome too, and it's amazing just to attend their lectures 2 or 3 times a week, but they don't seem particularly interested in undergrads. But having said that, every prof has office hours, and I've found most are accessible if you want or need time with them. They may not seem very interested in you, but they'll help you nonetheless. So to me, I guess the nicer thing about Dartmouth is the close academic interaction with the profs - not necessarily the social side. The social availability of profs will depend on who you take classes with.</p>