<p>haha are you really going to use an internet message forum to sway your opinion to where you end up at college...</p>
<p>many premeds come out of dartmouth so you shouldnt have anything to worry about</p>
<p>i'm not into sports much, but i do like to drink. i'm from NYC...would there be a culture-shock at dartmouth? is there really nothing to do aside from frat parties and dorm parties?</p>
<p>dartmouth08--i'm surprised at your comment that dartmouth girls aren't that good looking. when i visited in march, i was amazed at how gorgeous they were. literally half of them were HOT!! did I show up on a good day? were they all paid actresses or was i just really horny? what's the deal?</p>
<p>Similar thoughts here When I visited in the summer I was blown away by how atractive the girls at Dartmouth were...</p>
<p>just a question about residences.. i know we get that roomate form to help assign housing but is there anywhere that we can actually say which specific dorms we want? is EW the only dorm that you can specifically request? i'm confused.. also, which of the new dorms is in a better location; tuck mall of MacLaughlin? i couldn't really tell from the maps b/c i don't know what you want your dorm to be near</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure East Wheelock is the only dorm you can request as a freshman. Otherwise, you are randomly assigned among the others.</p>
<p>Tuck mall is much more centrally located. It's a terrific location.</p>
<p>Housing Advice:
By requesting what type of room you want (single, double, triple, or quad), you can easily influence which dorm you are placed in. If one dorm only has doubles and you request a single, it's likely that you won't be placed in that particular dorm. I requested a triple and at the bottom of my housing application wrote which dorm I wanted to live in in huge letters, just in case it might help. I think the Residential Staff really want to make us happy, because I got into the exact dorm I had requested. Also, students usually think that singles will go very quickly, but all the 09s who requested singles were given them.</p>
<p>As for which dorms are best, I highly recommend going for the new dorms. They sound amazing and new facilities are always wonderful. As for which is better, I think the location of your classes will be a very important factor if you don't want a long walk. The McLaughlin Cluster is nearer to the science, psych, and astro buildings. The Tuck mall cluster is closer to the government and econ buildings. Also, Tuck mall is closer to Baker library, where many English and history classes are held. Both clusters are equally far away from language, film, theater, art, music, and math classes. </p>
<p>The River dorms are the least desirable because they are on the edge of campus. However, they were renovated pretty recently. The Choates are closer and are right behind frat row. I hope they add a new dining hall because McLaughlin, Tuck, the River, and the Choates are all very far away from Thayer dining hall. </p>
<p>Mixed class housing is awful. Upperclassmen will not actively associate with the freshman. Being in mixed class housing with not many other freshman can make it harder to make friends quickly and bond with your class. Mixed class housing won't ruin your college experience, but if you have a choice, I'd go for an all freshman building. Even though I think the new clusters will house a few upperclassmen, they will be primarily freshman dorms.</p>
<p>thanks so much for that.. it was really helpful! is choates the old cluster that is mostly/all freshmen?</p>
<p>I can't remember if the choates were updated recently or not, but i dont think they're all that bad. One cool thing about the Choates is that they have funky glass tunnels that connect the second floor to the tv lounge. </p>
<p>And yes, the choates and the river are exclusively freshman dorms. </p>
<p>You guys can get check out maps of the campus at this site
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Emaps/campus/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~maps/campus/</a>
and get more info and look at floor plans at this one
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eorl/housing/communities/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~orl/housing/communities/index.html</a></p>
<p>rivers are far only by dartmouth standard. at most other schools the 10 minute walk is really standard. at very few college can you wake up exactly 8 minutes before class, shower, dress, run out, and still make it to class on time. or go back to your house to play a quick game of diamond pong (4 cups) during a 10 minute break in a 2 hour lecture.</p>
<p>Even if you live at the river, there is a bus that comes around the loop that will take you to the Hanover inn.</p>
<p>Close to half of the freshmen class is going to be placed in Choates (all freshmen and they were recently renovated) and river dorms. There are some dorms that are freshmen by floor but most of the forms. It looks as if a good number of freshmen living in tuck mall (but as you see all of the rooms are doubles). A good number of sophmores (9's) are going to be living in the fayerweathers next year.</p>
<p>Thoughts regarding bio:</p>
<p>A lot of people have it out for the bio department, for whatever reason. Some are embittered premeds upset by their first C in Bio 15. Others are people who never gave it a chance, or who waltzed in expecting an easy A.</p>
<p>To most others, bio is pretty good. Peterson, Velez, Dietrich, Witters, McPeek, Bickel, Ayres...there are some very good professors in the department. Further, since there aren't many science grad students, you have an inside track for lab assistantships and the like.</p>
<p>I am a '09, I am not embittered, I did not receive a "C," nor did I waltz in expecting an easy A either. I love biology. That having been said, Bio 15 is generally not a fun experience, ranging from awful to merely mediocre.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say it's the bio department's fault, necessarily, just the combination of the competitive "weeder" spirit of the class, lousy lectures, and too much focus on minute, unrelated details. Also the size and structure didn't help much. This is not exclusive to Dartmouth; premed classes at every other college are usually not "fun" classes either, but I don't think you should be misleading people either, wisconsinguy.</p>
<p>But yes, there are some great courses in the bio department- I've heard good things about marine biology, anatomy, and biology of medicine courses.</p>
<p>You're speaking to a person who actually <i>did</i> enjoy the premed classes.</p>
<p>That said, they're completely revamping the bio major.</p>
<p>during dimensions i became friends with this girl and we seem to be very compatible so we thought it would be awesome to room together next year.. i know that roommate assignments are random for the most part, but is there any possible way to request a roommate??</p>
<p>I don't think there is a formal way to specifically request a certain roommate. You can definitely write your wishes on your application, but I bet it's a long shot. It might also help your chances if you both request a double and specify that you have similar sleep/study schedules. Even if you two don't end up rooming together, Dartmouth is small enough that plenty of visits won't be a hassle. Plus, you can always room together in future terms.</p>
<p>How do you get access to all the money you say Dartmouth has?</p>
<p>sounds good, thanks BigGreenJen</p>
<p>by money, do you mean financial aid? If you've already completed your paperwork but they haven't offered you a satisfactory financial aid package (i.e. - you still can't afford to go), it always helps to contact the Office of Financial Aid. They do a FANTASTIC job responding to e-mails and appeals for re-evaluation. My dad helped me negotiate with the finaid office, and the woman with whom we corresponded, Vicki L. Bacon-Husband, was great, patient, and very very helpful.</p>
<p>vicki is awesome! :D she made my aid package much more affordable... and this was after 10 min of conversation durring dimmentions</p>