<p>I know it's a chill school and everything with undergraduate focus (blah blah blah) but what is its strength? Dartmouth engineering blows (ranked like what, 47th in the nation?). Plus, I've never found a major where Dartmouth's actually top 3 in. Could the Dartmuth economics department actually be depicted as anything more than abysmal?</p>
<p>Please enlighten me. </p>
<p>(The manner in which I typed this post in is suppose to be facetious and sarcastic. Please unload your flamethrowers.)</p>
<p>Then just don't apply. If you think Dartmouth is a weak school, don't apply. No one needs to convince you to do so. If you read other threads on this board, you will pick up what people generally like about the school: the so-called "undergraduate focus blah, blah, blah" as well as amazing academic quality (and no, engineering is probably not one of Dartmouth's main strengths, at least from what I heard at Dimensions. But this does not mean the whole college 'blows'). There isn't really a way to 'enlighten' you about the quality of Dartmouth. You get it or you don't.</p>
<p>Dartmouth's engineering program is different from just about every other engineering program in the country. And the 47th, I believe, is for graduate engineering, not undergrad.</p>
<p>Well, when I visited, a student told me that government is one of the best, and foreign languages are also very strong. Physics and math are two of the weaker ones. Other than that, everything else is really good. And wisconsinguy is right, I'm sure the rankings you looked at were for graduate programs in those areas. I have never seen rankings for specific undergraduate majors. And Dartmouth has only a few, small graduate programs, so that is the reason they wouldn't be ranked as highly. But for undergrad, it is top-notch.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that pol. sci, econ and languages were all very very strong. And among the most popular majors, but they're pretty much the most popular at most schools lol</p>
<p>why don't you explore the various departments at this and other schools to get a bit of a sense of them. For instance, here is a link to the math department:</p>
<p>No solid facts Dave, just what I was told at Dimensions from a couple current students. Not that the departments are inherently 'weak,' but I think they maybe meant that they aren't the school's best departments. But with the new $41 million building going up next fall, which is entirely devoted to math, I would expect to see a lot of new talent drawn to Dartmouth, both in terms of faculty and students. And dooit, I was told that the econ department is pretty good, not one of the best departments, but of course every one is really good. It is also one of the most popular majors, so it can't be bad (that is my prospective major). Dartmouth also is known for having excellent alumni relations, and a lot of recruiters go to Dartmouth, especially if you are thinking of going into business.</p>
<p>The honest truth is a great majority of dartmouth grads get into the top grad schools and get amazing jobs. They have better instruction and recommendations, which gets them through the door at many places. This way over compensates for the absence of highly ranked graduate departments.</p>