Also, I want to take advanced courses in economics and quantum physics.
Which college should I pick between Dartmouth and Amherst (Not Umass Amherst) if I want to study AI?
If you want to study AI at the highest level, actually it is the The University of Massachusetts at Amherst that is a leader and is doing the most advanced work.
Quantum physics it would also be my choice.
Econ I would choose Amherst.
So between your options for your goal, I would say Amherst for sure, all things being equal.
You get the experience of Amherst ug and access to the highest level and grad school level classes at the University as part of the consortium.
Abbas2 is trying to compare Dartmouth College and Amherst College, two liberal arts colleges.
As an Amherst College student he can take classes at UMass Amherst, though, @Coloradomama
I would pick Amherst College because you can cross register at U Mass Amherst, for CS and physics.
Amherst College is also good in physics and math. Smith College is arguably good in physics too, and you can also take classes there. The 5 college consortium gives you flexibility at Amherst College over Dartmouth.
@Coloradomama Did you read my entire post?
I said he should attend Amherst for the lac experience and access to the highest level classes and work in ai through the consortium.
@Coloradomama Good point about Smith too. Some great math and econ class options there too
never mind 
I think our messages all crossed in at the same time, but we all agree about Amherst. It has only 4 CS professors, but all look strong to me. There are more CS professors at Dartmouth if you are sure about CS, look over Dartmouth carefully.
(There is no such thing as an undergrad artificial intelligence major, except at Georgia Tech where students pick two threads, including “intelligence” as one of two specialties in a list of 8 specialities. Even MIT does not offer a major in AI. Carnegie Mellon now offers a statistics and machine learning major in Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. )
At Amherst, its a liberal arts environment you will get a well rounded education, including lots of mathematics, and you can probably get exposed to CS AI research at U Mass Amherst during the school year, check into research programs in CS.
https://www.cics.umass.edu/research/area/artificial-intelligence
Dartmouth does have at least one expert in AI. If you feel comfortable getting to UMass from Amherst college, then you can talk to about ten AI experts, cross register in their classes and also do research work.
Here is Dartmouth’s key faculty in AI.
https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/people/faculty/eugene-santos-jr
@Coloradomama The schools are close enough to walk but also bike easily. It’s maybe a mile and half tops. And there’s a five minute bus ride that’s between the two from Amherst center 30 seconds from the college all day long.
Wait a minute. Wouldn’t it be simpler (and cheaper) to enroll at UMass and walk to Amherst (the college) for the odd course instead of the other way around?
This is what I was thinking too…unless the OP already has admission into Amherst (not UMass) and Dartmouth and comparing them for admission acceptance.
UMass may not necessarily be cheaper for a non MA resident from a middle income family.
@ucbalumnus is 100 percent correct.
Others. I was responding to the ops direct question. If he was choosing between those two schools only.
And perhaps despite his desire for the higher level mathematics and ai he still perhaps wants a degree from an Ivy or top lac instead of a public uni. Not my choice but that’s what I would guess. He seemed it was very important to draw the distinction. If he is in state, it’s super common for a top student to perceive the flagship as not “hard enough” to get into or doesn’t sound elite enough. We are surrounded by so many top schools it’s easy to get caught up in the hype.
Or it’s costs.
^ looking at the naviance total fee for out of state students at UMass is around 45K while at Amherst it’s 69K.
Yeah - UMass is not cheap for out of state but seems cheaper than Amherst unless I am missing something.
Amherst will pay 100 percent of need. If you are low income that can mean nearly a full ride at Amherst.
@hs2020kid UMass Amherst COA is around $49K OOS and Amherst around $80K, per their websites…do not use Naviance for COA. Regardless, the point is that Amherst could cost less for a middle income family (as stated in post #13) because Amherst has one of the most generous finaid policies and meets 100% of demonstrated need with no loans, whereas UMass does not meet 100% need and also includes loans in finaid packages. Of course, each and every student’s financial situation and aid package will be unique.
Here are the rules to cross register, I am slightly concerned by what Amherst College means by “liberal arts courses”, does that mean engineering classes cannot count for the Amherst College degree @privatebanker? Thanks for your help, I want to understand the consortium better ! The good news is two classes per semester can be cross registration classes, which seems to be a generous number.
Also what about priority in crowded computer science classes at U Mass, is that a problem at U Mass right now? Can OP can get into CS classes at U Mass easily , as a cross registered student?.
Dartmouth might be simpler overall to get more AI classes, not certain, I would call Amherst College, and go over the plan, for AI classes, to not have any surprises later. Amherst and U Mass seem to be walkable, thanks for that info.
https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/registrar/fivecolleges/five_college_request
Yes Dartmouth might be an easier combo. One stop shopping. they’re both fine options. One has a bit more upside in terms of content and the other is an Ivy League school. Money being equal. Vote with your heart.