Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH has about 4500 undergraduates on what many consider to be one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. Hanover is a quintessential New England town. But I would not call Dartmouth a beautiful campus. There were a lot of people, cars, and construction; I thought it felt very congested. I didn’t see the gorgeous quad with ivy-covered brick buildings I was expecting.

Academically, Dartmouth offers a great opportunity for students interested in liberal arts or engineering. Dartmouth is famous for its D-Plan wherein the year is divided into four 10-week quarters. Students must be on campus for one summer quarter, which opens up a quarter in the fall, winter, or spring – when students won’t compete with other students – for an internship. Students take 3 classes per quarter, but the term is short: 9 weeks of classes followed by a 1-week exam period. That isn’t a lot of time to learn what is essentially a semester’s worth of material. Our tour guide felt it was “pretty brutal,” especially for STEM students. One benefit of this system is more opportunities for study abroad: 50% of students do so once, 30% twice, and 10% 3 or more times. The D-Plan also affects social life – our tour guide pointed out that you can easily go a whole year without seeing someone, and your social circle changes every quarter.

Outside the classroom, Dartmouth offers a lot for outdoor-lovers. There’s a wilderness program that students attend as part of orientation at the start of freshman year, a Dartmouth-owned ski mountain 20 minutes away where students can take subsidized lessons, an organic farm, and a very robust outdoor club. 25% of students are varsity athletes, and another 25% are involved in club sports. Greek life is prevalent with 67% of students affiliated. Many clubs are open to all, but the pre-professional clubs are competive; about 30-35% of grads go on to work for big firms, so there’s a strong investment banking/consulting mindset on campus, according to our guide. The hospital is a 10-minute drive away with shuttles every 30 minutes for pre-med students.

Housing is guaranteed for 2 years, and many choose to live in Greek housing after that, as there isn’t much off-campus housing available. There's only one dining hall, and it was absolutely mobbed at lunchtime. During the hour I was there, there were long lines at food stations and no free tables to be had. It was concerning; I’ve eaten in many dining halls and have never seen one so crowded.

Dartmouth is equidistant between Boston and Montreal, but most students fly into Boston, 2.5 hours away – there’s an hourly bus. There’s also a bus to NYC twice a day and an Amtrak station 4 miles away. Additionally, there are free buses to athletic games, so students can hop a bus to Harvard Square, Providence or New Haven for a change of pace.
I came away from my visit to Dartmouth reminded that choosing colleges is all about fit.