Dartmouth ...Oh the partying!

[Anonymous]

Recently visting Dartmouth. The school of course is great. Really, no need to debate it. What concerned us, the paying parents, is the overall bad reputation the school has with respect to the Greek life. Look, we've seen the Rolling Stone article and we've seen the commentary from college officials that the situation is "under control". But is it?

No need for the snarks. Just the facts please. And, pleae, no comments like ..."well don't apply then..'. We already are well aware of the options.

[Anonymous]

Syracuse grad here. Class of '90. I was in a sorority. I was happy to see that Huffington Post named Syracuse the #5 "party school!" Greek life is part of the college experience. It does not mean that academics will automatically suffer from joining a fraternity/sorority. In fact, most (if not all) of them have requirements of a certain GPA to remain a member, be initiated, etc. Mandatory study sessions, etc. I am not dismissing the partying & "antics," too...BUT this is all part of many campuses, and many students can/do handle the academic/social balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse grad here. Class of '90. I was in a sorority. I was happy to see that Huffington Post named Syracuse the #5 "party school!" Greek life is part of the college experience. It does not mean that academics will automatically suffer from joining a fraternity/sorority. In fact, most (if not all) of them have requirements of a certain GPA to remain a member, be initiated, etc. Mandatory study sessions, etc. I am not dismissing the partying & "antics," too...BUT this is all part of many campuses, and many students can/do handle the academic/social balance.

NP. This isn't Dartmouth. if you read the Rolling Stone article it was deeply disturbing. This isn't about "antics" or maintaining a GPA. This is about alcohol poisoning, people ending up in the ER almost dead, people feeling coerced into drinking massive amounts of alcohol including a culture where you are expected to drink until you vomit and then drink some more. I wouldn't want my DC applying there, after reading that article.. So I'm interested in OP's question as well.

[Anonymous]

I'm not an expert, but it does seem campuses with long winters, not much else going on nearby and a strong Greek influence pretty much has the trifecta for being at risk of serious alcohol issues.

[Anonymous]

I lost all respect for Dartmouth when they accepted a kid in my sons class for a sport who at best had a C average and very very low board scores. On the flip side, my niece graduated from Dartmouth and had a great experience but said due to the isolated location yes partying (as with many other schools) is a big part of student life. Should not be a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not an expert, but it does seem campuses with long winters, not much else going on nearby and a strong Greek influence pretty much has the trifecta for being at risk of serious alcohol issues.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Isolated or not...seems like the story chronicles behavior that is beyond belief.


http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/confessions-of-an-ivy-league-frat-boy-inside-dartmouths-hazing-abuses-20120328?page=2

[Anonymous]

That fall, he enrolled at Dartmouth, where he had wanted to go for as long as he could remember. His late grandfather, Austin Lohse, had played football and lacrosse for Big Green, and both Andrew and his older brother, Jon, a Dartmouth junior, idolized him as the embodiment of the high-achieving, hard-drinking, fraternal ethos of the Dartmouth Man, or what Lohse calls a "true bro." A Dartmouth Man is a specific type of creature, and when I ask Lohse what constitutes true bro-ness, he provides an idealized portrait of white-male privilege: "good-looking, preppy, charismatic, excellent at cocktail parties, masculine, intelligent, wealthy (or soon to become so), a little bit rough around the edges" – not, in other words, a "douchey, superpolished Yalie."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/confessions-of-an-ivy-league-frat-boy-inside-dartmouths-hazing-abuses-20120328#ixzz2bx307E9S

To quote Elaine and Jerry:

"I hate people."

"Ugh, they're the worst."

[Anonymous]

My neighbors son transferred from Dartmouth to Princeton sophomore year. It was a combination of the boy culture that he was not comfortable with and the isolation of the area. Not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Dartmouth is not for everybody. It is one of the few Ivies where fun does not go to die. Sometimes fun can get out of control, but that does not mean that there is a reason to run for the exits. It is not in a metropolitan area, which for some is a huge positive. Go Big Green!

[Anonymous]

It's such a DC mentality to fear "isolated" areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's such a DC mentality to fear "isolated" areas.

Some of us grew up in isolated areas and we know that there's lot more drinking and stupid stuff that goes on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's such a DC mentality to fear "isolated" areas.

Some of us grew up in isolated areas and we know that there's lot more drinking and stupid stuff that goes on.

There's also a lot more of a need for self-reliance, introspection, and maybe even studying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's such a DC mentality to fear "isolated" areas.

Some of us grew up in isolated areas and we know that there's lot more drinking and stupid stuff that goes on.

There's also a lot more of a need for self-reliance, introspection, and maybe even studying!

IME, 18 year olds in rural New England don't engage in a whole lot of introspection.

[Anonymous]

The argument of the Rolling Stone piece is not that its because of isolation or weather but because of a culture handed down from alumni that rewards students who engage in the drink/vomit/drink some more culture, as well as an administration so cowed by the alumni that it can't take this culture on. I have no idea how much, if any, of this is true but if it is Dartmouth is troubling in a way that you can't generalize to other schools.