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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know Dartmouth well. I was there for residency, met my husband who was a grad student, lived in Hanover, have a family member who attended 5 years ago and just dropped off my freshman about 2 weeks ago. This freshman class feels heavily quirky/artsy and as an aside is also very Asian (easily 1/3?). Dartmouth has always had a balance of white, prep school culture balanced with the quirky/artsy/outdoorsy set but it seems like the the direction they're headed is heavily the later. This is also true from the others attending from my kid's high school (3 out of 4 are what I would type-cast as artsy/quirky) and the accepted student event and Dartmouth Club of NYC event for accepted students we went to (about 75 matriculants at the later and a tiny handful of typically mainstream kids). M[b]y kid actually wanted the traditional work-hard/play-hard culture and is talking of transferring because they can't find their people. I keep saying "it's very early!" and it 100% is but it does seem like the institution is changing and it's a small school so this can happen very quickly.  Depending on your kid's perspective, this is the best thing ever or makes it a terrible fit. Right now I would not send my mainstream, preppy, work-hard-play-hard kid there at all. [/b]

I shared this because it does seem likely that there will be a fraction of current drinking with this current class. These are the kids (in my kid's experience) who didn't drink at all in high school. It remains to be seen if it's a one-off year or a (gradual or abrupt) institutional change. They got a new admissions director this year so perhaps that's behind it. [/quote]

Wow. This is fascinating. Not what I'd expected.

A lot of these schools are heavily nerdy/segregated Asian kids who don't want to mix with the larger (more socially extroverted) rest of the student population.
Give it a few weeks. You will know by Thanksgiving. [/quote]

I'm Asian American and I went to Dartmouth, am an active alum and have visited several times and have a kid who will be applying this fall.  Unlike HYPSM, there really aren't that many Asian Americans at Dartmouth as a percentage of the student population and therefore, the Asian Americans are necessarily involved in clubs, sports, music groups, and other activities that have a lot of students from other backgrounds and that is the norm at this college.  Also, in sophomore fall, 55% or so pledge fraternities or sororities, which results in more integration.  I did not drink at all and there was plenty to do, from outdoor activities (tons of opportunities for hikes, skiing, snowshoeing, etc. through the Dartmouth Outing Club), road trips to Maine or Boston, movie nights, concerts (Dartmouth has the largest performance venue in the upper valley so a lot of music events take place on campus), speaker series, driving to get dinner or brunch in nearby cities/towns, volunteering, intramurals, etc.  So, it depends on your kid and whether they're heavy partiers.  I was not but I had a wonderful experience nonetheless. [/quote]

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