My DC turned down U Chicago for Dartmouth because she thought Dartmouth would be less stressful and she will still have access to fantastic academic opportunities plus an incredibly strong alumni network.

PS I chose Dartmouth because I wanted to go to a school where everyone was fully committed to being at and of their school. I looked at places like NYU, Yale, Columbia, Penn, and big state schools, plus SLACs close to home. I realized I wanted to be somewhere where everyone stayed on campus on weekends and the social life revolved around campus. I was very middle class and knew that a campus with big city options, fashion and socializing was not in my budget, and I also knew that I would feel left out if I went somewhere where people could easily leave to see HS friends or go home to family.

The isolation of Dartmouth is a great equalizer.

Anonymous wrote:My kid who is there tells me that it's actually good that greek life is so active and widespread. This means it becomes the norm and no one gets left out or make a big deal about it. It's chill and they enjoy themselves.

I’ve been at schools with very formal Greek systems and Dartmouth’s fraternities are very different. Plenty of people don’t actually live in the houses and many of them are not national fraternities. A lot of them remind me of the theme houses at Stanford or the off-campus houses for fraternities at Yale. Many of them had 75-80% overlap with specific sports teams when I was an undergrad but I don’t know if that’s still the case.

The parties are basically no different than off-campus house parties or dorm parties at other schools, with rare exceptions. Very open and welcoming. When I went back as a grad student at Dartmouth the undergrads even invited us to parties- it was weird to me as a grown adult who had been in the workforce for years…and yet I went to them anyway. It’s a small place and there’s definitely a sense of having to make your own fun, for better or for worse.

Anonymous wrote:I swear they told us 80% of eligible to us. We all heard it (mom, dad and kid).

My kid is at Dartmouth and it’s definitely not 80%!

Anonymous wrote:I think Dartmouth is a great school for the right student. The Animal House reputation is far overblown in 2024. You need to be a top student to get in and to stay in. The Greek thing is just the way Dartmouth students organize themselves into manageable social groups. It's not nearly as serious as an SEC school. The thing to be mindful of is that Hanover is pretty isolated and the winters are long. It takes a certain kind of person to really thrive there, ideally someone looking forward to joining the Dartmouth Outing Club. But it's a really tough admit for an unhooked applicant from the DMV. It's a very small school.

I agree with this. We toured last summer and DC spent a couple nights at an admitted students in April but ultimately chose Pomona. DC is liberal, artsy, outdoorsy, and social and really liked Dartmouth, but liked the department and weather at Pomona better.

Anyhow, the undergrad education at Dartmouth is fantastic if you like the liberal arts approach--breadth and interdisciplinary studies over hyper specialization. It's much more undergrad focused than most other Ivies and universities.

As noted, the fratty nature of Dartmouth is usually overstated. It's not the same kind of a greek scene most of us may have experienced or witnessed a generation ago. That said, Dartmouth is social and there is a more traditional party scene than one might find at most other T20 schools. And while there are all kinds of kids at Dartmouth and most kids will find their tribe, it seems like Dartmouth trends a little more preppy than schools like Pomona, Swarthmore, or Brown.

I think the location is fantastic, but it's definitely a place you need to visit before committing.

Dartmouth grads seem to really love their school, and it's got as strong an alumni network as any school. That said, I think there are always some students who go to Dartmouth only because it's a Ivy and end up hating it.

Anonymous wrote:I think Dartmouth is a great school for the right student. The Animal House reputation is far overblown in 2024. You need to be a top student to get in and to stay in. The Greek thing is just the way Dartmouth students organize themselves into manageable social groups. It's not nearly as serious as an SEC school. The thing to be mindful of is that Hanover is pretty isolated and the winters are long. It takes a certain kind of person to really thrive there, ideally someone looking forward to joining the Dartmouth Outing Club. But it's a really tough admit for an unhooked applicant from the DMV. It's a very small school.

Np. Thanks, this is helpful. Have been trying to reconcile the fratty reputation of Dartmouth with the studious, calm kids that I know who are attending. DS really liked it on our visit, but is more of an academic type than a partier.

I think Dartmouth is a great school for the right student. The Animal House reputation is far overblown in 2024. You need to be a top student to get in and to stay in. The Greek thing is just the way Dartmouth students organize themselves into manageable social groups. It's not nearly as serious as an SEC school. The thing to be mindful of is that Hanover is pretty isolated and the winters are long. It takes a certain kind of person to really thrive there, ideally someone looking forward to joining the Dartmouth Outing Club. But it's a really tough admit for an unhooked applicant from the DMV. It's a very small school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear they told us 80% of eligible to us. We all heard it (mom, dad and kid).

Okay - that could be. Just someone wrote, “80% of kids are in frats,” which couldn’t be right. It’s still a big increase but I imagine this age group of kids was really impacted by pandemic.

I think rush is sophomore year so it could be 60 percent of all students and 80 of eligible.

Anonymous wrote:I swear they told us 80% of eligible to us. We all heard it (mom, dad and kid).

Okay - that could be. Just someone wrote, “80% of kids are in frats,” which couldn’t be right. It’s still a big increase but I imagine this age group of kids was really impacted by pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think about campus, student body and culture

Heavens…
Be specific!
Why is your family interested?

and learn how to use the search function for this forum. This same question comes up every other week.

Who made you the thread police? People can ask; you’re free to ignore.

NP
1. It clogs up the forum. Jeff will tell you he doesn't care for double threads.

2. Many DCUM users find it annoying when people provide NO specifics in the OP (and title, for that matter). When the OP is vague, the first few pages are not useful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think about campus, student body and culture

Heavens…
Be specific!
Why is your family interested?

and learn how to use the search function for this forum. This same question comes up every other week.

Who made you the thread police? People can ask; you’re free to ignore.

My kid who is there tells me that it's actually good that greek life is so active and widespread. This means it becomes the norm and no one gets left out or make a big deal about it. It's chill and they enjoy themselves.

I swear they told us 80% of eligible to us. We all heard it (mom, dad and kid).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80% of kids are in frats. We just toured and this was the figure given to us straight by admissions.
My senior son is a party-hard, work hard kid and it one of his dream schools based on who he knows who attends. They are all heavy partiers.
He has a twin who is not this way and she is totally turned off.
I know this isn't everyone at the school (of course!) but it's a culture that flourishes there.

They misspoke or you misunderstood. That would 100% of eligible students. Last I saw in writing it was about 60% of Sophomores - Seniors. First years are not allowed to rush. I think that’s about 45% of the student body; 60% of those eligible. Still too high in my opinion but 80% is incorrect.

“ Approximately 50% of Dartmouth's students are involved in Greek life, which includes three gender-inclusive chapters, ten sororities, and fourteen fraternities. Considering the fact that students are only allowed to rush starting their second year, this means that approximately 60% or more of eligible Dartmouth students are involved in Greek life to some capacity.”
But I acknowledge this is two years old and things could have risen, especially post-pandemic. Does anyone have a written statistic that separates out whether it includes first years? That would be a big jump to 80% of ELIGIBLE students, but plausible (unlike 80% total, which is not possible), especially with a post-pandemic desire for socialization.

https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/follow/blog/love-tsai/greek-life-dartmouth#:~:text=Approximately%2050%25%20of%20Dartmouth's%20students,ten%20sororities%2C%20and%20fourteen%20fraternities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think about campus, student body and culture

Heavens…
Be specific!
Why is your family interested?

and learn how to use the search function for this forum. This same question comes up every other week.