My DC attends UChicago, also on a quarter system, and has the same experience. A very wide network of friends partially due to the CORE and many courses during the year. His abroad experience will also be the same in that it is with a group of university kids taught by University professors. They are already bonding tightly in the planning stage. (As an aside, there aren't any issues related to the abroad classes being a good fit for subsequent coursework.) A quarter system takes a bit more effort to coordinate with internship schedules but it's never interfered with an opportunity. There are pro's to each system. I wouldn't consider them major enough to drive a school selection.

I went to Dartmouth many years ago, and I wanted to add that I found the quarter system advantageous for making friends. I established a group of friends my freshman fall, and we remained close all freshman year - and I'm still in close touch with several of them. But sophomore year I was forced to make new friends (or rather, become closer to people who had previously just been acquaintances) and it really expanded my horizons. Several of these new friends I'm also still close to.

Finally, the study abroad program is very different from other schools. Most of the programs are abroad WITH a Dartmouth professor (as opposed to studying at a partner university), with a group of 15ish Dartmouth students. When I studied abroad I really really bonded with those friends as well.

Anyway, I was left with a really diverse group of friends that I might not have bonded with were it not for the quarter system. My DH, who went to a different Ivy, has a single group of friends, and that's it. He met them freshman year, and never really bonded with many other people.

Anonymous wrote:Some friends of ours have a daughter at Dartmouth. The main negative about the quarter system is her break doesn't line up with many of her friends'.

Small price to pay, they say, for a great education.

IMO, seeing each other Thanksgiving and overlaps during winter break remains important. The long weekends not overlapping is not a big deal. If they're traveling, IMO it's with fellow college friends.
And Spring breaks vary with each school whether on a semester or quarter system.

Some friends of ours have a daughter at Dartmouth. The main negative about the quarter system is her break doesn't line up with many of her friends'.

Small price to pay, they say, for a great education.

Why only 3 classes? West Coast publics use the quarter system and it is standard practice to take 4 classes a quarter.

Actually it's not uncommon for UChicago kids to stay on campus for Thanksgiving. They celebrate with their friends. Not something I would prefer as a parent but accommodations are available.

Anonymous wrote:What I like about Dartmouth - they are done w school at Thanksgiving. I don’t know why U Chicago doesn’t do this - they start later than Dartmouth - they should move their start date up so kids can just leave for winter break at TG rather than come home for TG and then go back to school for 2 or 3 weeks and then break for winter break. Costly for poorer families to afford airfare.

That's actually a relatively recent thing for Dartmouth (well recent by my old person standards). We used to start in late September and go back after t'giving for finals.