They're all big enough that it doesn't matter

Cornell will have the most diverse students. Ithaca is remote but has a town social scene outside of campus.

Dartmouth is really isolated. Social scene is all college related. Best if you like outdoors, skiing, quite nature vibe.

Brown is much more an urban vibe. Other large cities close by if wanted.

All three are grinders for premed.

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth’s quarter system seems like a net negative to me however much the school tries to spin it.

There are some good perspectives in the Dartmouth student newspaper about it.

I'm the same Dartmouth-alum mom. Dartmouth's quarter system was great for me and I did not even know that people disliked it. Every kid will take a class that they just dislike a lot (I know I did) and having it over sooner is great. If you like a class a lot, you can certainly take another class with that professor. The best part about the quarter system at Dartmouth is 1) you take only 3 classes a quarter, and 2) the winter break and spring break are real breaks because those breaks fall right after finals exams so you don't have any school work during those breaks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown. Cornell and Dartmouth are too isolated. Dartmouth social scene sucks unless you like a boarding school 2.0 setup.

Tell me more about the Dartmouth social scene

The Dartmouth of today is very different than even 10 years ago, much less 25 years ago. Do your research. Talk to current students - not here. The moms here DO NOT know.

I'm a mom who graduated Dartmouth 30 years ago, have visited a bunch of times since then, and my kid is there right now. In general, my take is that the school has become more academic, more intellectual and more diverse, all at the same time. The average kid studies a lot more and is more focused on their future. The number of academic programs and study abroad programs have exploded, resulting in more kids pursuing two different areas of study (whereas back when I attended, most people I know did maybe 1 major and 1 minor tops), and there is more racial diversity and diversity among the nationalities of international students.

Parties are mostly held at fraternities and sororities (lots of drinking), but there's a lot of things to do for kids who don't care about that, like clubs, student-run arts and music events, athletics, and exploring the outdoors. If your kid is really into city stuff (like nightclubs or trying new restaurants) they may feel like it is stifling, but the D plan makes it easy to do, say, a winter-term internship in NYC junior year followed by a spring-term study program in D.C. junior spring. I missed city life but I don't feel like I would have had a better experience at Brown or Cornell (maybe Columbia would have been more fun).

Dartmouth’s quarter system seems like a net negative to me however much the school tries to spin it.

There are some good perspectives in the Dartmouth student newspaper about it.

Apply to all three and let the results speak for themselves. These schools are very good at detecting fit. I honestly think the one that admits your DC is probably the best fit. And realistically, it is unlikely that all three would accept the same applicant considering they are so different, so you may not even have the opportunity to choose among all three.

I’m pretty confident a social and outgoing student will do fine at any of these three schools. Cornell has an advantage though because it’s much larger than the others, so it’s easier to find your crowd there.

The social scene is the college, nothing more nothing less. That is why Dartmouth is so fixated on "why dartmouth" and fit. The natural isolation of Hanover, it focus on athletic outdoor types combined with a greek dominated social scene can self selects a very specific person.