Big Green, Big Dreams

“Hey, hey, hey…”

Seriously? It is one in the morning man! But I didn’t worry about too much because I was excited to tour the school I chose to cover for my assignment, the beautiful green campus of Dartmouth College. Juxtaposing Dartmouth and Wellesley’s campuses I enjoyed the open and welcoming feeling of Dartmouth.

The information session was great because I learned about the Dartmouth Plan (D-Plan). I was impressed with their quarter system because I have never heard of a college having 10-week courses. As I was talking to some of the students during our lunch today they said they enjoy the D-Plan because there’s flexibility; you could take fall quarter, winter quarter, spring quarter, or summer quarter off. In my opinion I think the quarter system is great because you can take a break whenever you want, apply to internships during the summer to avoid less competition, take more classes, or replace one of the quarters to study abroad. For example, if a student plays a sport they can study abroad outside of their sports season. I think the study abroad programs are great because it would also cost the same as attending school. What I didn’t quite comprehend was why there’s a Sophomore Summer; sophomores are required to stay on campus for the summer.

Any buildings with green
 shutters are  dormitories 

John Beck, our information session speaker, went through what he would expect from an applicant. He specifically said that if he had to pull out a dictionary to read your essay then you’re too complex. Your essay should sound like you wrote them rather than an older individual. I was surprised when he said your personal statement should be simple and have a mundane setting. I’m glad he said that because it immensely took the pressure off. Another thing I thought was really different was that they aren’t looking for teacher recommendations; they’re looking for recommendations from your best friends because they want to know the type of person you are from a nonacademic standpoint. I appreciate that John mentioned that they look at context because not every school is the same and Dartmouth looks for students that have challenged themselves with the situation that has been handed to them. As a whole I enjoyed the tour of the school because our tour guide, Michael, was descriptive of the life at Dartmouth especially relating it to his own life.

The lovely track star Janae

At the Dartmouth lunch I met Marian, Janae, and Justine Modica. Mariana and Janae are current students and Justine is the Assistant Director of Admissions. This lunch helped me get to know the students perspectives, why they chose Dartmouth, and what they like most about the school. Dartmouth students are tremendously friendly and that was the main reason Janae considered to attend Dartmouth College. I love how the students continued to spill out stories about their experiences, friend’s experiences, and how they can’t imagine themselves at any other college. Largely, Dartmouth is a welcoming school and rigorous in academics and is what I look for in a college.