Dartmouth College Top Questions

My classmates are generally very motivated at whatever they are passionate about.

My classmates are passionate, compassionate, focused, engaged, deeply thoughtful, musical, dynamic, talented in a huge variety of ways - three of my best friends are a music/computer science major, a classics/physical chemistry major, and a studio art/pre-med major, respectively - considerate, active, entertaining, and altogether a group of people I feel lucky to have met and feel glad will be part of the generation that shapes the way the world develops next.

Friendly, outgoing people who like to drink and party but still do well in school.

Fun-loving kids who party hard but always surprise you with their passionate outlook on school and their accomplishments.

Freewheeling, neo-hippie, Ultimate Frisbee-playing, outgoing, crunchy outdoorsy types.

Smart, bright, hard-partying, hard-working

My classmates are very focused, intelligent, and hardworking. The people that go to Dartmouth are among the best in the nation, and it shows in every individual student.

Diverse in perspective. Excellent. It's a vibrant campus that is made vibrant by the student body. People actually love Dartmouth. You don't just go here because you have to you go here because you like to.

As I mentioned before, the student body is unquestionably smart, hard-working, and accomplished, but everyone puts up a good fascade that they don't try too hard and are just an average joe. Some will lead you to believe that all they do is play pong and "hang out", while others have no problem telling you they spent the past three days holed up in Berry library, but there is never a competitive or "look at me, I'm so smart" vibe. The student body is pretty diverse - racially, religiously, ecomonically, geographically and sexual orientationally (if that's a word). Some minorities have their own Greek organizations and many of the typical frats/soroties are predominantly white, so in this respect the school isn't as integrated as it could be. I don't think there is ever any hostility, just a chosen separation. The school and its history are fairly conservative with an "old boy" mentality prevailing until recent years, but the student body is rather liberal, in line with most college student bodies. There are active political groups, but republican and democrat, but on the whole students are too political. There is a tendency to get sucked into the "Dartmouth bubble", where you are unaware of outside current events and tend to think that everything else in the world is secondary to what's going on in the Dartmouth world. There are your typical groups: the athletes, nerds, frat boys, sorority girls, alternative druggies, crunchy hippies. But there is enough cross-over that you'll meet the soccer player/frat brother/econ whiz who dates a girl who works at the organic farm and is involved with student assembly.

Dartmouth RAVES about its diversity. In my class alone, we have people from tens of countries, from every race, speaking many languages, having different sexual orientations, etc. But even though we are all so different, we're all very similar, too. All of us LOVE Dartmouth, we all want to get a great education and be successful with our lives, we're all ambitious, and we all like to have fun, too. Everyone is very welcoming, and there aren't any cliques unless you include the Greek system, but that's what really brings people together: it doesn't divide them. Politics is obviously a big deal at any university. Nationally, many of the students are very aware of what is going on in the world, and because New Hampshire has some of the first primary elections in the country, there are always candidates coming to Dartmouth. Most lean to the left, but that's because they haven't made their own money yet; once people are working EXTREMELY hard and becoming successful, they'll want to keep the money that THEY've earned, not just hand it over to someone else. As far as wealth goes, Dartmouth is very fortunate. Many people are on financial aid, some with full rides, which is only possible because of the people, including myself, who are paying the full tuition, which is over $50,000 a year.

I have never in my life encountered such an accepting atmosphere. On my floor alone I’ve met: Bongani from Swaziland who loves hip hop and improve comedy, Virginia from Bulgaria whose quick quips and coffee making skills are unmatched, Jake a Native American student who teaches snowboarding and is a film connoisseur, Meghan from Boston who spent her summer interning with a senator in Rwanda, and Lauren from San Francisco who creatively infuses her Cuban heritage into her passion for Celtic dance. At the beginning of fall term I often looked at our kaleidoscopic bunch and wondered, “What could we possibly have in common?” My questions were answered as the six of us raced around the homecoming bonfire, unified by our “11” shirts and visceral screams. We’re united by our love for this school and the passion it inspires. Each of us has found our individual niche but still enjoys coming together with the entire student body to celebrate our inexplicable bond when singing the alma mater after a Dartmouth victory.

The student body is reasonably diverse and very laid back. People who wear a suit or something to class would get looked at. On a nice day people are in shorts, polos, dresses, etc. In the winter, women wear Northface fleeces and jackets with tights and ugg boots, while the men just wear whatever. Many students are from the northeast (specifically New Hampshire, New Jersey, NYC and Massachusetts) although there are tons from California and other nations. People generally socialize predominantly with those who are similar to them or from the same region, but sports teams and activities act as ways of mixing things up. However, there is still some voluntary segregation by most students (for example, some of the international students feel more comfortable with other internationals.)

Like I already said, this is a dynamic group of people who are smart, fun, outgoing, and energetic. People here are incredibly kind and enthusiastic about life... It's kind of like it's own little paradise situated in between Boston and Montreal.

The student body is relatively diverse, but there is a definite tendency towards long curly haired, khaki-wearing, outdoorsy types who love to laugh and have fun. Everyone on campus is a part of either the Mountaineering Club, Canoeing/Kayaking club, or Cabin and Trail. It's because proximity to the outdoors is honestly one of Dartmouth's greatest (and most defining) resources. At no other time in your life will you live in a situation like this, with 4000 other young, lively people in walking distance from woods, a gorgeous pond, whitewater rapids, and mountains. There's great climbing 10 minutes away, our own ski mountain 15 minutes bus away, Mt Moosilauke and the river only a few minute walk through trees from the center of campus. It would be wasting an amazing opportunity not to take part in the access to nature that Dartmouth provides.

Everyone here is brilliant, talented, and yet very normal. The students who are winning accolades in academia can be found here skiing on Dartmouth Skiway after class and building snowmen in the winter, swimming in the river in the summer, lounging on the green and chatting with friends in the fall and spring, and being social and fun. A typical day might consist of classes, dinner with friends at Food Court, going to see an a cappella show at one of the greek houses, then hanging out with friends in the dorm or at a party.

Mixed group of people. The "metal heads" are not as noticeble if that is your group, there are a lot of athletes and they seem to separate along with the international students.

Depsite rumors, I think the student body is incredibly diverse. To me this means more than just ethnicity. Everyone I met came from different backgrounds and had incredible life experiences to share.

Everyone here is very different, but at the same time everyone here is so nice. Yes, people can be petty or be jerks, but over all everyone is generally kind. People come from all over and do so many different things, but if you leave here and you run into someone who went to dartmouth 10, 15, 50 years ago I garuntee you will talk a get to know that person better than anyone else in the room. A Dartmouth bond is very strong.

There is a strong Christian community here. There is a small but strong queer community here. Both sort of feel out of place here, but make it work. There is some, but not a great amount of racial diversity. The kids who really click here want to be I-bankers or lawyers or doctors and go Greek. Other identities, I think, but I'm not sure because I'm white and prob ignorant, don't matter as much as choosing something that fits that class identity.

There is a pretty diverse student body present on campus, with W. Virginia being the only state not represented in my class year, and students coming from countries I can barely pronounce.