Dartmouth College Top Questions

The quality of undergrad education at Dartmouth, with the exception of a handful, is unparalleled by other research universities. I have never had any classes taught by TAs and the largest class I've had was around 150 people. Many departments, such as economics, cap the class sizes at 35 or so, so that you always have access to professors during office hours. Econ and gov't are the most popular majors, but you can easily double major (my majors are economics and neuroscience), or you can modify your major, or minor. Classes are tough, but you learn a lot both from the professors and other students. Some students are competitive, particularly in certain majors, but definitely to a lesser degree compared to other top schools Distributive requirements make sure that you take plenty of classes outside of your major

Courses at Dartmouth are challenging but very doable if you are willing to put the time into your work. Professors are very accessible so you can always see them during their individual office hours. One thing I dont like personally is how much you have to participate. I was never big on participating in class so it was a little uncomfortable for me at first. Students here don't seem to be ambitious or competitive, but they are. You'll see kids going out and getting drunk many nights and they will be the ones pulling off straight A's somehow. It's actually pretty impressive.

I loved my professors my first quarter here. They were SOOO approachable and humble. And they created an environment where you felt comfortable asking questions and knowing that you wouldn't be condemned for being stupid. They would be understanding if I needed time to finish an assignment (probably only for freshmen). Basically the nicest people I've ever met.

Some professors will make it a point to learn all of their students' names and invite them to their houses for dinner; others will be less friendly but still willing to talk with you if you take the initiative and approach them yourself. You can have any type of classroom experience you want here - it all depends on the classes you choose, how much you participate in class discussions, and how much you invest in getting to know your professors. It's very easy to study anything you want here; people frequently modify their majors, design their own majors, or do double majors with minors and even double minors. The academic requirements can be fulfilled in a number of ways, so ultimately everyone gets something different out of their academic experience. Dartmouth prides itself on providing a true liberal arts education, and that's exactly what I'm getting! I can take arts classes, history classes, classes on finance, statistics, healthcare, philosophy, ethics, public policy, geography, computer science, theater, foreign languages, religion, and anthropology - and that's before I even get started on a major. There's a lot of freedom to explore different academic areas within the curriculum, and even after you decide what you want to concentrate on, there's nothing preventing you from taking random film studies (or psychology, or gov, etc) classes.

The English, Psychology, Economics, Anthropology, and Education departments are very good. The professors are happy to work with students personally rather than distribute authority to graduate students and teaching assistants. The class sizes are small, making this advantageous.

Professors take teaching seriously; you will almost never be taught by a TA. Standards are rigorous and expectations are high. Every department at Dartmouth has its own unique intellectual culture, and each has at least one leading scholar. The great thing about Dartmouth is that you receive hands-on teaching from professors who are also nationally well-known amongst their peers, which is a huge plus if you want to go to graduate school.

Professors. They are the best in the country. They are there for you not for themselves. This is what really distinguishes Dartmouth. Never will you have a TA teach a class. All professors are required to keep office hours so you will get one on one interaction with some of the top minds in the country. At the same time it is tough. It is hard to get good grades in college when 3 of the 5 guys sitting in the same row as you were number 1 or 2 in their schools. Competition is fierce but the atmosphere is of group work rather than individuals trying to bring each other down.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Dartmouth academics. As a math major, I found most of the upper level classes small, fairly interesting, and with a fair amount of work. People usually hear "math major" and think it's a difficult major, but I think the amount of work is no different than your average class: about 3 nights of homework (~3 hours each), a midterm and a final. Most of the professors I had ranged from OK to outstanding. There was definitely plenty of opportunity to spend time with them outside of class, from office hours, to informal meetings, to department lunches and get-togethers. I probably didn't take as much advantage of getting to know professors as I could have, but the opportunity was definitely there and most professors were willing to help out as much as they could. The "distrib", or distribution requirements could get annoying to keep track of... did that course count for my non-western culture and my social analysis distrib? But overall they force you to take a nice variety of courses, even if you never did want anything to do with math. With careful planning, I had no problems fitting in all the courses for my major, two minors, distrib requirements, and term abroad, without taking any additional classes or extra terms.

Dartmouth is obviously known for its academics. Most classes aren't too big, so professors can get to know you; most professors are very open to meeting with students outside of class. There is such a variety of classes, and the college is very flexible as far as majors go, since you can major in something but modify it with something completely different. Classes are the main part of college, and Dartmouth's schedule has students only in class for about 10 hours a week, which is great.

This winter I took a course with Paleontologist Kevin Peterson called "Dinosaurs!" Literally, there was an exclamation point in the course description. It was a great way to fill my science distributive, and it was actually really enlightening. Some highlights include passing around bones and fossils in class and watching Jurassic Park to talk about its inaccuracies. Professor Peterson even invited us to go on digs in the future.