Dartmouth College Top Questions

"Dance for the French girls!" Accept the little opportunities that life brings, and embrace them without fear or embarrassment. During college, I had the chance to visit Madrid, Spain as part of a weeklong conference on social thought. While riding the Metro, our group struck up a conversation with some fellow attendees from France. These young women were fans of Shakira's "Waka Waka," which just happened to be our freshman class song. Naturally, I had fond memories of the choreographed dance that upperclassmen had taught me during orientation. But did I perform it for them, there in public, despite prompting from my fellow students as the song blared overhead? No. It's a decision I regret to this day. We all spend time worrying about what others think, but I should have never let self-conciousness get in the way of a wonderful moment. I should have thrown caution to the winds. I should have danced, not my sake, but for theirs. College is a time for diving in headfirst, for trying new things, for rising to the occasion. Remember that, and you'll be prepared not only for the next semester, but for the rest of your life.

Dear Liza, First, stop looking at your phone. This letter is more important. Thank you. Now, I want to discuss the last topic you want to think about right now: your college decision process. Namely, I am urging you not to underestimate the importance of visiting a college before you commit to it. I know it's aggravating when many of the financial aid eligible visiting periods are scheduled around the same time (also during the busiest part of your high school career) and you don't have the money to visit colleges on your own. Hear me out anyway. You know this must be a compelling letter if I would locate a time-traveling device just to send it to you. As I write this, you are a college freshman. You are not miserable, but you would be happier if you had actually seen the campus that could be your home for four years. You think you can learn all you need to know about a college by researching it, but you are spending your first weeks of college in a haze of insecurity because of the stark newness of your environment. Please, consider your own comfort. It matters.

Luke, Please pay attention to the following thoughts as they are intended to have a meaningful and positive impact on your future. Live without regret. The worst thing in the world is to regret decisions, actions, or a lack of action. Part of living without regret means that you need to be aware of the impact your decisions will make on your future. Spend more time thinking about how your academic focus and studies will help you in your professional life after you graduate. Consider majoring in Engineering. It is a very difficult program and you will not be able to have as much of a social life, but in the long run it may help you achieve bigger and better things over the coming decades. I think you will enjoy it because I know your mind works that way, and because Grandpa was an engineer and it would make him proud. Use the first two summers between semesters to do something productive that will better you as a peson and improve your resume. You won't have many skills when you begin, so be happy and willing to start at the bottom and work your way up. Best, Luke

Well hello Mr/Ms. Senior Student, You have made it. After all the hard work and dedeciation of four years of learning, you are ready! Though high school is almost complete, life is not. Now it is time to search in your heart about what it is you want to major in as a student in college. Remembering what you do now, reflects your future outcome. Doing what you love will never count as a work day in life. So I encourage you to search for what it is you are most passion about and to stick with it. It has been proven that workers who actually work for what they love, produce better quality and/or work performance. Yes, statistics always tells the advantages and disadvantages of a job, yet having passion will make you successful in almost anything. But while on the verge to success, make use of time and charisma on the way. Stick to your chore values and remaain focus in school at all times and success will be there waiting just for you. Sincerely, Yours

Don't sweat the choices. Any choice you make is the right one. You will be fine!

Girl. Apply to more scholarships. It's not just about being able to afford school, but also about wanting to do internships off-campus. In Fall of your junior year, you'll have to give up the opportunity to work at Madison Square Garden because you don't have enough money to live in New York for a term. Seriously. Start saving money. Also, you need money to go to London. And trust me, you want to go to London again. It's a sad fact of life, but, a lot depends on money (or lack thereof). That being said, enjoy Freshman year. Get as involved in the theater as possible, and make sure you befriend Carol Dunne so that she'll hire you at her theater (it'll be the best summer of your life). You're gonna go through some changes in what you major in, but, it's all for the best. You probably still want to work for the FBI, but, I'll let you know, that's not what you really want. And that's okay. Dartmouth is the best thing that will ever happen to you. Ever. Don't doubt it for a second.

If I was able to go back in time to give an advice to my-self is to start studying hard in high school, and study ahead of everybody else. College is almost like high school as, finishing assignment, and be on time to classroom. I know that we have the most difficult time on our speaking and finish our work on time because we doesn’t talk much with people, and some-time didn’t finish our work on time, because we have too much thing to do like home-work from different class. The little me, I advising you to improve you’re lack of speaking in English because it an importance role in college and keep in mind to keep thing in order. So far what I learn from college was memory principles for reading, and processing information from textbooks. They are the thing I want you to learn because it very importance in college to. The best way to success in college was to do your work because in college you are on your own. The entire thing I have told you do them and take action, and success the future, and good luck little one.

Dear Hannah (WHS ’11),I know your academic prospects seem pretty bleak. You are frantically finishing a paper for AP English while studying for exams in AP Art History and Physics, all for tomorrow. You cannot imagine how much more challenging college will be.Allow me to offer you some advice. Although you have aversion toward your rigorous high-school schedule, take advantage of it. Use these advanced classes not only for test preparation, but also for general educational value. Develop and perfect your own study methods now, so you will be confident in your learning ability in college. Accustom yourself to focusing and reading efficiently. AP textbooks seem intimidating now, but can you imagine a load that is impossible to read in its entirety? Review your course materials with selective eyes, and remain attentive in class, for your professors will give hints to the most important information. Finally, you deserve quality sleep! With every hour of sleep you lose, your immune system suffers — missing class because of illness is detrimental to the continuity of learning. I know you are a diligent worker and a tenacious student, but please do not forget to preserve your health.Sincerely,Hannah (Dartmouth ’15)

Since attending college, I have become a truer version of myself. All of my characteristic qualities - independence, sense of humor, athleticism, loyalty - have been augmented. I have found myself a new network of friends and mentors who are continually supportive, and to whome I strive to give my support faithfully. College has provided me with a sense of future security (especially this one) which has come so effortlessly that I have even taken it for granted. The value of college lies in the person I have become, and the person that a college degree allows me to be.

Many people do not realize it, but college is very vital to one's physical, mental, and spiritual growth. When I was going through high school, I thought I knew everything, and, being at the top of my class, I thought there was no need for me to work hard. However, college has humbled me in so many aspects. I was now with the best of the best. One third of my class were their high school's valedictorians, and nine out of ten were at least in their school's top ten percent. It opened up my eyes to a bigger world. I had been so naive and egocentric in thinking about my life that I did not realize that there were more significant problems than just test scores and prom dates. In college, I learned about discrimination and hunger and this need to right the wrongs. Everyone have made a significant change to the world one way or another. Only now do I realize my immaturity in high school, and how now I must utilize my maturity to address issues that will make a change in not only my life, but my community as well.

I've gotten to come into my own as an adult on the other side of the country surrounded by people that I can both relate to and learn an incredible amount from. I've learned new skills like ice skating and rowing and have improved on others like general knowledge and Japanese. I've learned people are people no matter where they're from, and that we're all just trying to live our life.

Dartmouth College has provided me with the opportunity to interact with individuals from different economic, socially and politically backgrounds who I would not have interacted with if I stayed in New York City. I have learned how to be creative in that I am able to create social experiences for myself that are not the mainstream scene of going out to fraternities and sororities and getting drunk. It means more to me than anything that I am forced to take responsible for my own actions and not be able to rely on an adult fighting for me. It is a valuable experience for me to attend Dartmouth College, because I am allowed to be in a place that encourages me to explore every possible aspect of life without the stresses that exists back in New York City. Being in the middle of no where gives me leverage over how I want to run my life and provides me with the proper tools to create myself.

Confidence. Coming back to school as an adult was scary. I thought it would be difficult to keep up with the kids, and that I would struggle with classes. However, I had great instructors, and they were always very encouraging and willing to help their students. I graduated at the end of 2010 with high honors, and now I feel confident that I will do well at the university.

Attending Dartmouth has been an incredible experience, and words cannot express how much great things I have gotten out of this instituition. With that said, I most value Dartmouth allowing me to grow as an indivisual through travel. With Dartmouth's help, I have been able to travel to ten different countries, promoting youth educational programs in the global south. Through this experience, I have learned so much about myself, and what I want to accomplish with my life. Becuase of Dartmouth, I have learned the importance of become a global citizin, and that impacting lives in a smaller scale can be just as meaningful as impacting lives in a larger, more coporate scale. Dartmouth has really allowed me be proud of the projects and experiences I am participating in, and has also allowed me to, in all honesty, love myself for the first time in my life Without Dartmouth, I dont think Id be alive today. Dartmouth is an insitiution that has, in more than one way, saved my life.

Besides receiving a well-rounded education at Dartmouth College, I have garnered many experiences that have facilitated my personal growth and happiness. Because of Dartmouth’s unique student body and liberal course policies, I am now much more knowledgeable about various worldviews and sciences, proficient in Spanish, and adept in the piano, the acoustic guitar, and the drums. If I achieve my ultimate goal of becoming a legislator, the diverse and intellectual environment of Dartmouth will aid my understanding of complex social issues and my decision-making, especially in terms of balancing the interests of my constituents. Moreover, learning how to speak Spanish by Dartmouth's “in-class and drill method” will assist me in communicating with the public in my home state of Texas, where Hispanics (or Latinos) are the largest minority and continuously increase in numbers. As Dartmouth is an Ivy League and NCAA Division 1 institution, I have competed academically and athletically against the crème of the crop at a college approximately 1,800 miles away from my hometown, which has made me stronger intellectually and psychologically. Lastly, attending Dartmouth has encouraged me to take up musical instruments that will provide me with life-long fulfillment.

Dartmouth has continually taught me the importance of stepping outside of my comfort zone and challenge what I can do. I came to Hanover over a year ago unsure of who I am as a person. I was nervous and worried as any typical college freshman would be. Luckily, Dartmouth helped me see that I had nothing to be nervous or worried about. Through countless interactions with professors, administration, staff, and, most importantly, peers, I've learned to be confident in the person that I am, regardless of what others may think of me. It has allowed to me stand on my own two feet. This is the most valuabe lesson I have gotten out of Dartmouth: that no matter what I do in life, no matter what I decide to do, as long as I do it with passion and enthusiasm, as long as I am always true to myself, I can't go wrong. Dartmouth has also given me an amazing sense of community. Whether it's running around a 5-story bonfire during Homecome or simply walking across campus in the early morning fog, I feel that I am a part of something larger than myself.

I have been able to explore academic fields that I did not even know were possible, but more importantly, I have been challenged both academically and by the world around me. The opportunities that I experienced through college--especially my study abroad terms, have been instrumental in my development as a person and has shaped my worldview. I am healthier, happier, more sensitive, more tolerant, and more confident than when I first started.

Swimming was a life skill that I lacked before entering colleege. While skiing, rock climbing, and kayaking may not have been life skills that are necessary to survive, they were activities that I had never experienced during the first 18 years of my lifetime. These activities have become some of my favorite passtimes as a student at Dartmouth. Although the college experience necessarily identifies with the fulfillment of academic curiousity, my college experience moreso identifies with a lifestyle that I had never dreamed of living and couldn't even imagine before college. It's a lifestyle that focuses on both mental and physical health and fitness. While I find that these activities are the source of my joy and stability, my GPA is oftentimes the source of my stress. Outside of these activities, I would probably be over stressed; but my experience at Dartmouth has had a dampening effect on such stress, much of this began with Dartmouth's swim test that is required in order to graduate; if it weren't for the swim test, I wouldn't have been forced to explore this life skill and leave my comfort zone, which would have been primarily academic.

As a black female attending an Ivy League college, at first, I must say I felt out of place, uncomfortable, and discriminated against. I never associated with people outside of my race, I didn't feel welcomed in the eyes of others, academically I struggled something fierce for my first 2 years here. Gradually, I became more active and more open, I became less narrow minded, I learned to appreciate the campus, the different people, the different views, and values that made up the diversity of Dartmouth I had failed to see when I first matriculated. As an individual I grew, personally, spiritually, and ofcourse, physically. Academics were crucial and as the years went by, I improved upon my study techniques. I would have to say that it was valuable for me to attend College, specifically Dartmouth because it taught me how to adapt and operate in normal society; that is it taught me how to be welcoming and sensitive to other cultures, races and ethnicities at the same time, learning how to embrace and share my own culture in an intellectual, giving and sharing atmosphere. It taught me how to be a strong, independent, intellectual , worldy, Black, Haitian Woman.

I have gotten many valuable things out of my college experience. All the classes I have taken so far have made me a very well rounded individual. I am taking classes to fulfill my Associates of Science in Nursing Degree and many classes I have taken have helped me understand the medical field much better. Going to college has enforced my motivation to become a Registered Nurse greatly. The instructors were wonderful and they always helped me when I had questions. College is challenging, however it will be well worth it in the end. College has taught me how to properly study for tests and how to successfully manage my time.