Dartmouth College (DC, Big Green) Introduction and Academics

Introduction

If you鈥檙e thinking of going to Dartmouth College, the only Ivy League school to call itself a college, here鈥檚 a few things to expect:

First, you鈥檒l love green eggs and ham (and the color green, in general).
You鈥檒l be tempted to learn new languages, and you鈥檒l probably study abroad at least once.
You鈥檒l always be taught by a professor.
Your summer vacations are portable. You can transfer your 鈥淟eave Term鈥� to the winter to avoid New Hampshire weather or compete for an internship in the fall and then return in the summer to study.
If you learn to ski, you鈥檒l do it at the Dartmouth skiway.
You鈥檒l wonder why every school doesn鈥檛 have a version of 鈥淐amp Dartmouth鈥� on a mandatory summer term.

Founded in 1769 by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock for the expressed purpose of educating Native Americans and all those seeking education, the college is the ninth oldest college in the United States. It鈥檚 also one of the most beautiful. Nestled between the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Green Mountains of Vermont, the 269-acre campus has its share of picture-perfect scenery. In fact, visiting the campus for a commencement address in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower commented that 鈥渢his is what a college ought to look like.鈥� Affectionately termed 鈥渢he college on the hill,鈥� the school鈥檚 central green is adjacent to the cozy town of Hanover, New Hampshire. On campus, brick dorms and administrative buildings are adorned with ivy, and Baker Library鈥檚 tower presides majestically over it all. If you listen carefully, every day at 6:00 P.M. the bell tower plays a recognizable melody. Selections range from show tunes to Beethoven.

Of course, the college has a lot more going for it than aesthetics. A bona fide 鈥渃ollege鈥� rather than university, it prides itself on this distinction. The whole issue was decided in 1819, during the now-famous 鈥淒artmouth College Case,鈥� in which Daniel Webster, class of 1801, successfully convinced the Supreme Court that his alma mater should remain a private institution instead of becoming a property of the state of New Hampshire. In what is an oft-quoted line around campus, Webster summed up his argument by saying, 鈥淚t is, sir, as I have said, a small College, but there are those who love it.鈥� From then on, the unassuming institution has fondly referred to itself in the same way.

If this isn鈥檛 the ideal model of what a campus ought to be, it鈥檚 pretty much as close as you can reasonably get. With its northern location, year-round calendar, and focus on the undergraduate experience, this is perhaps the most comfortable of the Ivy League schools. Its intimate atmosphere breeds some of the highest student satisfaction rates in the country, which is probably partly due to the fact that everything balances so well. Though the student population is among the smartest and most accomplished in the country, they also like to have a lot of fun. The campus community is incredibly close-knit, yet, thanks to the fact that different students and professors come and go each term, it never feels stifling. Hanover is a beautiful, rural locale, yet the school manages to attract first-rate speakers, performers, and intellectuals. In fact, you鈥檇 probably be exposed to about as much culture there as you would in any major metropolis. It鈥檚 just that Hanover is a heck of a lot quieter. Student activities see high participation rates, but the school is small enough so that you never get lost in the crowd. And finally, the school has just enough surprises so that even when you鈥檙e feeling stressed, there鈥檚 always something to appreciate.

Finally, the institution is an intellectual powerhouse that offers incredible on-campus and international opportunities. Besides those tangibles, however, Dartmouth offers something ineffable. As evidenced by the fact that everyone puts their arms around one another as they sing the alma mater, there is something very special about going to school up in the mountains. Perhaps, in fact, this appeal is best summed up by the school鈥檚 cryptic last line, which speaks to the permanency of the experience. Students, it proclaims, find themselves with 鈥渢he granite of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains.鈥� Go there, and by the end, you鈥檒l understand what that phrase means. I know I do.

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Information Summary

Ranks 1st in New Hampshire and 37th overall. See the entire top 2,000 colleges and universities list
Overall Score (about)	97.7
Total Cost On-Campus Attendance	$74,359
Admission Success rate	N/A
ACT / SAT 75%ile scores	35 / 1560
Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty	11 : 1
Retention (full-time / part-time)	97% / N/A
Enrollment Total (all students)	6,572

Academics

Despite three top-notch professional schools (the Dartmouth Medical School, The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, and the Thayer School of Engineering), as well as twenty-five other graduate programs in the arts and sciences, the college prides itself on what seems to be an almost singular focus on undergraduates. Consequently, students have a unique advantage. All classes are taught by professors and not graduate students. Not surprisingly, the college consistently gets high rankings for its quality of teaching, as well as for the level of interaction between faculty and students.

The Dartmouth Plan

The college functions on a unique year-round calendar. An academic year is divided into four ten-week quarters (called fall term, winter term, etc.), and students typically take three classes in each. This schedule works particularly well because not only is it difficult to get bored after a mere ten weeks, but students enjoy being able to focus on just three subjects at a time.

For the logistics of this to work out, students are required to spend at least nine terms on campus, including fall, winter, and spring of their freshman and senior years, as well as the summer between sophomore and junior year. Often a favorite term, 鈥渟ophomore鈥� as it is called, summer allows for a less crowded campus, afternoons of studying outside in weather that鈥檚 finally warm, and a chance to bond with classmates. Students then get to decide what they want to do with the other terms; choices range from staying on campus to doing a transfer term at another university to taking part in one of the college’s forty-eight off-campus programs in twenty-one departments in twenty-three countries. Sixty percent of the student body will go abroad at least once during their four years.

I chose Dartmouth in large part because of its Russian department, and spent the spring of my sophomore year on the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at St. Petersburg 911吃瓜网 in Russia. We were in Russia at a time when the country was changing every day and it was an unbelievable experience to witness these changes firsthand鈥攁nd to have the language ability to speak to people about how their lives were affected. After it was all over, I came back to Hanover and shared what I had learned with my classmates.

The Curriculum

The requirements for the bachelor of arts degree at the college are designed to promote the overall goals of a liberal arts education: the deep analysis of a single discipline (the major); the broad introduction to several fields (the distributive requirements); and the integrating force of interdisciplinary work.

The Major

About one-third of the student鈥檚 curriculum will be in his or her field of major study, elected before the end of the sophomore year. Dartmouth offers 56 standard majors, as well as nearly limitless possibilities for special majors, designed to meet diverse student needs. Options include: a Modified Major (work in two departments with emphasis in one); a Dual Major (completion of the requirements for two Departmental Majors, which may in themselves be quite dissimilar); a Special Major (accommodates students who wish to design special interdisciplinary or interdivisional programs of study involving two or more departments of programs); and a Major/Minor. In addition to the above majors, there are interdisciplinary programs in a number of areas.

The General Requirements

All students study a broad spectrum of courses fundamental to higher learning and basic to a liberal arts education. Of the 35 courses needed for graduation, students must take ten courses distributed across eight intellectual fields; three courses that emphasize three different cultural perspectives (North American, European, and non- Western); and one course that is interdisciplinary in its focus. A single course may satisfy two or even three of these requirements. In addition, a course that falls within a student鈥檚 major may also be used to satisfy these requirements.

Distributive Fields

Arts
International or comparative study
Literature
Philosophical, religious, or historical analysis
Social analysis
Natural science
Quantitative or deductive science
Technology or applied science
The Culminating Experience

Each academic department and program includes among its major requirements a culminating activity, normally undertaken during the senior year. All students will take a course鈥攐r engage in an independent study project鈥攖hat permits them to pull together the work of their major and add to this some intellectual or creative activity of their own. The culminating experience could take one of several forms, including a thesis, a paper, an exhibition, or a performance.

The Language Requirements

All students are expected to become proficient in a least one foreign language. Unless exempted on the basis of SAT Subject Tests or advanced placement test scores, students complete their language requirement by studying a language on campus or by participating in a Language Study Abroad program.

When I realized that I needed to fulfill an art distributive, I wasn鈥檛 sure what I was going to do. I鈥檓 not exactly artistically inclined, but I found the perfect class. I enrolled in Greek Tragedy, which provided a unique alternative. Instead of creating or studying art in the forms of paintings or sculptures, we studied the art of performance in Ancient Greece. It suited me perfectly.

Faculty

A strong faculty, excellent student-faculty relationships and small classes are a recipe for greatness. Approximately 80 percent of courses have enrollments of fewer than thirty, while only 2 percent of courses have over 100 students. The most popular departments at the college are History, English, Government, Economics, Biology, and Psychological and Brain Science.

Foreign Language Program

A particularly innovative academic program among a host of such programs is the college’s approach to foreign language instruction. The brainchild of famed professor John Rassias, the program is designed to make students comfortable speaking their new language. Each day, in addition to a regular class period, students have a one-hour 鈥渄rill,鈥� which meets at 7:45 each morning. (Those who can鈥檛 hack the early hours can elect to take a 5:00 P.M. drill instead.) There, they meet with an upper-level teaching assistant who puts them through the rigors of conjugating verbs and practicing dialogue. The session, accented by liberal amounts of pointing and clapping on the part of the instructor, is incredibly fast-paced and lively.

Although taking鈥攁nd then teaching鈥攄rill got me up at 6:30 A.M. for most of my college career, I鈥檓 convinced that Dartmouth is an ideal and nurturing environment for anyone hoping to learn another language. Hundreds of students flock to drill each day to witness Professor Rassias鈥檚 unique 鈥渋n your face鈥� approach, which is probably part of the reason I fared so well in my foreign language classes. It gave me such a good foundation, in fact, that now I鈥檓 fluent in French, in graduate school for Spanish literature and education, and learning Italian in my spare time.

Research Opportunities

With over $200 million invested annually in grant-funded research, world-class laboratory facilities, and strong support among the faculty for student research, the opportunity to participate in faculty research proves to be an invaluable complement to classroom learning for many students. Because the college鈥檚 graduate student population is relatively small, undergraduates enjoy access to funding for research and in many cases serve as co-authors on faculty publications.

As a Presidential Scholar research assistant, I had the opportunity to assist my government professor on an article he was writing about the timing of presidential economic initiatives. He involved me almost every step of the way, providing me with first-hand exposure to the correct methodology for conducting political science research. I am currently using this knowledge to further my own research on media coverage of women gubernatorial candidates. In fact, my thesis proposal on this topic was accepted at the Midwest Political Science Association鈥檚 Annual Meeting, and I presented my results at their annual convention in Chicago.

In addition to participating in faculty-led research, many students pursue their own endeavors, often with funding from their department, the college, or outside agencies. Dartmouth students also pursue more than 1,000 independent studies for academic course credit during each academic year. Through this close collaboration with faculty mentors, many students find that their professors transcend the role of 鈥渋nstructor鈥� and become colleagues and close friends. Forty percent of students pursue independent research.

Funding Sources

Dean of Faculty Office
Dickey Center for International Understanding
Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Social Sciences
First Year Office
Office of Residential Life
Academic Departments Formal Research Programs
First-Year Summer Project
Women in Science Project Research Assistantship
Presidential Scholars Programs
Senior Fellowship Program

Participating in the Senior Fellowship Program allowed me to study the life and work of a woman named Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the nation鈥檚 first women architects. Because I was required to take only a couple of classes during the year, I had the chance to visit Riddle鈥檚 buildings and travel to museums to do archival research. I also learned a lot from my advisor, a professor who specialized in architectural history. By the end, I had written a biography that was more than 200 pages long and produced an accompanying video documentary.

Research Funding

It鈥檚 not just senior fellows who fare well with research, either. As students will attest, funding for almost any sort of academic endeavor is readily available. Much money is doled out by the Rockefeller Center, named for Nelson Rockefeller, class of 1966. The center houses the departments of economics and government, and has financially supported everything from internships at the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador to research on the institution鈥檚 role in the Civil War. The center also draws a number of prominent speakers for panels and discussions. In recent years, it has hosted former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak, chairman of the Pakistan Press International Foundation Owais Aslam Ali, Pulitzer Prize winner Laurie Garrett, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, 鈥�68.

Libraries

The final thing to know about academics at this hidden gem of the Ivy League is that students spend a lot of time in one or more of the college鈥檚 nine libraries, which contain over two million printed volumes. Baker is the largest and is an architectural wonder. The wood-trimmed Tower Room is a popular studying spot, as is the reserve corridor, which is framed by the murals of Mexican artist Jos茅 Clemente Orozco. Painted between 1932 and 1934 when Orozco was the artist-in-residence, the famed murals depict the barbaric nature of the colonization of the New World. The college also has related libraries for biomedical science, math, business, physical science, engineering, art and music, and English. One thing to check out is the Sanborn English Library in mid-afternoon; every weekday at 4:00, students break for tea, cookies, and talk.

Most Popular Fields of Study

Gallery

Admissions

Dartmouth鈥檚 admissions process is highly selective. Analysis has shown that, on average, the middle fifty percent of admitted students score between 660 and 770 on the math, verbal, and writing sections of the SAT and between 29 and 34 on the ACT.

Admissions, however, is not based on book smarts or academic standing alone. What distinguished the exceptional applicants admitted from the thousands of other qualified candidates is intellectual curiosity, and academic or extracurricular passion, and an eagerness to be a positive member of a diverse and international community. In essence, the school is looking for students who will add to the community, inside or outside of the classroom. Beyond the Common Application for admissions, the college requires a unique supplement. In addition to two teacher recommendations, you鈥檒l also need to solicit one of your more eloquent friends to write a peer evaluation. The institution realizes that the best way to understand how you might interact in our community is to see how your peers in your own environment evaluate your contributions.

Alumni Interview

Conducted by one or more alums in the applicant鈥檚 home district, this personal conversation allows the student to convey their interests in the admissions process in ways that a written application might not easily facilitate. the school does not require an interview, nor does it favor students who have one with alumni.

Early Decision

Finally, here鈥檚 one more bit of advice. If you鈥檙e completely psyched to go to Dartmouth, apply for Early Decision before the stated deadline. If admitted, you鈥檒l be finished with the entire college application process in time for the holidays. Keep in mind that the Early Decision admissions process is binding, meaning that you have to go if you are admitted. Although the percentage of applicants accepted for Early Decision is typically slightly higher than that of the normal applicant pool, the selection process is comparably competitive.

Financial Aid

Once accepted, students and their families receive one of the most comprehensive financial aid packages in the Ivy League. Roughly half of all students are eligible for need-based scholarships from the college.

The school recently announced a number of exciting new enhancements to the financial aid program for current and prospective students. This latest initiative provides free tuition for students who come from families with annual incomes below $75,000 with typical assets, replaces loans with scholarships for all scholarship recipients, assures need-blind admission for all students, and replaces one 鈥渓eave term鈥� earning expectation with additional scholarship dollars.

Student Financial Aid Details

Ranks 4266th for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best in New Hampshire.

Students

With everybody going to and fro so often, it might seem that the college would have a hard time fostering a sense of community on campus. Ironically, the opposite is true. Bonding begins early, in fact, before students even officially matriculate. Over ninety percent of the incoming class elects to participate in a first-year trip sponsored by the Dartmouth Outing Club. Each group of eight to fifteen 鈥渇irst-years,鈥� led by an upperclassman, faculty member, or school administrator, take to the woods for three days of hiking, canoeing, biking, and rock climbing. There are few rules, but one remains firm: no showers. After the three days are over, students convene at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge on Mt. Mousilauke (still no showers) to practice singing the alma mater, learn the Salty Dog Rag, and pay tribute to Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, class of 1925. (This is also where the green eggs and ham come into play.)

Dorm Life

Besides first-year trips, the college has an impressive network set up to unite incoming students. Organized by residence, each dorm floor has a U.G.A. (undergraduate advisor) who organizes movies and ice cream sessions, plus dorm formals and barbecues. Dorm life tends to be incredibly social during first year, although it undoubtedly lessens as the years go on. Surprisingly, however, even after first year, eighty-seven percent of students remain in the dorms. Many Dartmouth students are surprised to find that the dorms, for the most part, are far more spacious than other living quarters. More than one person typically would share more than one room, and private bathrooms (although not showers) are not uncommon. Plus, many have fireplaces, which is an especially appealing feature as you鈥檙e living through a long Hanover winter.

As if freshman trips, hall-bonding, and a host of common interests weren鈥檛 enough, there鈥檚 one more thing that tends to unify a diverse group of undergraduates: a fondness for their school. Student satisfaction ratings are among the highest in the country, and tend to breed an odd phenomena: the 鈥淚-love-everything-that鈥檚-green-and-related-to-Dartmouth鈥� mentality. At first, anyway, it seems exceedingly hard to find anything you don鈥檛 like. Of course, students do not love it blindly. In the past years, issues of race and sexuality have sparked debates, as has the age-old issue of whether or not the Greek system should be abolished. And despite impressive numbers of students of color (they compose approximately twenty percent of the student body) and international students (they compose more than seven percent of the student body), the institution continually strives toward a communal balance of supporting affinities and interests with the institutional need of integrating students to enrich the intellectual discourse. As a perfect example, the school supports affinity housing (such as Cutter-Shabazz for students interested in learning more about African-American issues), but has the housing available to all students with genuine interest. Though these issues certainly reflect the issues in society, the sense of community yields a dialogue that is open and respectful. It is safe to say that students have a very real fondness for their school鈥攏ot only during the years they attend, but in the years to follow.

Tucker Foundation

A host of other popular programs falls under the auspices of the Tucker Foundation, which organizes all the volunteer activities on campus. About one-third of the students devote time to programs like Big Brother/Big Sister, Adopt-A-Grandparent, Students Fighting Hunger, and Habitat for Humanity. To facilitate volunteering, the Tucker Foundation has cars that students can use to travel to their activities. In addition to organizing鈥攁nd often funding鈥� volunteer activities, Tucker is also the umbrella under which all the campus religious organizations fall. Most recently, the school dedicated the new Roth Center for Jewish Life, which will provide space for Jewish religious services, an annual Holocaust commemoration, and social events.

Racial/Ethnic Groups

Students also spend a lot of time participating in groups organized by particular racial or ethnic affiliations. Groups such as the Afro-American Society, The Dartmouth Asian Organization, The Korean-American Student Association, Africaso, Al-Nur, La Alianza Latina, and Native Americans at Dartmouth all have large memberships. The Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance, a campus gay and lesbian organization, also tends to be a vocal force on campus.

Publications

Working on student publications is also popular. The Dartmouth, said to be the oldest college newspaper in the country, resides in the same building as the campus AM and FM radio stations, which are completely student-run. The newspaper is supplemented by a number of specialty publications, including the Stonefence Review, a literary magazine, Sports Weekly, Main Street (the Dartmouth Asian Organization鈥檚 publication), Black Praxis (the Afro-American Society鈥檚 publication). Woodsmoke, an outdoors magazine, and The Dartmouth Review鈥攖he reason that so many outsiders mistakenly think of the college as a conservative bastion, The Dartmouth Free Press鈥攖he liberal campus newspaper, and The Dartmouth Independent, which strives to present varying viewpoints on pertinent issues.

Campus Committees and Groups

Students also serve on campus committees, in the student government, and in organizations that try to educate the campus about problems that affect the campus, such as alcoholism, sexual assault, and eating disorders. Many also sing in one of the eight a cappella groups on campus. For those who don鈥檛 sing, attending their shows is a favored pastime. (About now, you鈥檙e probably beginning to understand why that daily planner comes in handy.)

Hopkins Art Center

The Hopkins Center, or the 鈥淗op,鈥� designed by the architect who was responsible for both Lincoln Center and the U.N., is the hub of the arts on campus. Interestingly, it鈥檚 also the home of the campus mailboxes. They were put there, goes the rationale, so that students would be forced to take notice of all of the Hop鈥檚 artistic offerings. Besides housing three departments (art, music, and drama) and a jewelry studio, the Hop has incredible films, plays, and concerts. In a recent term, for example, the Hop played host to:

Ang Lee (on campus for the U.S. debut of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
Wynton Marsalis
Itzhak Perlman
Oliver Stone

The hop also features movies; you could conceivably see about thirty-plus films per term, time and responsibilities permitting.

Hood Museum

The school’s other cultural center is the Hood Museum, which houses over 60,000 college-owned artifacts. The collection, which draws over 40,000 visitors annually, is particularly strong in African and Native American Art, nineteenth- and twentieth-century painting, and contemporary art.

Parties, Carnivals, and Fun

OK, so students are busy, you say. But do they have any fun? The resounding answer to that question is yes. Dorm parties are a big deal first year, as are Homecoming (fall), Winter Carnival (winter), and Green Key Weekend (spring). Each fall, it鈥檚 the responsibility of the first-year class to build a big wooden structure in the center of the green鈥攁nd make sure that it鈥檚 still standing on Friday night for the big bonfire. On that night, there鈥檚 also an alumni parade, many speeches no one hears, and lots of parties. Winter Carnival, perhaps Dartmouth鈥檚 most famous social tradition, is complemented by a huge snow sculpture on the green, and for the very brave, a dip in the local pond. Besides the dorms, fraternities, sororities, and coed houses there are central party areas. No one joins a fraternity, sorority, or coed house until sophomore year, but those who do generally form close relationships with the people in them. The merits of the primarily single-sex Greek system are heavily debated on campus, although for the time being it seems to be here to stay.

For those who aren鈥檛 into the Greek scene, there is a host of other social opportunities. The college often sponsors comedy clubs, hypnotists, concerts, and something called 鈥渃asino night,鈥� which tends to be incredibly popular with the high rollers on campus. And, contrary to popular belief, people do date while taking classes. However, the on-again, off-again nature of the D-plan鈥攜ou鈥檙e there for nine months, and then gone for six鈥攈as been known to put a crimp in many a budding romance. Sorority and fraternity formals are popular date functions. Finally, right outside campus is the quaint town of Hanover, which has one good movie theater, a few bars, and a ton of reasonably affordable restaurants.

People always asked me what I found to do in Hanover, but the truth was, I was busy all the time. I loved the fact that my friends and I couldn鈥檛 go anywhere particularly exotic: it made us all so much closer to one another. Had there been the distraction of a big city, I鈥檓 not sure I would have formed the fabulous friendships that I did.

Student Enrollment Demographics

Student Graduation Demographics

Athletics

More than seventy-five percent of the campus participate in either intercollegiate, club, or intramural sports programs. The athletic center鈥檚 modern facilities include two pools, basketball courts, squash and racquetball courts, an indoor track, a brand new 14,000-square-foot recreational fitness center, a ballet studio, and a gymnastics area. Outside, there are tennis courts, an outdoor track, and the football stadium. The school also has its own skiway about twenty minutes from campus, and buses run to and from it six days a week during the winter. If you decide you want to ski, you can get a season pass to the skiway, a seasonal bus pass, and rent skis, all for under $200.

My skiing lessons were Tuesday mornings, and as I was headed up the lift, I always used to think how crazy it was that I was here skiing, when almost everyone else I knew was either in class or at work. Was I spoiled!

Alumni

Dartmouth churns out large numbers of graduates headed for lucrative jobs in investment banking and consulting; hundreds of companies have gone “headhunting” at the college, looking to recruit prospective employees.

Of course, not everyone from the school heads off to the world of big business. Medical school and law school are both popular options for many recent grads, as are M.A.- or Ph.D.-tracked graduate programs. In a recent year, about twenty-five percent of the senior class was headed right back into school. Additionally, by the time they鈥檝e been out of school for five years, about seventy-three percent will have gone back to some school.

The working crowd, meanwhile, tends to be attracted to jobs in education, social services, advertising, and publishing. Others teach English in foreign countries or head off to parts unknown with the Peace Corps.

Even with so many varied directions, the one thing you can be almost sure of with most graduates is that they鈥檒l come back to Hanover at some point. The alumni network is incredibly vibrant, and Homecoming and reunions are always well-attended.

The alumni magazine is one of the strongest in the country. Each class produces a newsletter several times a year.

Graduates don鈥檛 just stay in touch with each other, either. They also stay in touch with the college. Over two-thirds of alumni contribute to the school’s alumni fund, making the endowment one of the largest in the country. Alums also keep up with recent graduates. The Career Services office keeps extensive files on alumni who are willing to be contacted about their jobs, and the networking connections are consistently strong. Naturally, graduates tend to like their school, and like others who went to their school.

Since I鈥檝e been out of college for over a year, I鈥檓 surprised in a way by how involved I still am with Dartmouth. I recently attended the twenty-fifth Anniversary of Coeducation and was heartened simply by the sight of so many bright, articulate women who shared my alma mater. Dartmouth has exposed me to so many wonderful ideas and people that I鈥檓 realizing it鈥檚 something I never want to give up.

Prominent Grads

Salmon P. Chase, Former Secretary of State
Louise Erdrich, Author
Robert Frost, Poet
Buck Henry, Film Director
Laura Ingraham, TV Commentator
C. Everett Koop, Former Surgeon General
Norman Maclean, Author
Robert Reich, Former Secretary of State
Nelson Rockefeller, Former U.S. Vice President
Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), Author
Andrew Shue, Actor
Paul Tsongas, Former Senator
Daniel Webster, Orator and Statesman
Henry M. Paulson, 74th United State Secretary of the Treasury
Timothy Geithner, 75th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York

Faculty

It’s an understatement to say that the college has an incredibly strong faculty. Likewise, student-faculty relationships are excellent, and classes for the most part are small. Also, the most popular departments at the school tend to be the strongest, so you can expect to find a lot of history, English, government, chemistry, and language majors.

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