Visiting Dartmouth College, the Smallest Ivy League

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Last day of high school junior year. By the gates, there will be stressed students who almost grew out of adolescence but is not yet an adult. They will pass a busy summer specked with infinitesimal moments of fun. The heat waves will carry a certain restlessness: one year into IB, a few months after AP, a half term of A-levels, and five months until the college application deadline.

This summer, I am that student.

I attend the Beijing City International School (BCIS) and intend to study in the United States, with a focus on small private universities and liberal arts colleges.

I will be a creative writing major with a minor in communications and media. I love the arts and journalism and everything in between. in classic post-covid fashion, I am going to visit schools with my dearest dad.

Join me as I take you on my college visit tour across the US.

My school list:
Little Ivy Leagues:
Williams College, Amherst College, Pomona College
Women’s Colleges:
Scripps College, Smith College, Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College
Ivy Leagues:
Brown University, Dartmouth University
Liberal Arts Colleges:
Middlebury College, Bates College, Hamilton College, Kenyon College
Private Universities:
Tufts University, Chapman University

On a semi-sunny morning. The car passed by groups of running girls and dog-walking professors and stopped behind a Georgian style building, the admission hall. This is it, I thought, the smallest Ivy League university - Dartmouth.

First, let’s unpack its name and reputation. Dartmouth calls itself a college but in reality, it is a university. It has a world class graduate school for law, medicine, and business. However, it is just small enough to focus on undergraduate education, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 7:1 and 62% of classes under 20 students. The introductory courses have around 60-70 students, but professors will definitely know your names and invite you to dinner or pet-sitting sessions once you complete their credits.

Speaking of semesters, Dartmouth has 10-week terms, which are fast and rigorous. Students call their schedules the “D-Plan” and customize it with quite a bit of flexibility. There is a free term for trying new extracurriculars, sports, internships, and alumni connections. 

Despite popular opinion, Dartmouth is not the “slacker” of the 8 Ivy League schools. Most students are admitted through early decision – a binding commitment that truly shows interest and loyalty. Flourishing in business, finance, engineering, pre-medicine, and law, Dartmouth has a well-connected alumni often looking to specifically hire Dartmouth graduates. Think New York City, Washington D.C., Goldman Sachs, Kirkland&Ellis, John Hopkins Hospital. However, the social sciences and humanities are not a hit-or-miss either. Latin, Anthropology, History, and Literature stand just as tall.

Dartmouth is beautiful. All prestigious liberal arts colleges and universities in New England tend to be beautiful, but Dartmouth has its own flair. It is mostly pedestrian, and people love walking because everyone says “hello” to everyone, and if you have a 9 a.m. course, you better save time for chatting to schoolmates on the way. Fortunately, most courses are much later and students sleep in just fine.

Dartmouth architecture is old-style British Georgian, with luxurious grass lawns for picnics and afternoon walks. Dorms are co-ed and single-gendered, with a small number of one room singles, many more single room doubles and two room doubles. Greek Life is popular but not stereotypical Southern School Greek life, with wrist bands and frat boy naming ceremonies. Rather, it is whacky and weird in a good way. Students do not ‘rush’ until sophomore year, so they can investigate all social groups before choosing one. Varsity and Club Sports are even more popular, with 60% of the student body being athletes. Best of the best, though, Dartmouth is collaborative rather than competitive. Students are so passionate about helping each other it seems strange at an elite Ivy League Institution. If you are sick enough to leave class, someone will find your email and send their notes to you. If you need homework tutoring, some students do it for free.

Dartmouth Fun Facts

Before orientation week, freshmen are randomly grouped together for First Year Trips, usually an outing trip that help students bond. There will be a survey to detect the levels of ‘nature’ students are comfortable with.

The religious groups in Dartmouth sometimes just allow people who aren’t religious in for dinner and free food.

The science center uses sustainable energy!

For applicants: Dartmouth has a special recommendation letter – a peer recommendation. Someone who is not a teacher or an adult in a position of power, ideally a teammate or sibling or classmate or friend should write a reference letter for you. Basically, are you a kind person to those around you?

A little side note, it is a slightly preppy school with traditional white, elite New England culture. It values diversity and inclusivity, but traditions play a huge role as well (good traditions, of course).

As an English major, Dartmouth isn’t the school for me, but if you are sporty, smart, social, extraverted, kind, caring, collaborative, and math, STEM, business, law, or medicine oriented, Dartmouth is absolutely perfect.

Images: Helen Wang

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