Dartmouth College Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Kelly

yes

Royce

Not really. Maybe we were all overachievers in high school (since it's pretty hard to get into Dartmouth), but on campus people tend to be chill/relaxed. I don't think we drink more than students on any other college campus, but our drinking habits are blown way out of proportion since the student body is so small and since the frats have such an obvious presence. Most students here have only one true outdoorsy experience - the freshman orientation trip (DOC trips).

Abhishek

The stereotype is accurate. The problem is that the campus is isolated so wealthy students find it a place to vent frustrations by drinking alcohol. If punishments became too severe, students may turn to harder narcotics. The only solution is to foster inter-fraternity joint-student activities like multi-house parties/festivals.

Corey

Are Dartmouth students misogynistic, drunk trust-fund babies? No; that describes less than 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the population (which is true of any old private college).

Jerry

-60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the campus is involved in atheletics but there are no pressures/you are not treated differently if you aren't one. -There are a lot of parties. The students here get a play work balance. Generally it makes it a lot more fun. -The college has things going on everyday. You are normally too busy to think about off campus. Only time you feel this is during a long weekend in which you decide to stay back.

Laura

I believe all of these stereotypes have some background and validity, but far from paint an accurate picture of the school. While Greek life, both fraternities and sororities, play a large role in the social atmosphere of the school, they aren't as rambunctious as portrayed in the movie Animal House, and the culture isn't as it was in the early 1960's, from when the movie was set. Students do drink a lot of beer and know how to have a good time, but they also spend time in plenty of other productive ways, such as making jewelry in the jewelry studio, catching up with friends in collis student center, or hiking in the white mountains. The stereotype of Dartmouth being very conservative and based on the old boy network is quite inaccurate. I would consider most students liberal, and all but some of the older alums would oppose the old boy network system. Fraternities are sometimes referred to as "male dominated social spaces", but most times there are just as many women there as men and I have always felt comfortable being in the frat houses as a woman. The third stereotype is half true. Students are definitely all very smart, but I would say few are stuck up. Most people are laid-back and don't flaunt their accomplishments. There is almost pressure sometimes to pretend that you don't care much and are completely easy-going, but the reality is most people do care greatly about academics as well as social life/status. I'd say a Dartmouth student is like a duck: you see them calmly gliding across the surface, but underneath the water they're paddling like crazy.

Kate

Yes. Obviously the majority of us are pretty smart, and most of us like to have a good time, too.

Elena

Not at all. You can't categorize a Dartmouth student. We're a kaleidoscopic bunch.

Matt

1. Not at all. An unofficial motto that I hear often around campus us "Party hard...study harder." Does alcohol play a role in the social scene on campus? Absolutely, but there are plenty of people that don't drink at all and they aren't shunned or treated any differently. Just as with any college there are some students that abuse substances, but a majority of students still get their work done (the library is always packed on Sunday nights and there are few party attendees during midterms and finals). 2. Dartmouth's isolated location is a big turn off for many people and discourages them from applying. So do you have every high school senior in the country applying (like they do to Harvard or Yale?). No, so it is SLIGHTLY less difficult to get in. But don't let that fool you. Everyone here is really smart and talented and although the school is really competitive, it's not cutthroat. If you're used to being the best in high school and succeeding at everything, Dartmouth is the perfect environment to give you a wakeup call. Competitive enough so that you have to work really hard to get A's but you'll have a lot of support and guidance. 3. I'm a city kid from California and I'm rarely bored here. Since there's not much outside of town, there is ALWAYS something going on on campus. In my freshman year of college I've got to attend the Democratic Presidential debates, meet Kevin Bacon, travel all over the east coast with the Crew team and experience my first frat parties. Blitz (our version of e-mail and AIM) will become your link to what's happening on campus and even though you'll get dozens everyday, you'll find out about many fun things. 4. I don't know where this generalization came from. Granted, there is a small, but vocal group of conservatives on campus. Nobody really cares about them and they're main purpose is to stir up trouble. Their newspaper, The Dartmouth Review is covertly delivered to the front of people's dormrooms in the middle of the night because nobody would care to look at it otherwise (and if someone saw them distributing that bullshit they'd be ostracized). Much of the student body is very liberal and open to people of different backgrounds and cultures. 5. With the name "Dartmouth" on your resume you won't have to worry about finding an internship or job ever again. Our alumni are CRAZY, okay. They are so loyal and in love with the school that they practically throw unheard of opportunities at current undergrads. One pet peeve that I have is that the school isn't well known amongst the general population. Who cares! The ones that matter (grad schools and employers) know that you go to one of the best universities.

Nick

Nope. Not only do we have a lot of people that are ridiculously fun at varying degrees of sobriety, but the Urban Chic crowd running around will remind you of the intellectual haven to be found in Hanover.

Erik

It is a wonderful place to be if you are good at finding the beauty around you; students are intelligent, enthusiastic, laid-back, friendly, and generally very happy. However, if you take the wrong attitude towards the place, it's pretty easy to wake up and really mope about the cold, or the isolation. I think one of the really essential things that comes out of living here, though, is that you find yourself really learning to actively engage in life - I come from california, and my friends and I sat down freshman year saying "you know what, we want to love the cold winters, we need to go learn some snow sport instead of feeling depressed about being stuck inside all of the time." And because of that attitude, I have heard of only a few people in my time here who claimed to be anything less than delighted with the school. So many people love D that it's hard not to catch on and feel proud of the campus. On my freshman tour around the campus, an upperclassmen stopped and told us, "You guys are incredibly lucky you've still got four years here. Enjoy it."

Derek

Yes!

Anna

The last one

Abby

The first two are definitely not accurate at all. The reputation as a "boys" school still carries a little weight in my opinion, but it is getting more and more woman friendly every year. I felt repected and valued as a woman there. The third stereotype is definitely true, though not EVERYONE drinks.

Molly

There are some people who are indeed "granola-y" and yes there is a population that parties very hard.

Adam

yes, I would say this is the baseline, but it's better to assume that most people are reaching beyond this baseline as most students are and do achieve something very different from the norm here. This is a diverse campus in that regard, with many pocket communities.

Amanda

For a large majority of the student population it's accurate.

Matthew

Dartmouth students do not fit any stereotypes. I thought that I went to a diverse high school, but I was blown away by the varied, diverse nature of the student body here. There is really no 'stereotypical Dartmouth Student.'

Blake

Not true. The social scene is at the Frats but you don't have ta sip ta be kewl.

Jay

Although Greek life is huge at Dartmouth and many students do drink and party, many students also choose not to drink or drink in moderation. The party scene here is what you make of it.

Cameron

There are certainly guys like that out there; stereotypes don't come out of thin air. But, no, on the whole Dartmouth has a very diverse array of students. It's an ivy league school; sure, each one has their own "character" and attracts a certain type of student, but on the whole, people go here because they're smart, and there are all kinds of different smart people. (Misogynistic jocks who drink like fish are usually recruited athletes. They're not always smart. But they're everywhere -- don't think HYP doesn't have them, cause they do.) Drinking is indeed pretty rampant, though. Yeah, you can choose not to, and nobody's gonna ostracize you, but you'll definitely feel less integrated into the Dartmouth social scene. The school provides alternatives for people who don't drink, but not many great ones. Nevertheless there are non-drinkers who fiercely defend their sober and happy college experience. So, I guess you could be one of those.

Kendall

That's true to some extent. I do know people who party 3 or 4 nights a week. I know people who only party once a week. And I know people who don't drink at all. I mean it's all up to personal choice.

Sonia

Not everyone drinks and I don't feel pressured into drinking. I think it's good to know what people think about Christians because Christians aren't perfect and it's just another thing for Christians to work on. I personally love my extracurricular activities, which takes up large amounts of time. So between that, classwork, and friends, I don't think there's nothing to do.

Greta

Yes, for the most part I think in general they are

Liza

I think Dartmouth is more of a liberal campus than most other Ivies. However, there are pockets of conservative voices that are also heard. As for the stereotypes about the students, I would say that there is a great variety. Most kids appreciate the beautiful setting and try to be active.

Frances

Not really. Dartmouth students like to THINK they party all the time, but the school is becoming increasingly academically focused. I've talked to students a few years older than me who said Dartmouth lived up to its incredibly ragey reputation back when they were freshmen, but the times are changing. Yes, Dartmouth kids make sure to work hard and play hard, but not to the extent Animal House would have prospies believe. I think a lot of students here have struck a great balance between going out and still working super hard in classes, with a minority falling into either extreme.

Jordan

All of these people exist at Dartmouth, however, the stereotypes are not comprehensive. If not racially all that diverse, Dartmouth is at least diverse in the types of people (personalities, beliefs, etc.) who go here.

Blake

The first is, of course, true for some students. The second (extremely helpful) is for the most part - I have been shocked with how willing people are to help you succeed academically. As for the third stereotype, the strongly male-based alumni have been known to foster an atmosphere that makes stepping out of traditional sex-roles challenging. However, the great thing is that there are hundreds of extremely smart, motivated and strong women to challenge these pressures.

kelly

i mean there are definitely a lot of kids that are snobs but i do not think that it is any more than any other school would have

Kelsey

Dartmouth is in the middle of no where, but it is a great little community. There all types of people here, some of my closest friends are from New York City and I come straight from the beaches of San Diego. There is an immense amount of variety here. Alot of the guys here get upset because the girls dont dress up as much as other girls at other schools when they go out. This is true because it doesn't make any sense to dress like that when you have to walk through snow and ice to get to a fraternity.

Evan

Although there are always people who don't particularly like to party, the stereotypes are mostly true. We're definitely a work-hard/play-hard school.

Royce

Dartmouth students do drink a lot and frat parties are what they are stereotyped to be Dartmouth is not super conservative like it used to be. Overall more liberal

Jesse

Drinking is definitely prevalent on the Dartmouth campus, but its more by choice than by the fact that we have nothing better to do. Though I don't know many who avoid the party scene altogether, I know a surprising number of people who go out to frats and either don't drink or drink responsibly. That being said, drinking is a large part of the social culture here, and even if you personally don't want to partake in it, you will be surrounded by it. As far as the winter goes, it really is not that bad. Buy some boots and a down coat and you'll be just fine.

Sean

Yes, except about being "conservative". It's an Ivy League school so the students are overwhelmingly liberal but there is a newspaper on campus called the Dartmouth Review that few people write and fewer read that is distributed free to everyone courtesy of conservative alums from way back. That being said, I never attended any other school so I really don't know what it's like in comparison to other schools.