Amherst vs. Dartmouth

Jestersz08
Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:59:42 +0000

I am currently a first-year student at Dartmouth; this is my 2 cents.
Drinking:
I visited both Amherst and Dartmouth post acceptances and concluded that the drinking scene at Amherst was less conducive to academics. At Amherst, my host shuttled me from dorm to dorm where there were kegs and hard alcohol in the common rooms. There are no frats; therefore, drinking happens in the Dorms. At Dartmouth, I feel that the drinking scene is no less and no more than at Amherst but is different because it is centralized at the Colleges 14 Fraternities, 9 Sororities, 3 coed organizations, and 2 undergraduate societies. The only drinking that occurs in the dorms is small room parties where friends just hang out. Personally, I think this is a big plus to Dartmouth, whenever I want to sleep or study, there are not distractions right down the hall. I could not picture myself being able to do this while the 2-room “fire and ice” party I witnessed at Amherst was being thrown. In addition, I felt the parties at Amherst were more about drinking and not about drinking and dancing. The dances at the frats at Dartmouth are huge and I have many friends who are non-drinkers who go just for those.

Size:
My personal opinion is that the others colleges in the vicinity of Amherst College detract from their community. On my visit, many people I spoke with lamented that they are wary about wearing school paraphernalia in town because the 18,000 undergrads at UMass look down on the “smart” 1100 Amherst college undergrads. That being said, I feel that Amherst has very little school spirit. This is one of my favorite things about Dartmouth, and why I chose it in the end. The community at Dartmouth is AWESOME. The town of Hanover has 11,000 people and half of them are students at Dartmouth. Every college-aged person you see is a fellow student. Nobody is ashamed to love their school, and to cheer for our sports teams (go Hockey!).

Conclusion:
APPLY to Dartmouth! Come to Dartmouth!