Amherst vs. Williams vs. Dartmouth

help0dad
Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:09:37 +0000

Just returned from Dartmouth and Amherst … consecutive weekday mornings. Liked both schools academically, with maybe a nod to Amherst as a bit more serious and the open curriculum as a great concept. Dartmouth still requires the foreign language thing which is out of date … everyone speaks English in the world these days and language is no longer a barrier of understanding a foreign culture like it once was. But being right in the middle of Hanover, Dartmouth has a much closer connection to the local community. Much more like a Cornell & Ithaca or a Michigan & Ann Arbor. It is very hard to distinguish were school and town diverged. Now Hanover is much smaller than Ithaca or Ann Arbor, but the heartbeat of Dartmouth/Hanover was like one thing. Amherst seemed much more like a small finishing school outside of the town center. UMass was much more the center of town and dominated that aspect of the vibe of the community. Dartmouth’s buildings had the old-world appeal where it was like you could find your grandfather’s initials carved in the bannister of the student center. Amherst physically was more polished and new. Also, Dartmouth’s student pride around athletics is definitely up a level from Amherst … students said they actually loved fall football games and related gatherings with alumni, town and student body. We were told that mostly just alumni attend athletic events at Amherst. So Dartmouth gave off much more of the traditional collegiate “school spirit”. I thought the weekends of tradition … like the opening freshman bondfire and Winter Carnival … were unique gatherings of student, professor and town. Both are great schools, but not very much alike in my opinion. Based on recent visits, I would compare Dartmouth more to Cornell or maybe to Middlebury in the NESCAC than to Amherst (did not visit Williams).