Best Ivy for the undecided

Nte
Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:05:57 +0000

I just want to put in another plug for Dartmouth. There is only one college, so if your daughter decides she wants to major in economics, or engineering, or whatever, she doesn’t have to do any paperwork or anything at all. It’s a very undergraduate-focused school, so your daughter will get a lot of personal attention. I know people here who arrived knowing what they wanted to major in and never wavered, people who switched majors three or four times, and people who spent their first two years finishing distributive requirements and taking classes across many different fields, and then decided on their major at the end of their sophomore year.

I highly recommend it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more specific questions.

ETA: If you are worried about her spending a lot of money on social activities, Hanover, NH is extremely cheap. Movie tickets, for example, are $4 ($3 matinee) for Dartmouth students. And, there are so many events on campus that are either free or $5-10. The one expense that might be an issue is if she decides to join a sorority (about 50% of eligible people - meaning, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) do, dues can get expensive (I pay ~$300/term). Most houses offer financial aid, however, and, because of the D-plan, you aren’t on campus paying dues every term.