Could I be happy at Dartmouth?

[rightnotleft]

<p>absolutely. it won’t be that hard to find people who share your ideas, interests, and beliefs. to base the entire student body on a few exaggerated stereotypes blindly writes off 4400 exceptional people who make up the Dartmouth undergrad population</p>

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I am very outdoorsy and would immerse myself in the DOC. Can the DOC form an alternative social scene, separate from the frats?

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<p>The DOC is a social network into itself. It is the dominant social scene for many people (smaller than the greek scene, obviously, but vibrant and diverse in itself), and if you feel happy there, it’s a good place to be. Most of the kids who make up the DOC social scene do not participate in greek life, but … that’s painting both scenes with too broad a brush.</p>

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Do introverts feel pressure to be very social and outgoing?

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<p>External pressure? no. To be honest … nobody cares what you do with your personal time. Most people would like to hang out with you, to get to know you and figure out what kind of person you are, especially your first year … but if you don’t want to do it, nobody is going to force you. I would say that it’s more likely that you’ll face some sort of internal pressure to go out and meet people and “have fun”. That would describe how I felt at times.</p>

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Do Dartmouth students find joy in learning? Could I find a group of friends who have conversations about our classes, ideas, books, etc. at lunch or late at night in the dorms?

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<p>Do all dartmouth students fit that description? Of course not. Basically no group of 4400 students is homogeneous. Do some? absolutely. Whether or not you meet this ideal group of people depends on how many people you meet and the context in which you meet them. I know I had a ton of conversations like these while i was at Dartmouth. I also had a lot of late-night conversations about sports, gossip, and tv shows. If you seek out friends of that nature, you’ll find them. If you wait for that group of friends to just fall into your lap, you might be disappointed.</p>

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Is the quality of the visual arts classes and professors as high as the facilities?

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<p>I can’t speak to this. </p>

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Basically, I’m looking for a friendly, supportive, open-minded, passionate/intellectual group of friends and an active, fulfilling social life free from crazy parties/excessive alcohol and more focused on the arts, interesting conversations, deep and genuine relationships, etc. Could I find that at Dartmouth?

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<p>Definitely possible. I had that, minus the focus on the arts. Almost all my friends were science/engineering majors, but I had a few friends who majored in creative writing, languages, econ, soc, etc. as well. Is it the “dominant” dartmouth experience? no. But it IS a dartmouth experience that you can have if you want it and you try to have it. Don’t worry. </p>

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p.s. I know this is a long shot, but can anyone describe the Buddhist community on campus? Is it active? How big is it? How about Interfaith activities and Religious Life in general? Is it a struggle to make time to practice religion (which is mediation for me)? Thanks!

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<p>I can’t speak to Bhuddism on campus. I can say that many students make time to practice their religion. It’s all about time management. It’s not hard to find time if you make it a priority to find time. That’s true about everything.</p>