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<p>A school with a focus on UG education is more likely to be an LAC than a university. Dartmouth continues to call itself a college although it has world class graduate programs in business, medicine, and engineering as well as other liberal arts disciplines.</p>
<p>As has already been noted, Dartmouth scores on UG education and strong study abroad/language programs. There is also a service culture that permeates throughout organizations on campus (e.g., athletic teams, club activities, frat/sorority life).</p>
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<p>Of course, you already know this.</p>
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<p>Big cities are a bus ride away. Montreal, too. Most students do not want to miss the weekend’s activities on campus. Terms abroad are similarly challenging. As much as you want to go to Pretoria for a quarter of Environmental Studies, you hate to miss what is going on in Hanover.</p>
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<p>My guess would be that 90% have a lot more than fun. 8% have fun. 2% chose the wrong school of whom 1% chose the wrong school but did not transfer. As you have already indicated and so many have recommended, the visit is an important data point for her decision. Please have your D be proactive in contacting the EC’s that are important to your D to arrange visits with students engaged in those EC’s. Teams and clubs want to find their next generation and will be very open to arranging a meeting if you lay out your interest and qualifications. If you have laid out the former, there is a message in a non-response – either they do not believe your D is qualified or they are an unorganized group of college students. I expect that most will have more than one EC, so if there are two no replies at Dartmouth, I would be concerned, but in no way would I give up prior to your visit.</p>
<p>If you are visiting this summer, these will be the students who will be seniors and running those organizations when your daughter arrives on campus. If she connects with these people, bingo. If not, need to find the people with whom she connects where she will be spending the bulk of her non-academic time at other institutions. I’m not sure how others feel, but I believe that fit is much more important in EC’s than academics. You’d like both to be tens, but the former is where you spend your “fun” time and want to be among kindred spirits. In academics, your individual investment will speak for itself.</p>