Dartmouth or Brown?

slipper1234
Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:56:00 +0000

Hey guys, I posted this a while ago but I think its pretty accurate. Also note I know a more about Dartmouth (as I attended it…so a little bias there) but I did spend a lot of time at Brown as well. This choice seems to come up really often!

This is so close to home, so I guess I’ll write alot. Dartmouth/ Brown was my main choice and I ended up choosing Dartmouth but not after some serious thinking. The funny thing is that even after serious contemplation, I literally could not decide and choose Dartmouth basically after a coin flip of sorts lol! During college I visited Brown probably 7-8 weekends, however, so I know it really well. The great news is there is no wrong choice: I loved Dartmouth more than anything, but I am totally convinced I would have loved Brown just as much. These are by far my two of most favorite schools (throw in Stanford as the other).

1) Academics

They are both incredibly strong academically, with very similar placement rates into the top grad schools. Brown’s widely known for having no distributive requirements, which means you don’t have to take any classes you don;t want to. Dartmouth’s distributives are very broad but I liked being forced me to take a couple classes (like Acting for my art) that I might otherwise not have taken. Dartmouth is awesome in terms of teaching and professor engagement, and the school is absolutely focused on the undergrad. One of my majors was anthro and I got $10K for my thesis research and TWO incredibly active thesis advisors. I literally had some classes with less than five people at the upper levels. Dartmouth professors take you to dinner, they encourage you, and they are amazing. I think part of the reason Dartmouth grads do so well at grad school admissions is the fact that they know their professors so well. Frankly its amazing. I am sure Brown’s academics are great too, but Dartmouth does have a terrific LAC-like feel. People love to discard the D-plan but I thought it was awesome. Sophomore summer is most students favorite term.

Study Abroad?
Most students at Dartmouth go on a study abroad, many go on 2-3. Its not only a thing to do, its a way of life. The language programs are OUTSTANDING, you not only have small classes a preparation, you have drill with its “rassias method” which is an amazingly fun way to really learn a language. Study abroad programs include a professor and about 20 other Dartmouth students (which is different from other schools which have people from al schools). There are special trips every weekend and you get to become incredibly close to your fellow Dartmouth students. Also since Dartmouth is on the quarter system it allows for multiple study abroads.

2) Recruiting
Dartmouth does better with traditional firms (investment banks, consulting), frankly I would Dartmouth only trails a couple schools (Harvard, Wharton, Princeton). The Dplan is a huge edge as firms have special non-summer internships just available for Dartmouth students. Thus there’s far less competition to get your foot in the door, and by the time you are applying for a senior summer Internship you already have a strong brand under your belt, putting you at the head of the line for those positions. Brown will “get you there” but Dartmouth has an edge.

3) Campus location and closest city/town location
In my opinion Brown’s nearby Thayer Street blows Hanover out of the water. East Providence is hip, cool, and there are alot of great restaurants and it really does cater to students. Providence itself isn’t that wonderful, but its awesome in the area where Brown is located. Conversely, Hanover is beautiful but I found the town to be more stodgy and its not catered to students. In terms of the city, Brown wins bigtime.

ON the other hand, Dartmouth’s location in the mountains is amazing. The outdoor access is awesome, people ski during the winters on the skiway, jump in the river in summers. To be honest only a select group of students are into the hardcore outdoors. Its the casual outdoor stuff like snowball fights during the winter, riding your bike through the beautiful fall leaves, the swimming in the river during summers, BBQs by houses on the river, the awesome stars when you are out at night, etc, etc. During the summer the campus feels like a summer camp, during the winters its charming and warm.

4) Social scene
Brown is very active socially. The dorms restrictions are very lax so first-year parties abound. There are house parties, frat parties, bars, and people even venture downtown to clubs. Its a more cliquey scene, however. Different groups tend to stick together more, so its less community oriented. It feels more like a University than Dartmouth, which is a good or bad thing depending on what you are looking for.

Dartmouth is very community oriented. The Greek scene is huge, but its unlike any other greek scene anywhere. The houses are all open for parties to everyone and there’s actually a campus list publishing the big parties that weekend. What usually happens is there will be two-three big dance parties a night plus lots of houses will have smaller groups hanging out. The cool thing is there is usually alot of energy as everyone is going to the same key places or are at least aware of the big parties. Its absolutely open and everyone is absolutely friendly. In addition to the greek scene there is a house party scene, smaller gatherings in dorms, plus niche scenes like the organic farm crowd or the Ledyard Canoe club crowd. The nights are full of activity. Dartmouth’s downside might be that its jock culture does have power with the frats, places like Chi Heorot, Theta Delt, and Psi U are centered around sports teams and I think this can intimidating. The upside is there is a large social scene outside these places so they are avoidable.

I think its safe to say Brown has smaller gatherings for niche groups (although there are big parties!), while Dartmouth has bigger parties that everyone goes to all the time. B

5) Campus population
Both are equally diverse, although Dartmouth is conceived as less diverse than Brown the truth is they are about equal. But since its smaller the sheer number of members of these groups is smaller so it might feel less diverse. However, people interact between groups at Dartmouth amazingly well. Yet I think some minority groups find comfort in sticking together and someone who grew up only hanging out with a particular minority crowd might like Brown more. Also, Brown does “feel” more international in terms of student makeup.

In terms of student politics I would say there is a huge overlap of “liberal” students at both. Dartmouth is more accepting of people with a conservative (libertarian) point of view, but overall I’d say 80-85% of Dartmouth is liberal while 85-90% of Brown is liberal. Frankly its not that large a difference.

Overall thought the students at Dartmouth overwhelmingly are the playful, fun loving, brilliant type. People tend to play down themselves which is great and refreshing among the Ivies. My experience with Brown students is that they are very similar but a little more “edgy.” Also Brown might feel more open for someone not used to Dartmouth’s culture.

I’ve been to and know alums from many many schools and hands down these two seem to provide the best college experience. You just can’t go wrong.