Dartmouth or Notre Dame

josb104
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 03:32:58 +0000

So, I gained admittance to some really solid schools (GTown, Cornell, Dartmouth, ND, etc.), and I’ve narrowed it down to two: Dartmouth and Notre Dame. Obviously the major differences are:
Dartmouth–Ivy, academia, D1 rowing (I row), drastically smaller class sizes, better student-faculty ratio, Greek life, etc.
Notre Dame–Big Football/BBall teams, Catholic/strong religious presence, club rowing, bigger student body, etc.

I’ve come down to these two because I decided I want a classic college campus, or as close to one as is still available. The hard fact is that Dartmouth is an academic powerhouse with a great camaraderie amongst the students and alumni, while Notre Dame’s academics are inferior to Dartmouth’s, but its big-sports-school experience and undeniable brotherhood cannot be knocked.

I come form an all-male, nearly all-white Catholic HS on Long Island (Chaminade), so I’m trying to figure out whether cranking out the next four years at what is essentially a bigger version of my high school with intense academics and girls, or a 247-year-old bastion of educational excellence and fraternity will fit me best. If someone can answer this question for me, that will be a godsend, but any help/advice about either school will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks