Our son is wrapping up his FSP+ trip. Have any veteran Dartmouth parents been in touch with/thanked the host family? We are so thankful he was in good care. Is a small gift appropriate?
As the parent of an incoming '22, I hope that the vision of the editorial board at The Dartmouth comes true! http://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/03/verbum-ultimum-dartmouth-2022
^^ Amen.
Hi Dartmouth Parents,
I just posted something to the main Dartmouth page and it was meant to go here (Iām new to CC). It has to do with @sdteakās comment, and I really appreciate having the opportunity to read that editorial. My question is titled āFaculty and Administration head buttingā or something close. Thanks in advance!
Iāll repeat my comment here, but I think you were better off posting where you did for maximum exposure
I recommend reading dartblog.com ā and, yes, Joe is something of a gadfly, but I think he does a good job of reporting what he hears. Your concerns are not unfounded, but Iām not sure I would bail on Dartmouth at this point. Many (almost all) of the professors who were part of my 13ās experience are still there (and the couple who are not just retired in the normal scheme of things). I fervently hope that Hanlon will be gone before your daughter would graduate (too much to hope that he would be gone before she matriculates).
I, too, read with concern many of the posts in Dartblog. I was especially concerned by efforts under the current administration to grow the student body (this idea has since been dismissed.) I felt compelled to write to Joe Asch. His reply assured me that Dartmouth is a wonderful place. I think he writes from a position of wanting Dartmouth to be the best it can be and calls things out as he sees them. Nothing is perfect.
He doesnāt usually have much good to say about the upcoming capital campaign either. Now that the details are out and the announcement made, I wonder if his feelings about it have changed: http://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/04/college-announces-3-billion-capital-campaign-the-call-to-lead
May be to late for you but for future reference ā my daughter brought two nice gifts on the front end to her French family that represented our hometown ā a glossy photo book and a box of local sweets. They loved the gesture and welcomed her with open arms. As a result, they really treated her like family, inviting her on many trips to their weekend CASTLE, really a castle! They have stayed in touch by Christmas cards each year since then and reaffirm an open invitation to visit. Worth every penny of the $25 that the picture book and local treats cost on the front end.
@b1ggreenca : Details? What details? Iām not impressed; I seriously doubt that Joe will be. The biggest ādetailā appears to be the renaming of the graduate student program, which many view as antithetical to core Dartmouth in the first place. Not the guy who gets his name on it, I guess.
One thing to consider for graduation, which may be a long way off ā donāt discount staying in a dorm for commencement weekend. We visited Dartmouth MANY times over the four years our daughter was there and always stayed at a nice hotel ā generally Marriott Residence Inn or Courtyard, both adjacent to the Coop for high-end groceries and about 8 minutes from campus. We never considered staying anywhere else for graduation and had cancellable reservations in place for commencement. HOWEVER, when we got the info email in the spring from Dartmouth about commencement arrangements on campus, we thought āWhy not?ā Best decision we ever made was to stay on campus. First of all, the price was ridiculously low. Also, we got parking right behind our assigned dorm and never had any problems due to traffic and parking issues getting to the many morning, noon and nighttime campus events we wanted to attend . Check in and out was well-organized and easy. The dorm was convenient (right on Tuck Mall), quiet, clean and the bathrooms were remarkably āprivate.ā The beds and linens were comfortable. Well worth the savings of $1,400 we had been prepared to pay for a hotel! It also made it very easy to go back to the suite to rest during the day. Our other family members staying at local hotels and condos asked to come rest in our rooms during the day! Keep that option in mind for graduation! We laughed at how reluctant we had been to stay in a dorm and how wonderful it was, and used the hotel savings to spend almost a week in Newport. Enjoy being a student with your own graduate for a weekend! Youāll feel younger for it.
We loved staying in the dorms for graduation. It was convenient and easy to attend all the functions all over campus. Enjoy the ride, it goes by quickly.
^^ Too quickly. :((
Any guess to the Freshman Parentsā weekend for Class of '22? Weāre on a tight budget, but want to be there, so weāre trying to plan early. Weāre guessing 5/3-5/5, in other words, is it normally the first weekend of May or does it move around?
@WiganUK According to the Dartmouth website First Year Family Weekend is May 3-5, 2019 www.dartmouth.edu/familyweekends/firstyear :-B
FWIW, First Year Family Weekend is a madhouse - hard to get reservations, etc. My kid said sheād rather have me come the next weekend, so thatās what we didā¦
āCommencement programs will not list names of graduatesā
Rather sad, IMO.
http://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/05/commencement-programs-will-not-list-names-of-graduates
^^Agree. In this entire country there was not one printer who could produce them on time? In this day and age when most of the process is electronic anyway?
A comment at Dartblog: āThis is ludicrous. They have a beautiful print office at Dartmouth. They print our class newsletters on new digital printers (and save us a lot of money over the other local print companies). I have a feeling that someone doesnāt know how to order the program print job properly.ā
Iām sorry, I donāt understand why people are upset about this. Most of these programs just get thrown away. Those that want to can order a keepsake with all of the names to be sent to them, free of charge.
My then 91-year-old mother could not travel to the ceremony. She prized that program until the day she died. It was not thrown away. I still have two tucked away with other memorabilia. They are not being thrown away. I still have the program from my law school graduation that my mother saved for me. No, Iām not a hoarder, but I prize physical things that reflect special occasions in life.
I see your point, @HMom16, that a program can be ordered after the fact (https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2018/05/years-commencement-program-undergoes-changes), but, sorry, that does not quite feel the same. Thatās like getting a blank piece of paper and being told you can get your real diploma later. Oh, wait, they do that too. Does Dartmouth really care about its students and their families any more?