Dartmouth v. Yale

mtnester
Fri, 07 Apr 2006 20:46:33 +0000

Encourage him to see Dartmouth!! You are biased yes, but my son LOVED his visit and will attend there. Reading about a school and visiting it can change one’s perspective 360 degrees. It seems to me that good students today are very brand aware and there is certainly no lack of information out there heralding the wonders of Yale. Yale has more name recognition than Dartmouth and so your son may view Yale as somehow the more prestigious of the two and therefore his logical choice. And maybe it is (more prestigious). I cannot speak to that (nor is it something that is much of a priority for me quite frankly.) Like you, I am more concerned that my son will land at the best place for him.

My son was 100% certain he wanted to attend Yale (and I wanted him there as well from all I had read.) Fortunately he is not only a great student but an outstanding athlete and he was able to visit classes and overnight at 4 of the Ivys, including Yale, on official campus visits. (48 hours long). Dartmouth became his first choice after his visit there–and not by a little, it was way out in front of the others. We could not believe how certain he was that it was a perfect fit for him. He thought the kids were amazing, “so friendly, very smart but laid back and not trying to impress others all the time with their intellect”, he loved the food (one of the best ranked colleges for food), thought the campus and surroundings were gorgeous, and thought the D plan provided some amazing opportunities for study abroad with its more concentrated 10 week terms. He said the kids loved their school–every one he met. Your son could not possibly have evaluated the school while at an alumni function (a snore for a teen I would bet). I am sure that for other students, Yale would be the very best fit. But my son essentially took the “admitted students” trip already and it turned him completely around.