Dartmouth v. Yale

momrath
Tue, 04 Apr 2006 23:49:26 +0000

dcollegemom, I’d say your son should visit both again just to reaffirm which community and physical atmosphere is more appealing to him.

My son LOVED Yale. The focus on the arts and the residential colleges were extremely compelling, but, in the end, for his ED choice he went with a school in the same “neighborhood” as Dartmouth. The outdoorsy environment won him over.

Yale’s location is to me both it’s greatest strength and weakness. The gritty aspects of New Haven can be off-putting, but the proximity to urban culture and major cities is a definite plus. We didn’t visit Dartmouth so I don’t have a one to one comparison, but my understanding is that the physical environment is quite different and that this should be a clear reason for choosing one over the other. On the prestige scale Yale may be a shade above Dartmouth, but really, both are plenty prestigious and well known.

On the other hand, it’s quite possible that your son really has decided on Yale already and is trying to respect your almamater and let you down softly. If he seriously balks at visiting Dartmouth, then accept Yale and celebrate.

Either way he has two wonderful choices!