Dartmouth vs. Princeton vs. Columbia?

roweatsleep
Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:09:34 +0000

“Dartmouth is completely unknown here, and doesn’t get much recognition in Asia either. But it’s obvious that Dartmouth is what you’re looking for in a college experience, so go for it.”

I don’t know where this is coming from. I have family in the Middle East and I spoke to them when I was choosing between Dartmouth and Columbia and they said they didn’t know of either. Then I spoke with my sister-in-law in Canterbury in the UK and she said that there Dartmouth is better known than Columbia, but that may just be because of Dartmouth’s exchange with Oxford.

So don’t believe people when they say “school X is not known here in Y.” There are smart people everywhere and if you meet someone who doesn’t know about your school, then they aren’t worth mentioning it to. The only people you should care about knowing where you went to school are employers.

And fyi I chose Dartmouth over Columbia and MIT for similar reasons and I don’t regret anything.