<p>Like etselec said, most colleges don’t shift toward empty during the summer months. The premises and facilities are used as camps, and Summer School classes are offered. Other schools hold research internship programs and the faculty take advantage of the breaks to work on research without those pesky classes. Certainly the campus is less full, but a large portion of facilities get used.</p>
<p>This puts the LAC at a disadvantage- they don’t have enough students to support a summer term. The faculty would raise hell if they needed the summer to do their research.</p>
<p>As I recall, the D-Plan was instituted when Dartmouth went co-ed. It allowed the school to accept women and not reduce the number of men admitted. It allowed them to serve more students with the same facilities as they gradually built out their physical plant. They also began to promote more and more study abroad, which also helped thin out the campus. This is exactly what the original post seemed to be suggesting. It worked for Dartmouth. The D-Plan worked so well in allowing students flexibility and the opportunity for study abroad and internships that it is now a fixture of campus life, long after the original reason for it has disappeared.</p>
<p>tickle: the concept is that the existing bricks and mortar could process MORE students on a year-round calendar. Dartmouth essentially doubled student size with roughly the same physical plant.</p>
<p>The UCs looked expanding the summer to a full-term (or two half-terms), albeit breifly, prior to opening UC Merced. But, as you note, it was a non-starter for the faculty.</p>
<p>bluebayou: I believe you are correct on the concept, but a little off on the numbers.</p>
<p>At introduction, D-Plan allowed for an approximate 33% (not 100%) increase in the student body, (said increase to be filled by women). ( it appears target was or became 775 men - 225 women)</p>
<p>Even now, with the not insignificant physical plant built since 1971, the increase in freshman class size from the pre D-Plan level is still slightly less than 50%.</p>
<p>I only think schools on the quarter system could pull this off. I really wouldn’t want Stanford to adopt the D-plan though. It would mean staying at home during the winter without your friends from home and then going to school during the summer when your friends are at home. The internships and stuff sounds cool, but I personally think there are less internships during the Winter and that we quarter school kids don’t compete directly for internships with semester kids because their schools end in May while ours end in June. Though the D-plan works for Dartmouth because their winters suck. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Not a fan of the D plan. Sorry.</p>
<p>Actually the Dplan came about one year when Dartmouth realized it had way too many incoming freshman than it could accommodate- more head than beds.</p>
<p>^This is the real reason for the D plan, I believe. When Dartmouth came to do an info session at my son’s school and described the plan, it became obvious to us that it was because they did not have enough dorm space. Tufts also doesn’t have enough dorms, but at least they’re up front about it and say that they only guarantee housing for 2 yrs. But I guess since all the ivies guarantee 4 yrs. housing, Dartmouth became creative with their D plan, making it mandatory that students leave campus for several terms. That way they have a housing rotation year round. I am not a fan of this plan.</p>
<p>Haha. Yea, you have to admit that it’s pretty cost-effective though.</p>
<p>I personally like it… it teaches you to live life at a very fast pace…which to be honest is something that you can’t just transition into easily. It also allows you to free up your schedule during soph/junior year to either study abroad, do research, study for MCATs, whatever it is that you need to do to further your studies. </p>
<p>I think a lot of people are also confusing the idea of the D-plan with the quarter/trimester system as a whole. I mean… I’m sorry that it’s rushed, but it teaches one to use time wisely. Stanford, Northwestern, and UChicago all have the trimester schedule format.</p>
<p>I don’t think it should be mandatory for a college student to vacate the campus for any period of time he/she is enrolled as a student (except summer). Studying abroad is great for those who wish to pursue it. So are internships, but neither one of them shouldn’t be forced upon students. It should be optional. That’s why I don’t like the D plan.</p>
<p>desiw:</p>
<p>I’m not the biggest fan of the D-plan, but please, it doesn’t do that. Leave terms are leave terms. You don’t have to get a job or an internship. You don’t even have to go on any FSPs or LSAs - they’re completely optional.</p>
<p>The not wanting to take leave terms thing is unusual, so I imagine the D-plan ordinarily wouldn’t cater to it, but it is even more flexible than it sounds. You can skip sophomore summer and do an FSP or LSA somewhere else. You can go on an FSP or LSA in your senior year. And if you want to never take a leave term and just go all the way, graduating a year or two early, that’s fine - I know quite a few people who did or are doing something like that. Nobody is forced to take a leave term - I’ve never heard of someone doing that just because they had to.</p>
<p>My main gripe with the D-plan is not about Dartmouth but the US immigration system, which is specifically geared to semesters with a break in the summer. If you want to do sophomore summer as an international, you either have to graduate early, or get a new I-20 (the form allowing you to stay as an international student, which can be quite a hassle to get just because of the paperwork and money involved). And this is mainly because your leave terms get screwed up - the US government is not expecting you to take a break in the middle of winter. So if you do that, then by law you have to stay in school after your leave term for the equivalent of two semesters. The flexibility of the D-plan is gone.</p>
<p>I’d be glad if more schools adopted the D-plan, if only because then there might be some lobbying to get the law to change. At the moment, it’s just a major PITA for internationals.</p>
<p>As for the concept of quarters/trimesters instead of semesters, I have to say I’m a fan of this format. I like the faster pace and greater variety. I think it actually lets you get more depth in your classes just because you’re focusing on three (or occasionally four) at a time.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of the D-Plan. It’s terrible for rigorous science/mathematics classes.</p>
<p>John’s right about the immigration point. I have international friends who struggle a bit with that, esp. since they can’t stay sophomore summer even if they wanted to. </p>
<p>As for the other complaints…I wouldn’t write off the D-plan “just because it’s hard.”</p>
<p>That’s ridiculous.</p>
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<p>Dartmouth does not guarantee housing all 4 years. Freshmen and sophomores are guaranteed housing. Seniors get the first pick in the room draw, so this essentially leaves juniors as the odd men out. Even during years where there were “housing shortages” (when the '9s were over enrolled before guaranteed housing for the sophomores ) every student who did not have a room during at the end of room draw, had a room before school started in the fall (they decided to keep the Lodge open to accomodate students instead of closing for renovations)</p>
<p>Ultimately the student decides as to when they want to take a leave term which can be taken as early as sophomore year. Some students do a study abroad, others work (one of my D’s friends who is a current senior was on only for the fall term junior year and then went on to do 3 consecutive IB internships with 3 different banks). I know my D went 4 straight terms sophomore year, took an FSP fall term with many of her friends, worked and prepped for the LSAT winter term and returned to campus spring term. One firiend spent a year teaching in the Marshall Islands. It is not unusual for students to take leave terms during junior year to prep for LSATs, MCATs and GMATs. She also had friends who did not take leave terms during freshmen, sophomore and junior year, ended up graduating early.</p>
<p>The D plan has many advantages but also some disadvantages, the flexibility to take a term off during the year not only opens up options, but it also encourages students who may otherwise not to travel abroad or get an internship. Unfortunately in my opinion the D plan makes it hard for students to keep ties with friends at home.</p>
<p>I think college in an of itself makes it hard for students to keep ties with friends at home especially when you are going to different schools. College is a growing experience. People take on new friends, develop new interest, travel and go on spring break with their friends from school, which is sometimes done at the expense of the friends back home. 4 years later, D really only stayed in touch and is friends with about 4 friends from high school, most of her core group of friends are her college friends.</p>
<p>My DS is giddy with joy with the D Plan. He is applying for 3 foreign study programs, an impossibility at any other school I know of. He’s already lined up his winter internship at an organization that rarely takes anyone but juniors for summer internships. If he gets the Fall FSP he wants he’ll stay on in Europe for winter junior year with internships much easier to find then too. What’s not to love?</p>
<p>With many of you mentioning internships during the off term, does Dartmouth have listings of available internships you can apply for or are you totally on your own to find one? How hard is it to arrange? Thanks!</p>
<p>There are plenty of options;</p>
<p>You can go to the big book in career services and look of alumni who may be working in an area that you are interested in</p>
<p>You will get a listing from career services as to what companies are hiring for internships</p>
<p>You can look up on-campus recruitment process for internships.</p>
<p>you can find your own</p>
<p>If you are part of the greek system, sometimes alumni who are part of your house will e-mail members to let them know of openings.</p>