Opposites: Dartmouth v.s UChicago?

JHS
Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:02:59 +0000

Well, I think your post has it just about backwards. If you don’t care about “research university v. liberal arts” (something Dartmouth would bridle at, a little, because they think they are a research university, too, but comparatively you are right), or “large city vs. rural”, then you might as well flip a coin, because those factors describe most of the important differences between the two colleges. Those differences are real, and worth caring about. Things like prestige and community atmosphere – both colleges have plenty of those, and you would have a hard time measuring the differences.

Precisely because it is less of a research university, Dartmouth is more undergraduate-focused almost by definition. Does that mean anything for the education you get or your later success in life? Hard to tell; probably not. Some people are going to like that better, though, and others are going to prefer being where the cutting-edge action is, which means lots of grad students and stuff going on other than holding your hand and asking if you have understood everything before we go to the next chapter.

At Dartmouth, people do a heck of a lot more in the great outdoors than they do at Chicago. They also drink more and have more massive, campus-wide parties resembling orgies. That’s because there’s nowhere else they can go. So you have awesome school spirit if you can remember anything when you wake up. Whether that’s more or less dangerous than your exposure to panhandling and petty theft in Hyde Park is an interesting topic for debate.

Chicago almost certainly has a somewhat more intense atmosphere than Dartmouth, academically, and the people who go there like it that way. People there don’t seem to waste a lot of time pretending to be too cool for school. They LIKE school. So do the people at Dartmouth, but they don’t talk about it as much.

As for fun coming to die – if you don’t get the joke, then by all means go straight to Dartmouth, because you are not going to like Chicago much.

Really, they’re both fine educational institutions, and your degree from either will communicate that you are smart and successful to anyone who matters. Each college has a fairly obvious character that’s different from the other, but both inspire pride and loyalty in their students. Dartmouth students have simply adored it for centuries. Chicago has been up and down, and seems to be pretty firmly up right now, but every undergraduate has a list of likes and dislikes about it – that’s just how they are built. It’s pretty tough to be drawn equally to them. Go with your gut.