The kids who’ve taken DS, generally love DS. Small seminars with talented, motivated professors is the great college dream that often gets lost in a haze of very large intro level lecture classes where the professor is a tiny little figure down at the front of a huge hall, and the only personal interaction is with a TA.
Yes, it is definitely worth it.
That being said, it isn’t a great fit for kids who are leaning STEM and need to take a large number of classes in a major sequence to stay on plan or for those who want to use their first year to explore a wide range of subjects.