Dartmouth College - Academics

Quick Stats

College Prowler Take

All classes at Dartmouth are taught by professors—collectively, they are one of the College’s winningest assets. Students consistently cite their profs as THE most outstanding part of their Dartmouth experience. Many profs are surprisingly easy to build relationships with that extend well beyond the confines of the ordinary classroom environment. Seek them out—they are warm, caring, sharing, and wise. Dartmouth also offers a diverse array of foreign and off-campus study opportunities. Thanks to the D-Plan, Dartmouth students have flexibility built into their schedules, allowing them to take advantage of all sorts of stupendous off-campus offerings. Students typically take three courses per term, which is ten weeks long and seems to pass by very quickly, so if you’re stuck with a course that you don’t like, you know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Likewise, if you get stuck with a course that you really, really don’t like, you can always drop it or choose to “NRO” it. You’re never locked into anything, and most Dartmouth students do a fair bit of “shopping” around for the right course at the beginning of each term.

As would be expected of an institution of Dartmouth’s caliber, classes are challenging, professors are brilliant, and academic experiences are positive in most cases. “Work hard, play hard” is an oft-quoted and appropriate motto. While Dartmouth students do like to let loose on the weekends and remain surprisingly non-competitive when it comes to grades, most of them study more than they let on, particularly as finals draw near.

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Students Speak Out

DarIM says: Dartmouth College 2013 Other

Profs range pretty extensively,... Profs range pretty extensively, but the majority here are really Ivy League caliber. You can get into some small classes with really accessible profs or take a huge lecture once in a while and be surprised by how well some profs can keep the attention of an enormous audience. 12345 Academics: February 20, 2009 Report

DarCC says: Dartmouth College 2014 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies, and Humanities

The professors are generally very... The professors are generally very enthusiastic about their jobs and willing to help. Make sure to get to know your professors outside of the classroom—visit them at office hours. Dartmouth has well-respected professors in every field. Dartmouth is particularly known for having a very strong government department. 12345 Academics: February 16, 2009 Report

Anonymous says:

While classes vary in difficulty,... While classes vary in difficulty, it’s not very hard to get a B plus, which is the campus-wide median. Go to class, do your reading, and you should do just fine. 12345 Academics Report

DartmouthPerson says: Dartmouth College 2014 History

The professors at Dartmouth are... The professors at Dartmouth are some of the best. Small classes are especially challenging, and it is up to you to prepare in advance in order to participate. I do not know how professor-student relations are at other colleges, but at Dartmouth, professors are always open to speaking with students one-on-one during office hours. That said, the relationships are certainly more professional than anything else—to become "friendly" with a professor would mean that the professor would be that rare congenial type and you would be willing to put in the time to get to know him or her. 12345 Academics: February 18, 2009 Report

Anonymous says:

The Student Assembly maintains a... The Student Assembly maintains a Web site where students review classes they’ve taken (http://sa.dartmouth.edu/guide). It’s a great way to see whether a course you’re interested in is good or bad. 12345 Academics Report

Facts

Did You Know?

According to the Institute of International Education, Dartmouth has the highest fraction of students who study abroad (47%).

In need of luck during finals? Just rub the nose of Warner Bentley’s bust in the Hopkins Center.

A perennial powerhouse, the Dartmouth Forensic Union policy debate team has won six national championships.

Dartmouth students measure their progress towards graduation with credits rather than hours; each class counts as one credit.

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Name: Kirk Greenwood
Hometown: Warrington, PA
Major: Compartive Literature

Kirk likes to talk and listen (almost in equal measure), drink green tea and experiment, and is a lover of many things: people and Nature, innocence and wisdom, beauty, pain, happiness, experience.

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