Dartmouth College
Reviews

Safety and Security Is Good

The Safety and Security on Campus is observant, but understanding and lenient. The Good Sam policy allows for a student, who is in danger of alcohol poisoning, to receive necessary care without getting in serious trouble.

Cute Small Town

Hanover is one of the safest towns in one of the safest states. There is almost no threat for crime and the dining off campus is pretty good. Hanover does not offer much in terms of night life, but offers all the necessities to facilitate your on-campus life.

I love it!

Dartmouth weather is AMAZING! I'm from Texas and have never experienced a real winter. I have had so much fun sledding on the golf course, ice skating on the pond, and having snow ball fights on the green. A large, warm coat is definitely necessary. The other seasons are beautiful here too. It does rain quite a bit though. Grab an umbrella and some rain boots and you'll be fine.

Kinda Sucks

The student parking lot, A-Lot, is really inconvenient. It is nice to have a car though. Hanover is small, and I enjoy going to restaurants in different towns.

No Pressure

I never drank in high school, so I was really worried about the social scene here at Dartmouth. Now that I'm here, I absolutely love it! I have a few drinks now and then, but there is absolutely no pressure to drink, even at the frats.

Inclusive

Anyone can go to any of the frats and hang out, play a game of pong, or dance. It's so different from the exclusive Greek life at southern state schools. I love it!

The Weather Is Good

Love the outdoors, to snowboard, fish, swim, hangout. All the seasons make it awesome.

Safety at the College

can walk across campus wherever and whenever. nothing to worry about

Alcohol & Drugs @ Dartmouth

Drinking is big on campus, but there is no pressure if you don't drink. Besides weed, Drugs are not common.

Lots of Options

The housing is great on campus. There are lots of comfortable options (though in recent years, more freshman have had to live in one room doubles or two room triples than in the past). There is also tons of affinity housing which offers a closer community than the traditional dorm setting.

Tons of Nightlife but Its All a Little Undesireable...

The nightlife is great in that there's tons of it, every night of the week, and free booze is easy to come by (especially if you don't mind drinking keystone) but, the nightlife is pretty much all fraternities. It's not a very couples friendly scene, and its really only singles friendly if you're looking for an easy hookup. Its a great and accessible nightlife for people looking for the stereotypical 'college experience.' Dartmouth lives up to the motto 'Work hard, play hard.'

High Enrollment of Native Americans

Dartmouth College has a very diverse community, including a great diversity within the Native American community. The Native American Program is awesome and helps aid Native students throughout the year.

Good Food, Bad Value

Although there are a few places on campus to eat, there is only one place i like to go. With the meal plan from fall term, I ended up having to pay dining services $100 because I exceeded my flex-dollar allowance. The food is great at The Hop, but the price is outrageous.

Cozy, Welcoming Environment

Hanover is a small town, nestled within the trees of New Hampshire. Since its location is quite rural, it leaves students of Dartmouth College with a very home-like and comfortable environment. It seems as though everyone knows everyone. The sense of community is definitely a plus to the Big Green.

Not Too Bad

Dartmouth has a website where all the listings of available off campus apartments are. The closer you are to campus, the more the apartments seem like dungeons, but the farther you go and the better the deal.

Good for both

Most people are athletic and attractive here. However it is an ivy, and looks will be at or below your average State school. My sister attended Yale, so I went there a lot in high school, and the guys here are slightly more attractive, and the girls slightly less. Dartmouth is the second most attractive Ivy under Yale, and therefore give guys an A and girls an A-/A.

Not Much to Do Outside of Campus

Although there is not much to do off campus, the programs and activities that are available are fun and interesting. If you ever get so bored on campus, it is very easy to get to Boston or another bigger city, but it is expensive.

Good but Not Great

The food isn't bad by American standards (it's probably pretty good, actually), but as an Asian-American who grew up in a household eating Asian food, I get bored quickly with what's offered here. Also, the meal plan required for freshmen is annoying and a waste of money; using 20 meal swipes a week is not economical.

Super Safe

Dartmouth provides a really safe environment with the local police and campus security having a prevalent presence. The police are much more strict than S&S when it comes to certain things though.

The Bubble on the Hill

"The college on the hill" is located in Hanover, New Hampshire, a town that basically consists of Dartmouth College plus a main street. Despite its size, students find that Hanover offers a surprising variety of charming local restaurants, a farmer's market in the spring, free weekday shuttles to neighboring towns like West Lebanon, and some of the best gelato in the country. There is no nightlife, but Dartmouth's Greek scene more than makes up for it, and Boston and NYC are Dartmouth Coach bus rides away.

Undergraduate Teaching

Dartmouth focuses strongly on undergraduate teaching. I always had a professor for all of my courses, and most of the classes were small. Extra help was always available.

Tradition

Tradition sums up Dartmouth. A lot of students joke that the old school alums refuse to let the school move past its ultraconservative, all-boys, animal house reputation. I have had multiple friends visit Dartmouth, and they all look around bewildered at pretty much everything that goes on here. Greek life is DOMINANT (about 70% of soph-seniors are in it... its a huge, huge deal), boys rule the school (literally and figuratively), there is a clear tension with gender and sexual assault issues (no matter whose "side" youre on), and there is a lot more binge drinking than one would expect at an ivy league. The administration caters almost exclusively to alumni input, and there is a strooong disconnect between the students and the administration. There are some awesome traditions, including DOC trips, orientation activities, green key, the homecoming bonfire, etc. But traditions of the social life and "power structure" here are unlike anything I have heard of elsewhere. It is very intense and it caters to the whims of white, affiliated, male athletes. That is awesome and fun for some people and miserable for others. Its just a preference thing.

Available If You Want It

If you want to live off-campus, there are many options available. It's a little cheaper than living on-campus. On-campus housing is really nice though, so most students choose to live on campus. Students who live on-campus can almost always get a single or an on-campus apartment (the apartments are four singles and two bathrooms with a living room and a kitchen).

Study Hard, Party Harder

Dartmouth has something for everyone. The intense ivy league academics, the crazy fun social frat scene like none other and tons of clubs, activities and sports to get involved in. It's Dartmouth so it isn't easy and yes it's cold and yes we're in New Hampshire/the middle of nowhere (lol). But each of those has a positive that outweighs the seemingly negative. Dartmouth wouldn't be an ivy if it were easy (you can't imagine our alumni network), it's AMAZING for skiing and any winter sport you can imagine and the "middle of nowhere" syndrome means our campus is legitimately a close-knit community. We literally study hard and party even harder. Come for a visit on one of our big weekends (Homecoming, Winter Carnival and Green Key) or just any regular day and you'll see just what makes Dartmouth so ideal.

Greek Scene Is the Only Nightlife

Hanover is in the middle of nowhere so the only places to go out are fraternities and occasionally sororities. It's still a good scene and there are sick parties all the time. Also all the alcohol is free.