Friday, June 21, 2013

Duncan's Daring Date with Destiny at Dartmouth


We had another early start today, which wasn’t so bad; I think I’m actually getting enough sleep and used to the time change.  We started off our day with a nice, healthy, and delicious breakfast from Dunkin’ Donuts.  I am of course being facetious; the donut was alright, and definitely not healthy.  We then commenced with the three-hour drive to Dartmouth in the van, during which, at some point, each of us fell asleep, not including Nate of course (as far as I’m aware…).  The scenery was pretty but repetitive, helping to make sleep a little more attractive.  Once we finally got there, I was amazed.  The campus is beautiful.  As soon as we got out of the van I stopped and took a picture of the first thing I saw, and you can check that out just below.

Our first stop on campus was at the Co-Op, just like at Harvard and MIT, but this time I didn’t buy anything.  I’m not a big fan of wearing Dartmouth’s color: green.  After the store we met with the Dartmouth people we would be having lunch with, including a professor, an undergrad advisor, and three students.  The student that sat at our table, Rob, was really interesting and he was majoring in bio-medical engineering.  Seeing as I’m interested in engineering, this was a really good opportunity that wasn’t so apparent at the other schools; that opportunity being a chance to discuss what engineering is like at the school.  I must say I was intrigued!  The liberal arts style of the school really catered to my varied interests, and seemed to create an engineering program with more breadth than that of one at a technical school.

After lunch we were taken on a tour with a group, which was fairly boring, as most group tours are.  That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the campus.  As I said before, the campus is beautiful, and the tour just reinforced that.  I have some pictures of the tour below, for your viewing pleasure.
I really liked Dartmouth, but it seems a bit too small for my tastes.  The school has around four thousand undergrads, and the town has a population of seventeen thousand people, including the college.  Hanover is very removed from any kind of urban area, and that was a bit of a turnoff for me.  I really enjoy city life and urban schools, as well as very large schools.  This was the only downside, really.  The academics seemed right up my alley, and the large emphasis on physical activity was really attractive for me.  It gave the campus a very live feel.  Maybe my thoughts on small schools will change; maybe Dartmouth could be the right place for me. 

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