Why Choose Dartmouth?

I did recently post about my undergraduate college acceptances and Dartmouth was one of the schools I listed. I just recently visited Northwestern and I really loved it and have yet to visit Dartmouth. As Commit Day is approaching, May 1st to be exact, I would just like some insight on to why you would choose Dartmouth in general? I know they have one of the best alumni network in the country and their name really helps me out in IB placement, but is there anything else besides that? I just don't want to live my life wondering "What if I went to Dartmouth, an Ivy League" if I commit to Northwestern.

 

I chose Dartmouth over Northwestern myself. Dartmouth offers you better recruiting, better aid, and the Ivy League branding. We're getting shafted in the news these days, but the drama should subside once the administration grows some balls.

You should visit both schools and only pick Northwestern if you really don't like the Dartmouth culture.

 

Great setting in NH next to the Ct. river A lot of opportunities for sports / outdoor activity (25% of students are D1 athletes) Smaller student body with a very strong sense of community Great alumni network. Most of the BB and elite boutiques recruiting heavily out of Dartmouth and greek organization are very useful for networking. More importantly, the Dartmouth name will carry weigh in later stages of your career.

Don't be dissuaded by the recent press coverage re greek life. Go visit for Dimensions and stay a night to get a sense of the social scene. I was one who never pictured myself in a frat and ended up in a leadership position after joining one. Greek life at Dartmouth is very inclusive, and if you have a small amount of social skills won't have a problem fitting in and enjoying it.

 

I will take the other side of the argument. If you are driven, smart, sociable both schools are equal in terms of recruiting. Northwestern is a great school as well and offers many opportunities if you want to be in Chicago and if you network you can definitely end up in New York. If your heart is set on New York then Dartmouth obviously has a better network and recruiting opportunities. As a freshman who faced this decision many many years ago, I would say I took the less 'prestigious' school and it still worked out perfectly for me. I cannot imagine what life would be like if I were to take the Ivy league school instead.

 

I feel like I can answer this question pretty well as a junior at NU who went through the recruiting process this year, and can say unequivocally that Dartmouth is the better choice. If you want to work in NYC, Goldman was the only bank that comes to campus for info sessions and has an online resume drop. All the banks recruit for Chicago IBD positions but it's near impossible to end up in nyc without networking and going through the process as a non-target.

If you're interested in S&T like I was, your only options are GS S&T and a handful of prop shops. I don't want to sound too bitter as I did manage to land an S&T SA in nyc through a Kellog grad, but this was mainly due to luck. I can literally count the kids with front office roles in nyc on one hand, do yourself a favor and go to Dartmouth, besides the winters here are brutal

 
Best Response

I posted this in another thread. NU was one of the schools I turned down to go to Dartmouth:

PM me with any questions. I had a similar choice when I got my college acceptances. Long story short, went to Dartmouth as a public school middle-class minority, didn't get my head stuck up my own ass about all the "culture" stuff, had a great time and made lifelong friends, got into banking despite pretty mediocre grades (for those of you wondering if Dartmouth really does have a leg up over the other names on this list in terms of Wall Street recruiting - YES).

I felt that the experience of Dartmouth really helped me have a decent time in banking. Banking culture isn't that different from frat culture, and the idea of being in a "bubble" where the people you spend the most time with are your fellow analysts in your group and everything you think about is related to a narrow topic was a natural corollary to the Hanover experience. Also, it helps when pretty much everyone you know from college is either on Wall Street or at a Wall Street law firm (Dartmouth is great at producing professionals, so you always have a network to fall back on for a new job, advice, or just to complain about your current job). I'm finishing up my banking stint now and heading to a top PE right afterwards so I'm happy with my outcome.

I benefitted from the Dartmouth connection at every step of this process. Fellow alums helped me get my current banking job. I reached out to the alumni network internally at the bank, which ended up being where I got my referrals from. I landed interviews at several PE funds without headhunters by reaching out directly to the Dartmouth people who worked there. From a purely professional perspective, Dartmouth has delivered way about its weight. From what I can tell this is a fairly standard experience for Dartmouth grads who go to Wall Street.

 

you're screwed man, dartmouth and the other ivies get railed against because they have a pretentious vibe and they're all trust fund brats...

seriously, dartmouth has a great network from what i hear as far as alumni are concerned and the school is certainly well represented on wall street. if you go there dont worry about your school...just work on differentiating yourself now and getting a good gpa.

 

dartmouth has a great rep on the street. probably best after harvard, yale, princeton, stanford, wharton and mit. the kids i've worked with have been chill and hilarious. you guys are serious freakin' drinkers up there. haha. my friend from there is an ace at missile cup.

 

That's ridiculous - lots of kids go to Dartmouth and other top colleges because they want to go there over a larger school like Harvard or Yale. I'm from a top LAC (didn't apply to H or Y) and when I interned at a large buyside firm this summer, Dartmouth was as well-represented as Harvard, among interns.

 

That's ridiculous - lots of kids go to Dartmouth and other top colleges because they want to go there over a larger school like Harvard or Yale. I'm from a top LAC (didn't apply to H or Y) and when I interned at a large buyside firm this summer, Dartmouth was as well-represented as Harvard, among interns.

 

Hank Paulson is a Dartmouth alum. There are tons of distinguished Dartmouth alums on the street. Oddly enough, though, I can think of one BB bank that doesn't recruit there all (but I think it's because it's a pain to go out there).

 

Dude I dont care if Bernanke, Paulson, Greenspan, Grasso, Quattrone, etc went to Dartmouth. You will be hard pressed to find ANY people who gave up Harvard, Yale, MIT, or Princeton for it.

Dartmouth is a great school but it is not just out of the top 10 on accident. It is not a top 10 school (on an overall basis) or out of the top 5 MBA wise (accordign to US News) on accident. It is an okay school in comparrison it is a cutoff point.

No one ever says, "I want H and Y but Princeton is my sure thing" People do say, "I want H or Y, but at least I have Dartmouth". I went to Philip Exeter Academy for secondary though and at least that is how we treated it.

 
tbroker:
Dude I dont care if Bernanke, Paulson, Greenspan, Grasso, Quattrone, etc went to Dartmouth. You will be hard pressed to find ANY people who gave up Harvard, Yale, MIT, or Princeton for it.

Dartmouth is a great school but it is not just out of the top 10 on accident. It is not a top 10 school (on an overall basis) or out of the top 5 MBA wise (accordign to US News) on accident. It is an okay school in comparrison it is a cutoff point.

No one ever says, "I want H and Y but Princeton is my sure thing" People do say, "I want H or Y, but at least I have Dartmouth". I went to Philip Exeter Academy for secondary though and at least that is how we treated it.

Really? When did you graduate from Exeter? I'm a current student and people don't say that anymore, it's so much more competitive now than it was when you were here...

 

WSJ Dartmouth was ranked #1 for MBAs. Depends on what ranking you're looking at. FYI I didn't / don't go to Dartmouth. Tbroker - the top 10 rankings aren't based on how well it places on Wall Street, or it surely would be in the top 10. Stay on topic and don't throw out bullshit rankings simply because 'your group at ML' didn't have any Dartmouth kids.

 

^just to note, its common knowledge that the wsj mba rankings are crap. i.e. the '05 rankings have Columbia at No. 7, Harvard at No. 8 and Stanford at a whopping No. 30 (behind such illustrious names as Michigan State and Ohio State).

 

there are plenty of Dartmouth grads in all areas of finance. All of the ranks of BB, many manning trading desks, many buysiders, HF managers, VC, etc. D grads tend to know the meaning of hard work. They know when to put their head down and crush it, and when to take the edge off. Fiercely competitive, especially when it comes to work ethic and drinking. Many strong personalities have been shaped by their time on the pong tables.

 
positivecarry:
there are plenty of Dartmouth grads in all areas of finance. All of the ranks of BB, many manning trading desks, many buysiders, HF managers, VC, etc. D grads tend to know the meaning of hard work. They know when to put their head down and crush it, and when to take the edge off. Fiercely competitive, especially when it comes to work ethic and drinking. Many strong personalities have been shaped by their time on the pong tables.

I was going to award the "Tool of the Day" Award to some bozo in tech support named Aaron, however, you get it. You are obviously a Dartmouth grad, current student, hoping to go there, or never got in. The reason starts in your second sentence and continues to the end. "The meaning of hard work?" seriously I went to MIT (big math school for you retards) and took a quant PhD class and thought it was doable/kind of hard. Meaning if you seriously think undergraduate study is hard you are a fucking dumbass. "Put their heads down and crush it", that comment maybe won you "Tool of the Week", but it is too early. Seriously, who says that? If you are not crushing a fine piece of ass then well you are not crushing shit. Fiercely competitive when it comes to drinking? What does that even mean you puke and rally? And lastly, if your personality was shaped at a pong table where you are most likely rubbing elbow with some dude, you're a tool.

In summary, I am in no way claiming one school is better than another. I picked MIT over Harvard, why? I don't really know, I think it was because I liked something about it more. I will agree that Dartmouth has an old boys club like many schools, even the shitty ones and many are in the financial business, the political field, medical field, etc. However, it is not as strong as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, or MIT. That said I believe you are just touting it too strongly.

Also, whoever picked an undergrad for exit opps is a tool. That said there are so many more schools I rather receive an education from like Williams, Amherst, etc. Dartmouth doesn’t even have an official mascot and its motto is Vox clamantis in deserto, seriously. In the end all of this would have been settled if Webster lost Dartmouth College v. Woodward. In closing the best brain of finance Dartmouth ever had was Salmon P. Chase (no he did not start the bank carrying his namesake), and if you disagree with that well you do not know shit.

 
positivecarry:
there are plenty of Dartmouth grads in all areas of finance. All of the ranks of BB, many manning trading desks, many buysiders, HF managers, VC, etc. D grads tend to know the meaning of hard work. They know when to put their head down and crush it, and when to take the edge off. Fiercely competitive, especially when it comes to work ethic and drinking. Many strong personalities have been shaped by their time on the pong tables.

I can't tell if positivecarry was being really serious or really sarcastic - hilarious either way.

 

I've been reading anonymously this board for awhile now, and i will most likely cancel this account right after this post. In any case, i've seen the 'star posters' of this board, the ones who run their mouths, the ones who make valid points, the ones who are full of shit, etc.

I'll leave you with this to decide for yourself. good riddance.

http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/67183-how-reach-my-goal-2.html

and if that wasn't enough to convince you: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-business/63851-new-guy-needs-advice.html http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/63852-hopeful-4.html

douche.

 
gogol:
I've been reading anonymously this board for awhile now, and i will most likely cancel this account right after this post. In any case, i've seen the 'star posters' of this board, the ones who run their mouths, the ones who make valid points, the ones who are full of shit, etc.

I'll leave you with this to decide for yourself. good riddance.

http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/67183-how-reach-my-goal-2.html

and if that wasn't enough to convince you: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-business/63851-new-guy-needs-advice.html http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/63852-hopeful-4.html

douche.

Best.

Post.

Ever.

 
gogol:
I've been reading anonymously this board for awhile now, and i will most likely cancel this account right after this post. In any case, i've seen the 'star posters' of this board, the ones who run their mouths, the ones who make valid points, the ones who are full of shit, etc.

I'll leave you with this to decide for yourself. good riddance.

http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/67183-how-reach-my-goal-2.html

and if that wasn't enough to convince you: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-business/63851-new-guy-needs-advice.html http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/63852-hopeful-4.html

douche.

LMAO omg!

tbroker please never come back again. Jesus Christ you are pathetic.

 

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