I loved my 4 years there, although I feel it has changed a bit since my senior year. A new President of the college has taken the schoool away from the undergraduate only focus that it has had for decades and begun moving toward greater faculty research and development of the professional schools. He has also built up the physical campus exuberantly. It's still remains one of the prettiest schools in the country, with a very devoted facultly. Just make sure you enjoy winter sports.
While I would definitely still choose to go to Dartmouth if I had to do it over again, potential students should be aware of a few things about the social environment. First of all, fraternities and sororities are the dominant social scene on campus, which need not be bad as Dartmouth Greek organizations tend to be less exclusive and more welcoming than those at other schools. Additionally, the fact that Dartmouth is a fairly small school that requires you to take a mandatory semester off at some point, dating is sometimes made difficult. Otherwise, my time at Dartmouth was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I would definitely recommend Dartmouth. It had the small town atmosphere I was looking for, and the cultural experience was brought to you. Dartmouth has great outdoor activities as well. If you need lots of shopping, it's probably not the place for you. If catalogs and the Internet will suffice, it's a great place!
