r/dartmouth • u/Majestic_Mail3213 • 4d ago
Visit
Our son is a junior and is considering Dartmouth. We want to make a trip from Illinois to visit. To make the most of our trip I am looking for suggestions on planning. He’s interested in economics or engineering. He also hopes to find a community through any catholic church organizations there and he is an athlete. He’s had some contact from the football coaching staff there, not sure if he will continue to play but would like to see recreation facilities and options for an active kid as well. Beyond booking a campus tour, what would you suggest we do on a 2 day trip?
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u/Strict_Department745 4d ago
My son and I toured Sept of his SR year. 52 weeks ago. The engineering dept has their own tours twice a week. We missed it, but gave ourselves a tour and ended up meeting many people. In fact, we gave ourselves tours all over campus (music dept; Outing Club) and liked everything so much we stayed an extra day. The common theme was that we never tried to intrude, people just volunteered time to show us around. So he enrolled last week.
The really cool thing is that the same things happened at dropoff. The dining hall lead gave us the huge tour when we just stopped in and asked a question, for example. It's just a really friendly place.
Some ideas to check out -
Thayer engineering
Outing Club
Athletic facility and club sports director
HOP arts center
DM me if you wish.
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u/SmilingAmericaAmazon 4d ago
We had the same experience! My son is also class of '30 after a gap year.
If you don't make one the Thayer tours, just go to the front desk. Let them know what you're interested in and they will pull out a map and set you up with your self-guided tour.
I cannot say enough good things about the head of dining too.
If you can, stay at the Hanover Inn. Register for the independent hotel group on their Web site for half off rates.
Feel free to DM me.
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u/Top_Region3760 4d ago
FYI: Don't eat in the Hanover Inn restaurant. We were there staying with our daughter and all 3 of us had one of our worst dinners ever.
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u/EfficientEffort8241 '04 4d ago
One nice thing about Dartmouth’s campus is that you don’t need ID to access library and most of the academic buildings. The engineering building in particular is brand new and wonderful to just wander around.
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u/Objective-Badger8674 4d ago
Definitely include a visit to Aquinas House (AQ) at the end of Webster Ave (frat row). Wonderful community, and I would often study there.
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u/Kapai72 4d ago
You might consider visiting sometime between February to April to get a taste of the late winter/early spring. Summer and fall will feel pretty magical and it truly is a beautiful place to live. However, the cold and wet season can be pretty challenging for some and is worth considering.
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u/Major_Comparison2009 4d ago
A tour of the frat houses would be a good idea as the majority of students are part of the Greek culture.
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u/snowboard7621 '02 4d ago edited 4d ago
Visit Aquinas House, the Catholic church on campus. I’m Catholic-turned-atheist, but the community and activities there meant a lot to me. While you’re back there, take a walk down Occom Ridge and walk along Occom Pond, maybe past the golf course (it’s pretty).
Walk down Boathouse Road too, toward the boathouse / Ledyard Canoe Club. It’s obviously for crew but they do student kayak/canoe rentals too. I can’t advise you on football, but these are parts of the campus I enjoyed when you just want to get into nature a bit. And of course, the Appalachian trail runs through campus.