09/26/2026
Went to visit Dartmouth this Friday with Yesim Erez . A few things to note beyond exceptional academics:
The campus doesn't end so much as blend into Hanover. Walk off the Green and you're on Main Street, among bookshops and cafés, with no gate or edge in between. Students feel part of a town, not tucked away from one.
The D-Plan changes how students think about time. Ten-week terms, off-terms for research or work, and a required Sophomore Summer when everyone's on campus together. College as a rhythm rather than a straight line.
Dartmouth asks for a peer recommendation, one of very few schools that does. It says a lot about what they value: who you are to the people around you, not just on paper.
And in Rauner Library, next to a Shakespeare First Folio, you'll find Dr. Seuss's college grades. A quiet reminder that transcripts don't write the whole story.