canceling Dartmouth?

[1150829]

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I have a Dartmouth interview coming up real soon, and I'm seriously considering not going. The student hosting program isn't working out so I'll most likely have to stay at a hotel one night and at the airport the next. I'm not sure what Dartmouth's strong points are but after watching their promotional video it just seems pretty generic - I can get all they offer from a school in California where the weather is nice and warm? (sorry, my CA resident roots are showing). I'm not really an outdoorsy person so their surrounding don't seem to fit me anyway. Even if I do get in, I'm not sure I see myself going there, so might as well save $400?

Can anyone who has interviewed at Dartmouth or lived around the area tell me what they like about it, or give me reasons why I should go?

 

[exmike]

If you dont have an acceptance in hand, get your butt on the plane.

Originally posted by 1150829
I have a Dartmouth interview coming up real soon, and I'm seriously considering not going. The student hosting program isn't working out so I'll most likely have to stay at a hotel one night and at the airport the next. I'm not sure what Dartmouth's strong points are but after watching their promotional video it just seems pretty generic - I can get all they offer from a school in California where the weather is nice and warm? (sorry, my CA resident roots are showing). I'm not really an outdoorsy person so their surrounding don't seem to fit me anyway. Even if I do get in, I'm not sure I see myself going there, so might as well save $400?

Can anyone who has interviewed at Dartmouth or lived around the area tell me what they like about it, or give me reasons why I should go?

 

[ATPase]

It's cold and VERY rural.

Sorry, I know I'm not helping here...

 

[mlw03]

exmike is right - if you don't have an acceptance yet, you go everwhere you're invited, assuming you can afford it. that said, let's assume you have an acceptance.

i interviewed there at the end of october, so i can help a bit. the biggest attraction to dartmouth is their small class size (only 80), so there's a high faculty/student ratio. everything else about them can be viewed as good or bad depending on your perspective.

it is VERY rural there. i was told 30,000 people in the entire upper valley area. and it's 3 hours from boston, so it's not like you're close to a big city. for example, i'm told the closest movie theatre with stadium-style seating is manchester. and there's no best-buy or circuit city. and my cellphone wouldn't get reception up there (t-mobile, but other carriers are up there). it's not that it's no-man's land, but lots of the stuff you're used to in even a medium-sized town of 100,000 is not there. it also gets wicked cold i was told, and it was just above freezing during the last week of october. the medical center was new and very nice (but small for a teaching hospital, only 400 beds), but there is definately a lack of patient diversity, and you certainly won't see the same types of trauma cases as you would in chicago or atlanta.

personally i like all this stuff, especially the rural part. but if you're a warm-weather, big-city person with an acceptance in hand, you can find better ways to spend $400. for example, you could send some of it to me. 😀

 

[SarahGM]

Okay, so I have to leave work now in about 5 min, but I spent 4 years at Dartmouth as an undergrad, and wouldn't change it for the world! I'll PM you asap-- don't do anything rash till then! 😀

 

[exmike]

Wow, you get off work early.

Originally posted by SarahGM
Okay, so I have to leave work now in about 5 min, but I spent 4 years at Dartmouth as an undergrad, and wouldn't change it for the world! I'll PM you asap-- don't do anything rash till then! 😀

 

[SarahGM]

Originally posted by exmike
Wow, you get off work early.

I had a dental appointment.

No cavities!

 

[calebho501]

Listen to Exmike, he's an elderly member.

Mom said, "old = wise" 😀

 

[kwanny]

it is VERY rural there. i was told 30,000 people in the entire upper valley area. and it's 3 hours from boston, so it's not like you're close to a big city. for example, i'm told the closest movie theatre with stadium-style seating is manchester. and there's no best-buy or circuit city. and my cellphone wouldn't get reception up there (t-mobile, but other carriers are up there).

Aight. Being really familiar with the area, I'll try to clarify some of the misconceptions people have about dartmouth.

1. it's about two hours from boston (not three).
2. the closest movie theater with stadium-style seating is actually in a city called lebanon which is only 10 minutes away from hanover by car.
3. about cell phones, i have a verizon phone, and it works great. Some of my friends have att phones, and they get pretty good reception too. If you want the best reception in the area, there are two local carriers available).

This is my fourth year here, and I gotta say with all sincerity that I've had the best experience in my life at Dartmouth. True, it gets freakin cold in the winter, but it's something you just get used to (trust me... I'm from sunny city of los angeles). So yes, it is very rural, but it's not THAT rural. 😉

 

[ironey]

Another agreement with the other posters. If you don't have an acceptance yet, you really need to be attending every interview you're offered.

I'm a first year at Dartmouth and I love it here. There are 78 people in the class (15 of whom will move to Providence in the third year as part of the Brown-Dartmouth program). The class is very close and the administration makes every effort to foster cooperation and community at the school. As far as clinical experience, there are several ways that DMS helps its students get a broad exposure:

1. There are several away rotation programs offered in years 3-4. They also encourage students to create away rotation opportunities for themselves.

2. Each student is partnered with a physician-preceptor in their first year. As part of the On Doctoring course, we start seeing patients at our preceptor's office in the third week of school. For the next two years, we continue to have clinical skills courses and practice applying those skills at the preceptor clinics.

3. There is always the Brown-Dartmouth program if you think you want to spend your clinical years in an urban setting.

My favorite thing about DMS is the administration's emphasis on humanism in medicine and the requisite emphasis on taking care of the physician's health and humanity in that pursuit.

Anyway, I'm biased because I'm here, I really like it, and I've never attended another medical school 🙂D ).

 

[topherius]

There's at least one other thread on why/why not to interview at DMS floating around...it's from sometime last week, I think. If you run a search for Dartmouth it'll probably turn up. A lot of folks had good input on that one.

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by calebho501
Listen to Exmike, he's an elderly member.

Mom said, "old = wise" 😀

my mom says the same thing only to make sure i listen to her.

haha. moms...

but anyway. DMS is a sweet school. i they have a good rep and excellent medical education with awesome clinical rotations. if you come from there you will be a very prepared doc.

run lola run...