Hey all! I'm Batu. I'm a '26 from Istanbul, Turkey, and I am passionate about the cognitive science of design, developmental psychology, aesthetics research, postcolonial literature, and social media marketing! Be sure to reach out with questions about exploring the liberal arts, learning a new language at Dartmouth, cafes in town (one of my favorite blog series dare I say), study abroad programs, and research on campus!
Over the past two weeks, I have started to recognize the little groups of parents and students touring around campus. I hope everyone who has had a chance to tour the campus physically had the utmost fun!
I was unable to tour the campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and international border restrictions. However, not being able to visit the campus in person did not stop me from pursuing ways to familiarize myself with Dartmouth. If you are also unable to attend an in-person visit, do not worry! Here are some ways to make sure that you are getting a glimpse of Dartmouth before applying.
Though my college list was not ready until the start of my senior year, I signed up for virtual information sessions of schools I wanted to apply to. Dartmouth being one of them, I signed up for a couple of virtual information sessions to get insight into Dartmouth's academic calendar, the liberal arts, holistic admissions, and relevant application deadlines. I made sure to take notes of any lingering questions and asked them over Zoom.
The great thing about the virtual information sessions is that the hosts thoroughly explain the D-plan, Dartmouth's quarter-based academic calendar. One of the student hosts mentioned how the quarter system enabled going on study abroad programs. Though the United States is technically already overseas for me, I ended up doing further research on studying abroad at Dartmouth and am now planning on going to France in my sophomore year!
Attending virtual campus tours has been another opportunity I seized both before and after I was admitted to Dartmouth. In virtual campus tours, students guide you through the campus via Zoom, which allows prospective students to ask questions in real-time and hear about tour guides' Dartmouth experiences. I found virtual campus tours to be the most useful type of programming in terms of getting an idea about how the campus feels like. As these sessions are student-led, the programming allows for asking questions that pertain to the student experience, which I found extremely helpful.
The last resource I made great use of was People Places Pines! Encountering the myriad of Dartmouth stories showed me why my college choice should boil down to people and their experiences. No college, including Dartmouth, can be reduced to statistics or rankings. Thus, I made use of People Places Pines as an effective tool that lends insight into the student experience.
I hope you make use of these opportunities as they allowed me to get to know Dartmouth beyond what is mentioned on the website. As someone who only attended online programming before coming to campus, I felt as though I had a rough idea of what the campus looked and felt like based on the virtual sessions I attended. Best of luck with your college search and applications!
Amid the whirlwind of a ten-week term, the quietest moments — studying in the sun, cooking with a friend, running through Pine Park — turn out to be the ones worth savoring most.
After three terms apart due to Dartmouth's D-plan, junior spring marks a joyful reunion with old friends, deepened by the Toulouse study abroad group that has carried their bond seamlessly back to campus.
