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Baker 22F

To all those prospective students who may be reading this post, deciding on where to apply to college and where to commit is one of the most difficult decisions you may have had or will have to make so far in your life. You may be thinking that you will choose a school based on its name or one that will change you into a new person as you step onto campus. Maybe you are thinking about applying to an amazing university for engineering. However, I highly recommend you to take a step back and look at the amenities that your university would provide.

As I applied to colleges, I always based it on their status, department offerings for my major, and the general attitude of the campus. I thought that going to one of these schools meant I would instantly be just like them and excel in my major since that is what they were known for. After going through my first year of college, I realized that college gives you what you want out of it depending upon how you use the resources offered. 


Baker Rainbow
Baker Library with a rainbow!

With this in mind, I think Dartmouth offers and encourages students to take advantage of their time in different ways compared to other places. At Dartmouth, you're assigned a first-year dean and first-year faculty advisor who are there to help guide you through looking at career options. After several lovely meetings with my incredible advisor, they recommended that I also go talk to some of their colleagues who I have not taken courses with. Professors and deans at Dartmouth are incredibly kind and willing to help any student talk about anything. Almost every staff member on campus has been there to help consult me with not only course selections but also my career goals. I even remember my house professor sitting down next to me in FOCO (Dartmouth's food court) one day, and I asked her about how I should take my distrib classes.


Gile Foliage
Happy foliage season everyone!

However, there are many knowledgeable people on campus to talk to about other things such as finding internships or jobs. I've had professors who have told me how to find internships in the music industry and how to explore career options. My friends have relied on their professors to guide them while they write applications for scholarships such as the Fulbright scholarship. I have also had brilliant RWIT tutors (students knowledgeable about writing papers) talk to me about my essay ideas and classes to take. Several of my friends also take advantage of our Academic Skills Center or meet up with the Student Accessibility Services to help them study or recognize the accommodations that can be provided. Although it would be amazing to have you all fall in love with Dartmouth and its academic resources, make sure that you know what is available to you everywhere in your college journey too.

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