Hi everyone! My name's Daniel, and I'm a 25! I'm from Orange County, California and Seoul, South Korea. I'm hoping to major in Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology Modified with Global Health. If I'm not under my sheets watching a new Netflix series, you'll find me spending time at Still North Café or at the engineering building. I hope you learn something new about Dartmouth today!
Academic Program
Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology Modified with Global Health
This class had an emphasis on really learning the material, rather than mindless regurgitation. Every class lecture truly excited and interested me, and readings were thought-provoking, The final was also a project instead of an exam, which was very fun to complete. I could tell Prof. DeSilva was also very passionate about the class materials as well!
As a "seminar" course, we focused on enjoyable discussion-based lectures. Each and every one of Prof. Kangas' lecture topics were engaging and intriguing, constantly pushing me to think. While we had reading assignments, they weren't necessarily linked to graded discussions/quizzes, which allowed me to feel more relaxed and stress-free (I didn't need to go crazy and write notes in-class). All in all, I loved learning about Pompeii!
A classic pre-med requirement course. This class has a basic structure of problem sets, two midterms, labs, and a final. I thought the points were well-distributed and the exams were fair. I personally enjoy problem-solving, which allowed this class to be more exciting personally. I'd suggest you pick the right professor for you as each professor has a different way of teaching!
This class is taught by Prof. Shipley, a professor who teaches mainly during summer terms. It was very different from the previous anthropology courses I've taken –– we had a filmmaking component as well as a collaborative project. I enjoyed this class because the assignments had a very broad, overarching outline and allowed you to explore your interests very freely. For example, for my final project, I created a podcast that delved into the educational inequity in South Korea.
My first sociology course at Dartmouth. It goes very in-depth about the macro immigration policies in-place in America and how it relates to different immigrants' experiences. I found it intriguing because I'm an immigrant myself, and I also was able to analyze and develop a different outlook on my family's experiences as well. We had interesting projects such as immigrant interview assignment, immigration policy brief, and in-class discussions.
Another first - my first Asian Societies, Culture, and Language (ASCL) course here at Dartmouth. Essentially, through a 3-hour class block each week, you watch a Korean film that provide insights into the different aspects of South Korean culture –– from Korean independence of Japan to modern economic disparities. Very interesting discussions and minimal work: the course focuses a lot more on student learning than testing!
I know what you're thinking: no way this guy liked MATH 13 the best out of his classes. I was thinking the same going into the class, but I enjoyed the problem-solving aspects. Math was one of my favorite subjects in high school, but I didn't get a chance to take any courses here at Dartmouth until I changed to an engineering major which made MATH 13 a prerequisite. All you do is solve problems, practice, grasp concepts, and take exams. But, after a bit, you get the hang of it.
One of my favorite, favorite courses throughout my whole time at Dartmouth. If you thought you know medicine and health, think again –– evolutionary perspectives open up a completely new spectrum of thinking. Have you thought about institutionalized racism in BMI indexes? How about adolescent growth differences between women who give birth in birth centers versus hospitals? Conversations you've never thought of within the medical realm happens in this class. Highly recommend it!
ANTH 76 - Evolution of Upright Walking is a biological anthropology senior seminar. The class itself is very discussion-based, reading books/articles/literature to grasp different aspects of bipedalism. Prof. DeSilva allows you to explore areas YOU are interested in with the midterm paper and final project, and there is little emphasis on grading so you can focus on learning!
A very collaborative course –– daily discussions, guest speakers, and group data analysis assignments. I also really enjoyed the term-long ethnography project where you can choose a community to analyze. Essentially there are different frameworks and theories that can be applied to the way we talk within linguistic anthropology, and it was super interesting seeing how everything is connected to our conversations on a daily basis!
Exploring My Winter Term Courses: Junior Year Edition
Hi everyone! Dartmouth's 2024 winter term has officially begun—so, what classes am I taking this term? For those of you reading my blog for the first time, I'm in my junior year, finishing up my majors as well as distributive requirements. What are distributive requirements? Every Dartmouth student must complete a set of distributive requirements that include courses in different categories (for example, a computer science course like CS 1 Introduction to Programming would fulfill the technology or applied science (TAS) requirement). Let's dive right in.
1. PHYS 14: Introductory Physics II
Let's start with the most unexciting class amongst my list, arguably: Physics 14! Dartmouth has two general physics sequences: PHYS 3/4 and PHYS 13/14. 13 and 14 are geared towards engineering majors as prerequisites for most engineering courses while 3 and 4 are geared towards pre-medical students hoping to complete the physics prerequisites for medical school. It's a pretty standard course—you learn a plethora of concepts within electricity and magnetism. It's undoubtedly a difficult course but very well structured!
2. ENGS 25: Introduction to Thermodynamics
ENGS 25 is also a part of my biomedical engineering major requirements. It's also a straightforward class where you dive deeper into thermodynamics, traversing the relationship between work, heat, and energy. The course also has a lab portion, which are great opportunities to supplement your learning. I'd say ENGS 25 focuses more on the students' learning with take-home exams and problem sets.
3. ANTH 76: The Evolution of Upright Walking
My favorite course this term, ANTH 76. In ANTH 76, we explore the evolution of bipedalism: how primates evolved from quadrupedal locomotion to bipedal walking. From scientific concepts to analyzing a wide array of hypotheses, ANTH 76 offers so many modes of learning, and I enjoy that very much. Also, it's taught by Professor DeSilva who is an expert in the field—when I say expert, I mean it. Interesting readings, interesting discussions, and I highly recommend it. ANTH 76 fulfills the senior seminar requirement for my anthropology modified with global health major.
4. LING 05.02: The Digital Portfolio
Lastly, LING 05.02 fulfills my art distributive requirement, as it is a course that hones in your WordPress portfolio editing skills. Every Dartmouth student is given a free WordPress domain aimed to help you design a portfolio of your choice—whether it be academic, visual, coding, etc. Although students mostly work on it outside of class, LING 05.02 dedicates a whole term of class to developing it. We discuss linguistics/visual/verbal concepts to maximize our portfolios' effectiveness.
Time flew to junior year, and here I am now getting ready to finish my majors. My courses, I'd say, got progressively more exciting (also challenging) as the years went on. Feel free to browse through some previous blog posts if you want to see the general timeline of courses if you're a pre-engineering/pre-medical/pre-anthropology student!
Most students have to go back to college after Thanksgiving to take their finals, but not at Dartmouth! We have a six-week winter break, known as "winterim!" Let me tell you how I spent my winterim!
Applying early to a university can be overwhelming and confusing. As someone who did not apply to Dartmouth through early decision, here are a couple tips that I could have used when thinking about applying early to a school!
As a second-year at Dartmouth, I've embraced leadership roles that foster community, creativity, and support! Here's a look at how each role has shaped my journey.
