Taoheng (Tao) Chen
How is Dartmouth Different from High School?
At Dartmouth, we follow the quarter system, so each academic quarter is 10 weeks long. It's bittersweet—it's week 10 (and 11, for the students who have later exam dates)! To be frank, I came into Dartmouth thinking it was just like classes in high school, except the concept would get harder.
While this is true, it can be very easy to get distracted by the fact that most Dartmouth students take three courses per quarter. That is half of the courses I'd take in high school! But, at the same time, it is intentionally designed this way because no Dartmouth course is "easy." Currently, I'm taking CS1 Intro to Programming and Computation, Writing 5 Expository Writing, and Chinese 31 Advanced Modern Chinese. Writing 5 and CS1 are both designed for first-year students as introductory courses to computer science and first-year writing respectively. While they are called "introductory" courses, you learn so much in the 10 weeks that it's challenging! Chinese 31 isn't usually a first-year course, however, I was able to get permission to take the class with prior Chinese knowledge. For all three courses, generally speaking, there is a midterm exam/essay project every 3 weeks: totalling to about three major assignments per course per term.
Yes, Dartmouth is rigorous and challenging—but its emphasis on undergraduate teaching is noticeable. Compared to high school, most of my classes were lecture-based with a daily home outside of class. However, Dartmouth courses are designed to engage you! For example, my computer science class has weekly recitation where I get to try challenging problems with a small group of students and TA (teaching assistant) on the topic(s) we were learning about that week. In Writing 5, my professor brought apples to sample (we were talking about genetic diversity in produce that week). And in Chinese 31, I have drills every week that helps me sharpen my speaking skills! Classes are challenging, but that's what makes Dartmouth. Courses that prompt you to think critically.

Posts You Might Like
Exam at 8am, presentation on zoom, and paper due by noon!
Reach on to learn more about my experience pursuing engineering at Dartmouth!
Lab meetings are where I first saw as an undergraduate (UG) research assistant the magic of science unfold.
I can't wait to share these three crucial lessons and pieces of advice with you! (make sure you read part 1)
I sat down with Aarushi Jain '25, a coxswain on the women's rowing team, to learn more about the opportunities to study abroad as an athlete at Dartmouth!
Explore my final project for Geography 4 about defining Dartmouth as home.
Once you are here, Dartmouth ensures that you have the tools you need to thrive, regardless of where you start. Read on to discover some of Dartmouth's lesser-known resources!
As you decide whether Dartmouth is the place for you, here's a list of things to not expect here.