it's really cold in New Hampshire (Dartmouth 12CX) February 17, 2025
By A student (Computer Science, Wellesley College) - abroad from 01/06/2025 to 06/10/2025 with
Dartmouth College: New Hampshire - Domestic Exchange Program
dress warmly!!! (it's always colder than Boston here :( )
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Currently taking 4 classes (more than the standard load) at Dartmouth and its intensity is more comparable to 6 Wellesley classes rather than 5. I've taken 5 or more Wellesley classes in all my semesters and I would say the intensity is a bit more than 5 units given the contact hours/ week. Although, I'm currently taking a load of 4 STEM (CS) classes while I typically balance out my Wellesley course load with about 3 STEM and 2 humanities or at most 4 STEM and 1 humanities so it could be more of a 1:1 in rigor depending on which classes you take. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I live at the Russell Sage hall on the 4th floor; this res hall doesn't have an elevator and has 2 showers per floor (1 for men, 1 for women) |
| * Food: |
Similar options to Wellesley - equivalent of Lulu would be Dartmouth's FOCO which has grill options, a salad bar, and other hot foods served every night. (And desserts of course :D) |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Pretty similar to Wellesley! Greater presence of sororities and frats to join and a lot more outdoorsy activities (skiing, ice skating, hiking, camping, etc.) |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Pretty similar to Wellesley as well - they have an on-campus health services building although I haven't personally made any visits |
| * Safety: |
Pretty similar to Wellesley as well - campus police available for all students to access |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
the classes here aren't too stressful and there's lots of on-campus events happening nearly every week: spontaneous snowball fight (you get an email from THE Dr. Seuss), winter carnival |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
This definitely depends on which activities you choose to do on campus and whether you eat out more often than going to the dining halls. A round trip to Boston direct from their bus costs $70 (1 way is $35) and the average cost of eating at the nearby restaurants for a full meal (1 person) would be around $15-25. There's a CVS just down the street (~10 min walk from campus) that's pretty convenient for getting things like laundry detergent, medicine/ cough drops, etc. As for student activities, any outdoor equipment rentals are free but it's definitely pretty popular and so it can be hard to rent out if lots of students have already rented out (full list of provided equipment here: https://outdoors.dartmouth.edu/outdoor-programs-office/dartmouth-outdoor-rentals) - if you choose to do something like skiing - student discounts for daily and season passes can be found here: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/skiway/tickets/. All on-campus sport events are also free to attend with your Dartmouth ID! |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | None (meal plan covered - roughly $2500) |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | IT'S SO COLD HERE!!!! You definitely need to at least wear a scarf/ hat before going outside otherwise I guarantee you will get hypothermia. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
