During Dartmouth's admissions tours and information sessions, prospective students are bound to hear references to the Dartmouth Plan. Although few outside of the Dartmouth community are familiar with the phrase, the College's quarter system and academic calendar interfere with student life. On the whole, the drawbacks that accompany the D-Plan outnumber the few positives. The College should move to either ameliorate these issues as best they can or consider shifting to a more standard academic calendar.
The D-Plan combines a quarter system with summer classes for students after their sophomore year. The plan has many benefits that some students argue make it worthwhile, such as the unity that sophomore summer builds among classes, and the increased ability to travel abroad with the quarter system. The last two key benefits are the ability to focus on fewer classes at once and decreased competition for internships during non-summer terms. But for all the talk of the D-Plan's positive aspects, I've encountered plenty more negative features during my time on campus.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the D-Plan is that it keeps friends apart for months, sometimes two or three different times over a student's career. Most students are familiar with saying goodbye to their good friends for three, six or even nine months. This type of absence, which happens less often at schools on a more regular academic calendar, can make forming and sustaining friendships and relationships difficult. Creating a standardized off-term, such as sophomore summer, would go a long way toward facilitating bonds between students.
Another negative impact of the irregular schedule is the lack of overlap of breaks with those of other schools. Because the College's school year begins later than other schools, Dartmouth students are often off at different times from their friends at home. So while students are often away from their school friends for months at a time, they also find it difficult to cross paths with their high school friends during breaks. This issue, however, is not unique to Dartmouth. All schools that employ a quarter system are bound to have significantly different breaks from those on a semester system.
The other major drawback of the D-Plan is its severe limitation on internship and work opportunities for students' off-terms. Although proponents of the current calendar argue that there is less competition for internships during the fall and winter when most Dartmouth students take off, there are also fewer internships and jobs to be had. In conversations that I've had with business professionals across a number of industries, they have expressed surprise at Dartmouth's calendar and explained that the summer is the best time to find work opportunities. Although Career Services works hard to find opportunities for students, it seems counterproductive for the College to go against the schedule of nearly every major employer in the United States.
Though these problems with Dartmouth's academic calendar are reason for concern, we shouldn't go so far as switching to a conventional, semester-based calendar. The increased opportunity to travel abroad is a benefit that only the quarter system can offer. Consequently, over two-thirds of Dartmouth students take advantage of this opportunity, which allows students to grow in ways that those at only a handful of other schools have the chance to.
Dartmouth students stand much to benefit from modifying the academic calendar to one that follows a more standard version of the quarter system. Doing so would allow students to maintain friendships throughout the school year, and enable them to make the most of the internships and jobs that are available during their sophomore summer.
That being said, it remains to be seen to what extent such a change would cost students. As a sophomore, it is hard to truly say how critical sophomore summer is to the Dartmouth experience. It may be that I will find the experiences of this term to be worthy of the high praise that many bestow upon sophomore summer, but the D-Plan may still not be worth the cost.
