You've sent in your application to Dartmouth, gotten the big envelope in the mail, and now you'll be arriving in September, giddy and unaware of the deluge of three-letter abbreviations you'll be juggling in order to fulfill your graduation requirements.
While the concept of having to fulfill your QDS, TAS and INT may leave you reeling, these are just abbreviations for the 14 different categories of classes you'll need to take in order to walk away with a diploma in four years. With a simple understanding of your graduation requirements the whole process of selecting classes and activities will make the process easy and less intimidating.
Requirements
You begin knocking off requirements with your Dartmouth Outing Club freshman trip. You'll be hopping in the pool to complete a 50-yard swim test, the first of your physical education requirements.
By the end of the Summer term after your sophomore year, you also have to complete three terms of PE. If you do not pass your swim test early on, you will be required to take swimming for one of these terms.
If you're a varsity athlete you are exempted from two of your PE requirements, but you'll still need to take care of the third. The College offers many different courses for PE credit, such as sailing, canoeing, swing dancing, mountain biking, rock climbing, downhill and cross-country skiing, fly-fishing, golf, in-line skating and racquet sports, among others.
PE classes usually meet once a week and are more of an adventure and release than a chore. As an added plus you don't have to wear the reversible shirt and skimpy shorts made popular by high school gym teachers.
Academic requirements are a bit more complex. In order to graduate, students must pass their language requirement and fulfill 14 distributive requirements.
The interdisciplinary requirement (INT), is fulfilled by classes taught by multiple professors from different departments and usually encompassing multiple fields of study and a broad range of material.
The quantitative and deductive science requirement (QDS) involves taking a math-type analytical course such as introduction to calculus or statistics.
The philosophy, history or religion requirement (PHR) can be satisfied by a wide variety of courses in each of these departments, including such courses as "The Working Class in American Society," "Religion and Morality" and "The Philosophy of Medicine."
Two social analysis (SOC) courses are also required and can be satisfied by courses in such disciplines as economics, geography, sociology and anthropology.
Science is divided into two separate categories. The technology or applied science requirement (TAS) is filled by computer science, earth science and engineering courses, while the "science" requirement (SCI) is satisfied by chemistry, biology and physics courses.
You must take one technology or applied science course and two natural sciences. You'll be spending some time in the lab for at least one of those courses.
Comparative literature and certain government classes fill the international or comparative study requirement (INT).
There is an arts requirement (ART) which can be satisfied by music, studio art or creative writing courses, and a literature requirement (LIT) that is satisfied by most course offerings in the English department any many upper-level foreign language classes.
As well, students have to fulfill their World Culture Requirement (WCult) in each of the following areas: European, non-Western and North American. Courses in any department ranging from history and anthropology to music and religion will complete these cultural criteria.
Students can place out of their language proficiency requirement through Advanced Placement or SAT II tests or place into second or third level classes. Otherwise the college requires proficiency through the third year level.
Introductory language classes focus on grammar and vocabulary. They are supplemented by the Rassias method, developed by Dartmouth French Professor John Rassias, of phrase repetition during morning drill held at 7:45 a.m. or evening drill held at 5 p.m. five days a week in addition to classes.
Unless they tested out, first year students are also required to take English 5: Literature and Composition, and then a seminar class. Seminar classes are offered in many different disciplines and give students a small class feel with an average of 16 students.
Freshman seminars often explore interesting topics not covered in regular classes, such as Cold War espionage and witchcraft, and give students extra personal attention from the professor.
Freshman seminars are heavily writing oriented and typically involve writing at least four papers of about six pages length and may demand heavy reading.
Choosing classes
Fulfilling all these requirements is easier than it first appears. Many classes fulfill more than one requirement.
Although there are many requirements to assure that students get a well-balanced education, students still have a great deal of freedom in selecting their courses.
For advice on what to take and how to satisfy the requirements, students have many options. Deans, undergraduate advisors, student mentors, academic advisors, professors and even older friends can offer valuable advice. Almost all of these resources will encourage students to take as broad a range of courses as they can.
Many students decide on a major by the spring of their sophomore year and file a major card listing the courses they plan to take. Major cards must be filed by the end of a student's fifth term on campus.
Most students will change their intended major several times before they graduate, so it is best not to set your sights on just one major upon entering school.
Major requirements can entail anywhere between eight and 12 classes, but modified majors and double majors will require more, so plan early.
According to Associate Registrar Nancy Broadhead, 144 of the 1,041 members of the Class of 1996 were double majors, and she said three students even triple-majored.
A minor requires about six classes to complete, and students do not have to declare minors until senior year. Broadhead said minors have only been available at the College a few years, and 246 members of the Class of 1996 graduated with a minor.
Besides taking courses on campus, students can participate in a Foreign Study Program or a Language Study Abroad in such countries as Argentina, France, Morocco and Japan. Broadhead said nearly 50 percent of students participate in an off-campus program.
Because of the Dartmouth Plan -- four equal terms year-round -- taking a 10-week term off to go abroad is not difficult.
Some of the most popular courses on campus include pre-med requirements usually taken by freshmen, such as Chemistry 5 and 6.
Other popular classes include Psychology 1, Economics 1, Government 5 and Engineering Sciences 4, many of which have enrollments of over 100 students.
If you're searching for "guts" you may be hard pressed, for students are often surprised by the amount of work they encounter in courses that have gained this misnomer with the student body.
The Dartmouth grading system
For your freshman year both you and your parents receive your grade transcript, but after that they are delivered solely to your Hinman Box.
Not only do your actual grades appear on your transcript, the College also prints the median grade for each course you take and the number of students enrolled in the course.
For many courses you can opt to set a minimum grade desired, and if you do not reach this grade your transcript will reflect a grade of Pass instead of a letter grade. This choice, called the Non Recording Option, is popular for students.
Students cannot place an NRO on a course for major credit or for a course satisfying a distributive requirement. The NRO does not apply to all courses offered at the College.
