As a prospective student, I was initially completely drawn by Dartmouth's D-Plan. It seemed to be a unique, hassle-free plan that frees us to space out our college years in any manner we wish. However, freshmen are likely discovering that the formula is not entirely boundless as they lay out their own D-Plan. Besides the numerous residence requirements, there are also other drawbacks. While we certainly have the opportunity to fine tune our schedules to our own best benefit, the trimester system features jam-packed syllabi, scheduling conflicts with other schools and most distressingly, the lack of a sense of continuity.
Perhaps the first distinction attributable to the trimester system I noticed upon my arrival on campus is the rapid pace of classes. The material that we cover in ten weeks would be spread out over the course of sixteen weeks at a standard semester university. Concepts must be absorbed and retained quickly at Dartmouth because there is barely a time of idleness after an exam before the next one is visibly looming in the distance. These brimming syllabi may present a problem for some at first, but seemingly everybody can digest them after a few terms.
Another disadvantage caused by the D-Plan is scheduling conflicts with other schools. We spend a majority of our Septembers cooped up in our houses while the rest of our high school friends are already back in school. Our Mays are spent studiously while friends are already home. It is nearly impossible to plan spring break together with our friends from high school. However, these dilemmas are blunted as Dartmouth friends enter the picture. Neither of the pair of aforementioned drawbacks compares in magnitude to the lack of a sense of continuity.
While one of my closest friends and I were unwinding at the Dirt Cowboy last week, we came to the startling conclusion that we will not be unwinding there for a whole year after spring term. Following this summer (when we will both be off), she will embark on a FSP in the fall, I will participate in a LSA in the winter and she is taking the spring term off. Elongated periods of separation such as this will test even the closest of friendships. Friends whom dwell separately geographically may very well grow apart from each other. Semester schools certainly have an edge over us this respect since students stay on campus for the majority of two semesters a year over the course of four years.
This lack of continuity is also reflected in other domains such as housing and extracurricular activities. A sophomore or junior at Dartmouth might potentially live with three different roommates or sets of roommates in two different rooms over the course of the school year. Coupled with sophomore summer, the middle two years of a typical Dartmouth experience is dominated by moving in, moving out and adjusting to new atmospheres. As if living the life of a nomad, sophomores and juniors find it difficult to ever identify a room as "home." Amid changes in major, classes, climate and possibly Greek association, Dartmouth students must give up yet another factor of stability by switching housing. Living such a vagabond lifestyle is both physically and psychologically more difficult.
A student who is on campus relatively less during her sophomore and junior year is immediately at a disadvantage since she is unable to make her presence felt as much as others in extracurricular clubs and organizations. This might very well affect her ability to acquire or hold a leadership position late in her Dartmouth years. I personally know of many students who purposely are refraining from any off campus programs since they are wary of moving in and out and/or want to stay on campus in order to participate in extracurricular activities. The lack of continuity triggered by the D-plan is certainly an unavoidable ramification we must deal with.
Fortunately, the flexibility of the D-Plan certainly provides Dartmouth students with unique opportunities and advocates the broadening of social circles. Students at semester schools can only dream of working on the set of "The Late Show with David Letterman" during the fall, working as an analyst at an investment bank in the winter or researching for a biomedical company in the spring. There is relatively no competition for these wonderful positions during the course of the normal school year. While we must endure periods of separation between friends, the structure of the D-Plan also promotes students to make new friends and grow closer to current acquaintances in the terms that their friends are away. The D-Plan certainly has its upsides and its downsides. It is up to us to be fully aware of them and to capitalize on the advantages while diminishing the shortcomings.