Welcome to Dartmouth!
We've heard a lot about you. Ever since the admissions statistics came in, we've been intrigued. This was the most competitive year in history to get into Dartmouth, they told us, and yours is the most diverse class so far.
So now that you're in, you can breath a sigh of relief -- and take a deep breath for what's about to come, because you have a lot to look forward to.
First of all, Dartmouth really does love freshmen. All jokes about senior guys and freshman girls aside, we start getting excited about the incoming freshman class before you even set foot on campus. Our friends are already bragging about becoming freshmen UGAs and DOC trip leaders. And when you do get here, you'll be swept up right away into a whirlwind of freshman trips and crazy, unique traditions that celebrate Dartmouth's newest members.
It's no wonder, then, that we still talk fondly about our "freshman fall." True, now that we're finishing up our sophomore summer and realizing that we only have two years left, we may be tempted to romanticize a period that was certainly as full of cringe-inducing moments as it was warm-fuzzy ones. Still, freshman year is an exciting, fast-paced time for experimentation and exploration. Try anything and everything, but don't be discouraged if you don't find what you love right away. The range of opportunities at Dartmouth is almost endless -- and is expanding all the time, marked by each unique class that passes through.
Your freshman issue is intended to help you find your bearings on campus so you can more easily make your first year whatever you want it to be. Enclosed are guides and tips -- not rules -- to what life at Dartmouth will have in store once you set foot on campus. Bear them in mind as you explore all that Dartmouth has to offer; this place can be overwhelming at first, but it's amazing how quickly you'll find yourself immersed in what we only half-jokingly call "The Dartmouth Bubble."
Then, not to long after, you'll realize that the bubble has become home -- and that whether you criticize it unabashedly or love it unequivocally it is part of you as much as you are part of it.
Enjoy the end of summer, and we'll see you in the fall!
