As Lelia Tahaburt, a prospective student from Annapolis, Maryland, sat on the bus on the way to Hanover late Wednesday night, she thought to herself, "I really hope I just love Dartmouth." When she finally arrived at midnight, she attended the last performance of an a cappella showcase at the Top of the Hop, one of a plethora of Dimensions events that sold her on joining the Dartmouth class of 2011.
The 2007 Dimensions of Dartmouth. which took place from April 18-21, featured events ranging from a Career Services Open House and tours of Baker-Berry library to social activities that included a Hot Salsa Party with Thursday Night Salsa and improvisational comedy performances hosted by Casual Thursday and Dog Day Players.
According to Tahaburt, Dartmouth's program for prospective students was longer and more involved than similar programs at other universities. Colgate University and Columbia University, among others, host students for shorter visits during the week. For many prospective students, Yale University's three-day Bulldog Days parallels Dimensions in the comprehensiveness of the program.
"[Bulldog Days] had a lot of similar events," prospective student Michael Audu from Grand Rapids, Mich., said. "They had lists of classes you could visit, various parties at night and the cultural houses each had their own events."
The Dimensions event that stood out to prospective student Delfina Gonzalez from Corpus Christi, Texas, was the Class of 2011 Welcome, a show that featured performances by groups of current freshmen, with an introduction by Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg.
According to one of the show's performers Allie Miller '10, the purpose of the show was to excite "prospies" about coming to Dartmouth by giving them a preview of what being a student at Dartmouth is like. The freshmen were also instructed to pretend to be prospective students in the days leading to the event, a trick that fooled many attendees.
"I was in the second row at the show, and I was talking to a person who I thought was a prospie but she totally tricked us - she was actually a student in the show," Gonzalez said. "And I never expected the dean to just take his tie off and rip his shirt open at the beginning; I really thought there was going to be a big long speech but there wasn't."
After the show, Janelle Braverman '07, an intern in the Office of Admissions, heard positive feedback from many of the prospective students.
"I heard some prospies say, 'That was amazing. I'm coming to Dartmouth now.' It was one of those real high-energy H-Croo, Lodg-Croo excitement shows," she said, referring to the two "Croos" that help administer DOC Trips every summer.
Braverman also noted the success of the showcase on the D-Plan that she and Amanda Rosenblum '07, another intern in the Office of Admissions, organized. The showcase, which was held at the Top of the Hop on Thursday afternoon, displayed the D-Plans of different students, which gave prospective students the opportunity to ask questions about Dartmouth's unique academic schedule. Representatives from the Tucker Foundation, the Dickey Center for International Understanding and other off-campus program offices were also present to answer questions about funding.
"I thought the showcase was really interesting because it's a unique aspect of Dartmouth and I got to hear students who have lived through it talking about the benefits and the downsides," prospective student Mike Bush from Madison, Wisc., said.
Though Kappa Kappa Kappa, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Theta Delta Chi fraternities held evening events for them, prospective students were prohibited from attending fraternity parties where alcohol was present. The administration enforced this measure by threatening to rescind a prospective student's admission if he or she was caught at such an event.
James Kim, a prospective student from New York City, felt limited by such heightened restrictions.
"You obviously don't want to get your acceptance rescinded but at the same time since partying is a big part of Dartmouth I wanted to at least see what that was like," Kim said. "Honestly, I think it would have been a lot more of an honest, true-to-life experience."
Despite these restrictions, the Dimensions program persuaded many students to attend Dartmouth.
"It seems like a really tight community, and I really like the quarter system - it gives you a lot of flexibility," Gonzalez said. "The hosts made it really interesting, and they made it seem like it's going to be a second home for me."
