Through the viewbook, smaller publications and the College's web site, the Admissions Office markets Dartmouth to high school students around the world.
Every piece of information given to prospective students is important, Daniel Parish, director of admissions recruitment and communications, said. When introducing students to Dartmouth, the Admissions Office tries to portray Dartmouth from a variety of perspectives, Parish said, rather than focusing solely on the College's academic opportunities or Ivy League prestige.
"The challenge with any of these publications is to capture the breadth of what people can do here," Parish said.
The viewbook, which has been used by the College for the past four years, contains photographs, multicolored text and profiles of faculty and students. It gives prospective students a colorful, varied introduction to the opportunities that Dartmouth offers beyond the classroom, Parish said.
"We try to blend the intellectual with the fact that we have so many successful artists, musicians and athletes here, too," he said.
Parish said the cover of "Here and Now," a smaller booklet given to visitors to the Admissions Office, also demonstrates this blend by depicting four images -- students kayaking, a student studying, ethics and algebra textbooks on a shelf and Baker Tower standing against the New England fall landscape.
When producing its publications, Dartmouth's admissions staff studies literature produced annually by Dartmouth's peer institutions, Parish said.
"We do look to see what other people are doing," he said. "Student interns will get on mailing lists from other schools, and we'll contact other offices and trade information."
Dartmouth admissions staff is updating the viewbook for the 2008-2009 academic year, Parish said.
Harvard University's admissions staff also tries to display a balanced student lifestyle in its admissions publications, said Judy Partington, director of publications and international admissions administrator at Harvard University.
"Our students run such a gamut in terms of their interests," Partington said. "Academics has to be a pretty good portion of that, but we also feel that most of our interested students are serious students already, so we want to make it about more than just academics."
Information given to prospective Harvard applicants changes little year-to-year, but reviewing student responses to that information is crucial to Harvard's marketing process, Partington said.
"We've done some focus groups with current students to hear their experiences when they first started looking at colleges," Partington said. "We don't want anything to become stale or overdone."
Dartmouth's marketing strategies change once students have been accepted, Parish said. Programs like Dimensions aim to give admitted students a chance to experience being on campus, he said.
"At this stage of the process, admitted students don't need the Admissions Office," Parish said. "They need to interact with current students and faculty and get a more detailed experience of what it's actually like to be a student here."
Many of Dartmouth's peer institutions hold similar events, Parish said, but Dimensions gives prospective students more freedom to explore activities related to their interests than other schools' admitted students programs.
"With Dimensions, we've again tried to blend the formal with the flexibility of just walking in and experiencing Dartmouth," Parish said, comparing the goals of Dimensions weekend to those of the College's viewbook. "We try to make sure that students can really get in and experience what's happening, rather than just having pre-planned seminars."
Elizabeth Molthrop, an accepted student from Lake Mary, Fla., attended Dimensions, as well as Duke University's Blue Devils Day for prospective students. Molthrop said the variety of activities offered at Dimensions particularly impressed her.
"Dimensions was just this whole extravaganza," she said. "At Duke's program, we listened to different professors talking about career services and academics. At Dimensions, you interacted a lot more with the student body. You got to meet the people who would be your friends."
The online schedule for Blue Devils Days, which are several day-long programs for admitted students, lists a variety of events, including information sessions about academic advising, a presentation on myths and traditions at Duke and a special tour for Spanish-speaking families. Duke admissions staff had not returned requests for comment at press time.
Brendan Daly '11 attended Dimensions and programs hosted by Middlebury College and Bowdoin College last spring. Daly said the enthusiasm of Dartmouth students convinced him to enroll at the College.
"There seemed to be a lot more energy at Dartmouth than at the other schools," Daly said. "You know that every school's program is trying to get people to come, so the most important thing for me was meeting current students."
Molthrop, who said she will most likely enroll as a member of Dartmouth's Class of 2012, also said the attitudes of current students at both Duke and Dartmouth affected her impressions of the schools.
"The students at Duke were actually kind of mean to us," she said. "Everyone at Dartmouth was so welcoming."
Harvard's office, which hosted its program for accepted students last week, also emphasizes the importance of meeting current students when deciding where to attend college, Partington said.
"Finding the right fit is a really important aspect that students don't always consider as much as they should," Partington said. "We want students to meet folks who are [at Harvard] already and see if this is the right place for them."
Students accepted to Dartmouth must submit their intentions to enroll by May 1.
