Over the past several years, an increasing percentage of students have requested to waive the College's senior year residency requirement, which mandates that students enroll in courses during the fall, winter and spring terms of their fourth and final year, according to College Registrar Meredith Braz. For the 2011-2012 academic year, between 25 and 30 percent of the members of the Class of 2012 have requested such a waiver for at least one term, Braz said.
Each application from students requesting a senior year off-term is read and evaluated individually and considered based on its unique merits, Braz said. Students often ask to simply take a term-long hiatus from being enrolled in classes, while other chose to go off-campus to pursue internships and study abroad programs before graduation. The vast majority of these applications are eventually accepted, according to Braz.
"There is great emphasis on the individuality of each case," Braz said. "A petition will only be rejected if the student fails to articulate his or her reasons in detail and it is rare that a student is not able to obtain a waiver."
Since the inception of the D-Plan in the early 1970s, the College has required students to be on campus for their first three terms as freshmen, during sophomore Summer and the entirety of their senior year, according to Braz. A senior who takes an off-term must obtain "special permission" by both submitting a petition to the Registrar justifying his or her proposal and securing support from the chair of his or her major department, she said.
"When I analyze students' reasons I am not aware of senior off-terms being problematic," Braz said. "Many students are proposing to do admirable things during their absence."
A variety of factors including medical, personal, financial and academic obligations or pursuits motivate seniors to request off-terms, according to Braz. Some students use off-terms to complete their senior theses or study for graduate school exams such as the Medical College Admissions Test or Law School Admissions Test. Others have sufficient credits to graduate a term early in order to save tuition money, Braz said.
The major factor that students must work around when considering off-terms during their final year at the College is fulfilling their major requirements. To ensure that off-terms are feasible for students who request to be away from campus or not enrolled in classes, all students must attach a major card with each petition, Braz said.
Another factor that may influence individuals' ability to take an off-term during senior year is the number of Advanced Placement credits they obtained prior to arriving at the College, according to several students interviewed by The Dartmouth.
Glenn Kim '12, who earned five transferable AP credits in high school, said he chose to take classes all three terms of senior year even though his AP credits would have enabled him to graduate early. Kim said he decided to complete a major and two minors, which was more important to him than graduating from the College a term early.
Dartmouth has not tracked any sort of correlation between AP credits and senior year off-terms, Braz said.
Nishreen Ali '12, an international student from Malaysia, said she plans to take an off-term this coming winter. While her plans are not finalized, Ali will likely spend the time job-hunting, completing an internship or pursuing a service trip in Asia, she said.
Because senior year is the first time the entire class is reunited on campus since freshman year, Ali said many of her classmates were surprised by her decision. Ali's completion of the requisite academic credits, her desire to "escape winter" and the restriction of her international visa all shaped her decision, she said.
International students must be enrolled for a minimum of three consecutive terms to earn a leave term, and failure to do so results in a violation of visa status, according to the College's Office for Visa and Immigration Services website.
Although some students complained that the D-Plan disrupts the continuity of academic learning and makes it difficult to develop close friendships, Ali said the "on-off" policy effectively keeps learning at the College fast-paced and dynamic. She added, however, that seniors applying for exemptions to the normal residency requirements may miss out on certain opportunities.
"The biggest disruption was I couldn't apply for leadership roles at The Tucker Foundation, Dartmouth Global Leadership Program or Dean's Office Student Consultants due to their requirement of students staying on campus all year," she said. "This was a big disappointment as a leadership position at one of these organizations was something I had aimed for since my freshman Fall."
Chris Randall '12, an environmental studies major and Asian and Middle Eastern studies minor, plans to take an off-term this spring but stay in Hanover in order to spend time focusing on his senior thesis, which explores environmental legislation related to dam policy.
"I would love to spend my Spring term focusing all my energy on this one topic," he said. "As with every other Dartmouth student, I have always taken several classes each term and been involved with different activities, and completing my thesis in my senior spring off-term will be a really interesting way to explore my interest while still living on campus and being part of collegiate life."
Emery Cox '12 said he decided to take an off-term his senior year due to the "convoluted nature" of his D-Plan and his decision to change his major to computer science during the fall of his junior year. Cox is spending this Fall term interning for a Boston-based software company, Acquia, and plans to continue working part-time for the company when he returns to campus this winter, Cox said.
Although Braz acknowledged that financial considerations may make senior-year off-terms practical for certain individuals, she encouraged all students to "make the most" of the opportunities provided to them by the College while they are able to do so.
"I understand the financial incentive to take an extra off-term senior year, but Dartmouth offers such incredible opportunities and by the time you are a senior you've built on these," she said. "There is so much to take advantage of so it's good to be here for the full amount of time. You can't go back."
