Dartmouth students care an incredible amount about wooing prospective students, so much so that we've even mastered meteorological control for the weekend of Dimensions of Dartmouth, as evidenced by the 20-degree increase in temperature as prospective students flocked to Hanover last weekend. Students and the Admissions Office put a lot of work into the weekend to show that we're not a bunch of uncivilized lumberjacks with an affinity for kiddie pools. Although there is always a packed schedule of events, what makes the largest impression on prospective students is the people they interact with on an individual level: professors, fellow prospies, prospie imposters or even their DFMOs (dance floor make-outs) at the annual Tri-Kap Dimensions dance party.
For some students, the weekend can be a complete game-changer. Rennie Song '15 said she was set on the University of Texas at Austin before she visited Dartmouth for Dimensions.
"All my friends were going [to Texas], it was close to home and it seemed like the right decision," she said.
Song came to Dartmouth and a few other universities for their accepted student weekends to explore her other options, but she did not think she'd change her mind about Texas until she went to Dimensions.
"I didn't think the people would be so cool and friendly," Song said. "After the Dimensions show, I called my mom and told her that I wasn't going to [Texas]."
Asher Mayerson '15 was deciding between Rice University and Dartmouth when he arrived at Dimensions. Although he only spent one day on campus, the students and professors at Dartmouth convinced him to enroll at the College.
"I met one kid who I thought I could see myself being best friends with," Mayerson said. He and the friend, who is a '14, are still "really tight."
Song also made friends during Dimensions that have lasted into her career at Dartmouth. She and three friends formed "a little crew" during the weekend, and she counts them among her current best friends at Dartmouth. All four participated in welcoming the '16s to campus this year as members of the Dimensions Crew.
Cameron Hunter '15, another member of this year's Dimensions Crew, said that it was interesting to see the lengths some prospective students would go to make friends over Dimensions weekend.
"One kid was doing backflips on the Green, another was demonstrating the different accents he could do," he said. "It was funny to see what their first social interactions with potential classmates were like."
While many Greek houses remain closed to prospective students during the weekend for liability reasons, the College went a step further to prevent underage drinking this year by requiring all prospective students to wear difficult-to-remove green bracelets. However, Tri-Kap's dry dance party serves as the climax of the weekend.
One '13 girl, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the personal nature of the situation, remembered making a particularly close acquaintance at the party.
"I was dancing with my friend, and this guy came up to me and started dancing, and then we just spontaneously began making out," she said. "I think we were all so excited to be there that we let our inhibitions go away."
She didn't think her acquaintance chose Dartmouth, but she said it was so dark she couldn't see what he looked like.
"I enjoyed the overall feeling of raginess," she said.
Song attended the party when she herself was a prospective student and remembered being extremely overwhelmed.
"All the sexual tension [prospective students] develop during getting to know each other erupts at the Tri-Kap dance party," she said.
And all of this is why Dartmouth gets so excited about Dimensions it's a chance and a challenge for all of us to help hundreds of 18-year-olds figure out their next step. As Hunter said, our actions and conversations during Dimensions "can influence [prospective students] in a huge aspect of their lives."
So before you do something you might regret next Dimensions weekend, reconsider your actions. Remember the prospies are watching!
Song is a member of The Dartmouth Business Staff.
