On April 14 and April 28, Dartmouth hosted 759 admitted members of the Class of 2029 for “Dimensions” — a sleepaway program for admitted students to learn about the College.
Dimensions encourages admitted students to explore the College without the “stressful question of ‘Will I get in?’” dean of undergraduate admissions Kathryn Bezella wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
“[They can] focus simply on the question, ‘Do I feel like this is a place that can be my home for the next four years?’” Bezella wrote.
This is the third year of Dimensions programming since it returned post-pandemic.
Colin Fitzgerald, a high school senior from Long Island, N.Y., committed to Dartmouth after having “a great day” at Dimensions. Before Dimensions, he was “about 50-50” between Dartmouth and Brown University.
“The whole experience was really positive, and it was really different from the other [admitted student events] I had done,” Fitzgerald said. “Dartmouth’s was the most unique in a really good way — you got to see all aspects of the school. Everybody was super nice and willing to have a conversation.”
Current students host prospective students in their dorms and guide them around campus. Honiely Aviles ’28 hosted two members of the Class of 2029. Aviles said she wanted to give new students “insider information.”
“I didn’t do Dimensions, so I didn’t know too much when I walked onto campus for the first time,” Aviles said. “I thought if I was in their place, I would want a host who could actively do things with them so they know campus better.”
Fitzgerald said that he initially feared that getting lunch with his host would be “a little awkward.” However, he said that his hostwas “super helpful, friendly and welcoming” — influencing him to choose Dartmouth.
Aviles explained that she could “extra-relate” to one of the students she hosted because she was also admitted through QuestBridge — a scholarship for students from low-income families. Aviles explained that she gave admitted students “specific advice” about how to “use resources effectively,” like Dartmouth Coach vouchers and the free market.
Admitted students also had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of academics at Dartmouth by sitting in on classes.
“The faculty are amazing collaborators with our office for this event, and so many courses are opened up for admits to attend,” Bezella wrote. “That’s fun to see, because students’ first experience of a Dartmouth classroom is often in a subject that may be entirely new to them. ”
Fitzgerald sat in on ECON 1: “The Price System.”
“It was super interesting,” Fitzgerald said, adding that current students were “super friendly and willing to talk about the class.”
The Activities and Student Life Fair gave admitted students an idea of the opportunities to get involved outside of the classroom and allowed clubs to advertise to potential new members, according to Bezella.
Some of the most memorable Dimensions traditions occur after dark. Students lead tours in so-called “flair,” or silly, bright costumes.
After Dark tours “show [admitted students] that we’re quite smart and intellectual … but we also don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Bezella wrote.
