For the third consecutive year, The Dartmouth conducted a survey polling the perspectives and opinions of current first-year students after their first term at Dartmouth. Members of the Class of 2029 were asked to compare their high school and college experiences and share their viewpoints on Dartmouth’s Orientation Week, academics and various aspects of student life.
Dartmouth in a Word
Reflecting upon their freshman fall, survey respondents were asked to provide their thoughts about Dartmouth in one word. The top three adjectives used by the freshman class to describe their time at Dartmouth so far are “exciting,” “awesome” and “busy.” These choices mirror the generally optimistic sentiment of the Class of 2028 and Class of 2027, who also frequently described their first terms at Dartmouth as “awesome” and “exciting.”
Transition to College
On Sept. 3, students from the Class of 2029 prepared for the start of New Student Orientation and the beginning of their Dartmouth experiences. Forty-five percent of first-years felt that there were a good amount of events during Orientation Week. However, 42% of first-years reported feeling that there were too many Orientation Week events, while 6% and 7% felt there were too few events or were indifferent, respectively.
Many ’29s also participated in First-Year Trips during New Student Orientation. Eighty-eight percent of survey respondents participated in First-Year Trips, a multi-day outdoor experience aimed at building community at Dartmouth. Out of Trips participants, 90% reported being somewhat to extremely satisfied with the experience. Nearly a term later, 86% of students reported that they still talk to their Trips group: 72% said they have remained in contact with both their fellow first-year ‘Trippees’ and Trip Leaders, while 12% remain in touch with only their Trippees and 2% with only their Trip Leaders. This data remains consistent with results from the Class of 2028, in which 89% of respondents reported remaining in contact with their Trippees or Trip Leaders.
Sixty-five percent of respondents reported meeting friends through Trips. In addition, 77% said they met their friends through their housing communities or residence halls, 76% in their classes and 70% during Orientation Week activities, with extracurricular activities, sports and outdoor activities following behind.
When asked about different campus resources, first-year students reported being the most familiar — 33% extremely familiar and 53% somewhat familiar — with the Undergraduate Deans Office, echoing results from the Class of 2028. Sixteen percent and 60% reported being extremely familiar and somewhat familiar with the Academic Skills Center, respectively. Respondents were least familiar with the Writing Center, the Center for Social Impact and Information, Technology and Consulting.
Student Life
The Dartmouth then asked students a series of questions about navigating campus life. Fifty-four percent of ’29s said they intend to join Greek Life their sophomore year. Of those intending to join, 24% said they would join a fraternity, 23% said they would join a sorority and 7% said they would join a gender-inclusive house. Twenty-seven percent of first-years reported feeling unsure or undecided about whether they will become affiliated — a decrease from 37% as found in the Class of 2028’s survey.
Students next offered their thoughts on the Greek First-Year Safety and Risk Reduction Policy — colloquially known as the “frat ban” — which prohibited ’29s from entering Greek spaces where alcohol is served until Nov. 5 this year. Seventy-two percent of respondents indicated positive feelings toward the policy, while 15% reported feeling neutral. In comparison to last year’s survey, 74% of the Class of 2028 also felt positively about the frat ban, showing a trend of general support for the policy.
When asked about their opinions about Dartmouth’s institutions and leadership, 96% of first-years expressed either favorable or somewhat favorable impressions of their professors and faculty members. This was followed by Dartmouth Dining at 82% and the Dartmouth Outing Club at 78%. Unfavorable topics included Fizz, the College Republicans and the Greek System. Overall, Fizz was the most unfavorable, with 33% considering it unfavorable/somewhat unfavorable. In addition, the Greek System was another contentious topic with 26% unfavorable/somewhat unfavorable and 46% favorable/somewhat favorable. This is a shift towards higher approval compared to the Class of 2028, split at 31% favorable/somewhat favorable and 40% unfavorable/somewhat unfavorable. Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock received a 59% approval rating, a staggering increase from the Class of 2028’s 26% approval rating. However, the Class of 2027 still remains the class with the highest approval rating of President Beilock, at 72%, since her start at Dartmouth in 2023.
The Class of 2029 is excited for what’s to come, with 92% of students either somewhat or extremely excited for Winter Carnival. Eighty-six percent of students are either somewhat or extremely excited for both Green Key and Sophomore Summer. Homecoming is the least popular tradition out of these aforementioned, with just 66% either somewhat or extremely excited, having recently experienced the event without a bonfire for the first time since 2020.
With the reopening of the Courtyard Cafe, dining options have expanded on campus. Though the Class of 1953 Commons is the preferred location to eat at, with 53% of students indicating it is their favorite dining location, Courtyard Cafe remains the second most popular option, with 19% of students’ support. Without a single student expressing a preference for it, the least popular dining location is Cafe@Baker.
Satisfaction within residence halls varies greatly between the different housing communities, with North Park having the highest rate of satisfaction at 92% of their residents either somewhat or extremely satisfied with their living accommodations. Conversely, just 50% of School House residents are somewhat or extremely satisfied with their residence halls. School House also has the highest percentage of dissatisfaction, with 40% of students being either somewhat or very dissatisfied.
Similar to the Class of 2028, the Class of 2029 prefers the different floors of Berry Library to study in, with 32% of students choosing Berry as their favorite study spot. The Tower Room, East Reading Room and Sanborn Library were each preferred by 10% of students. Eleven percent of students, though, preferred other study locations not listed within the survey.
Academics
The Class of 2029 was the first class to face the reinstatement of Dartmouth’s standardized test requirement. Fifty-eight percent of ’29s said they felt that their high school prepared them for academics at Dartmouth “extremely well” or “very well.” Thirty-four percent of respondents reported feeling “somewhat well” prepared, while only 8% felt that they were prepared “not very well” or “not well at all.” Similarly to the previous year’s freshman class, a majority of students reported feeling prepared for Dartmouth’s academic rigor, with 53% of respondents from the Class of 2028 reporting that they felt “extremely well” or “very well” prepared. Although a greater proportion of last year’s class said that they were “not very well” prepared for academics at Dartmouth, fewer members of the Class of 2029 felt confident in being “extremely well” prepared.
Ninety-one percent of first-year respondents said they found their classes “extremely enjoyable” or “somewhat enjoyable,” while 84% find them to be “extremely” or “somewhat” challenging — showing a similar trend to the Classes of 2027 and 2028 with 82% and 83% of students finding coursework “extremely challenging” or “somewhat challenging” at the end of their first term, respectively.
Meanwhile, forty-three percent of students said they have chosen a major or multiple majors. Thirty-five percent have “somewhat” decided, and 21% said they have not decided. Of those who have decided on a major, the most popular options are economics at 21%, engineering sciences at 11% and government at 9%. This is a shift from the Class of 2028, in which the most popular major was engineering sciences at 23%, and government and economics both at 11%.
Outside the classroom, ’29s report a similar degree of extracurricular involvement as prior years: 14% of students reported being involved in one activity, 30% of first-years reported participating in two activities, 28% said they joined three, 15% joined four and 13% joined five or more.
Comparing High School to Dartmouth
Fifty percent of ’29s said they felt “always” or “often” stressed or anxious at Dartmouth. Forty-one percent of respondents reported feeling “sometimes” stressed or anxious, while only 10% felt “rarely” or “never” stressed or anxious in college. When compared to high school, the proportion of students who “often” felt stressed or anxious at Dartmouth rose by 8%.
Amid changes to levels of stress and anxiety, average hours of sleep remained largely similar between high school and college. Sixteen percent of Dartmouth students reported getting eight or more hours of sleep each weeknight. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they have been sleeping seven to eight hours each night, while 27% said they sleep for six to seven hours. Fifteen percent receive five to six hours of sleep, while only 2% of students reported sleeping for fewer than five hours per night. These numbers resemble that of participants in high school: each weeknight, fifteen percent of students reported getting eight or more hours of sleep, with 35% sleeping six to seven hours each night, and 30% sleeping for seven to eight hours. Another 15% received five to six hours of sleep in high school, while a slightly greater proportion of students, 5%, reported sleeping less than five hours.
Since coming to college, students reported changes in social media and alcohol, drug or substance use. Similarly to last year’s survey, 47% percent of the Class of 2029 reported spending less time on social media at Dartmouth, while 33% indicated no change and 18% reported more time on social media. On the other hand, 27% of first-years reported an increase in alcohol, drug or substance use since coming to Dartmouth, while 34% and 4% reported no change and decreased use, respectively. The remaining 36% said they abstained from alcohol and other substances.
In a departure from past surveys, only 22% of first-years reported feeling unsure or undecided about their post-graduation plans, compared to 33% of the Class of 2028 and 30% of the Class of 2027. Thirty-three percent of students indicated that they plan to work, while 43% plan to pursue graduate education — including 13% and 11% who are interested in pursuing medical or law school, respectively.
Methodology Notes:
From Nov. 10 to Nov. 14, The Dartmouth fielded an online survey of Dartmouth first-year students on their opinions and experiences at the school. The survey was sent out to 1,205 first-year students through their school email addresses. 159 responses were recorded, resulting in a 13.2% response rate. Using administrative data from the College’s Office of Institutional Research, responses were weighted by gender and race/ethnicity. Weighting was done through iterative post-stratification (raking). Survey results have a margin of error +/- 7.2 percentage points.
