One of the perquisites (and downfalls) of attending Dartmouth College is that I am on the quarter system, which the college appropriately and accordingly named the D-Plan. This means that we are unsynced throughout the year since you’re on the semester system; I haven’t made up my mind yet whether this is more of a good thing or a bad thing — kind of like how I feel about Miley Cyrus. But I digress. Being on the quarter system means I have four terms each year with 3 to 4 classes each term. With winter break has been accounted for, this leaves about two months and two weeks per term. Inevitably, classes are much more fast-paced, though the rigorousness of the coursework may arguably be offset by the fewer number of courses each term. Depending on the class, I’ll be having midterms about two or three weeks into each term. (Side-note, how can you mathematically have more than one midterm? MISNOMER ALERT!)
Other schools that are one the quarter systems include Northwestern and CalTech. I think that this schedule will play to my advantages because I prefer being intensely focused on fewer things than spreading myself relatively thin. Still, we’ll have to see whether this plays to my advantages.
All in all it’s really making for a bittersweet finale to the high school saga. Many of my friends, who are attending Purdue, are moving in this weekend and will start classes after a week long orientation. This leaves me with three extra, rather lonely but nevertheless free, weeks left. So it’s off to Chitown for my parents and me for one last weekend at the Shedd, Millenium, and MichAve before I leave for the East.
After Admission 