How We Did It: Academic Advice from Students

STORY By Parker O’Hara

Amid all the dancing, fair and excitement of First-Year Trips and Orientation Week, it can be easy to forgetthatDartmouthisacollegewhere you actually have to attend classes, do homework and take tests. Once that reality sets in, the academic transition from high school to college can seem likeaformidablechallenge—youare thrust into a very diferent academic system,asystemthatmaybeconfusing to navigate and overwhelming to approach.Quartersystem?Distributive requirements? Majors and minors? Somehow you must choose from anendlesslistof classes,eachof which couldhelpdeterminethepathyoutake through your remaining four years at Dartmouth and your subsequent career. Beyond that, college classes themselves often look diferent from those in high school, and will likely include more challenging material andhigherexpectations.Luckily,those feelingsof beingoverwhelmed,worried or even excited have already been felt by Dartmouth students — myself included—whohaveplentyof advice and stories of their own to ofer. To give a brief overview of Dartmouth academics, the quarter system means that each student typically takes three classes per term. In true liberal arts fashion, there are eightdistributiverequirementsstudents must meet before they graduate, which means you will take classes in literature, science, social analysis and other broad academic areas. If you’re strictly a STEM person who despises writingessaysorahumanitiesloverwho

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panics at the idea of spending time in a lab, there’s no need to fear. There are manageable classes within each distributiverequirementevenforthose who are stepping out of their typical academic comfort zone. When picking classes at the end of OrientationWeek,it’sgreattohavethe distributiverequirementsinmind,but you shouldn’t feel obligated to tackle themimmediately.Besidesthefrst-year writingsequenceeveryfreshmanmust complete,thereisplentyof timetoget therestof therequirementscompleted — and plenty of classes to fulfll each category.Freshmanfallwillbeamuch moreenjoyableexperienceif youtake classes that appeal to your interests, rather than the requirements. Often, as Ellie McLaughlin ’25 noted,fulfllingrequirementswillcome asabyproductof choosingclassesthat interest you. “I never even thought about [distributive requirements]. They just camenaturallywhenIwentwithwhat classessoundedmostfun,”McLaughlin said. Matt Koff ’25 explained how focusingonclassesthatinterestedhim — as opposed to classes that fulflled distributive requirements — helped him identify a potential major. “I think that in order to fnd out what you want to major in and do, you shouldn’t worry too much about [distributive requirements] freshman year and just take classes that really interest you,” Kof said. “I changed majors maybe four or fve times just based on the classes I was taking… NowthatIhaveabetterunderstanding of what I want to focus on, I’m thinking more about [distributive requirements].” Academic exploration is key in identifying interests, even if they contradict your predetermined ideas of what your college experience would look like. Like many incoming Dartmouth students, I came to school with a fairly certain idea of what I wanted to study. I had applied with the intention of majoring in biology and following the pre-med track, which lasted an astounding two terms before I decided it wasn’t for me. Like Kof,itwastheclassesItookbasedon interest—notdistributiverequirements orpre-medprerequisites—thatended up illuminating some undiscovered passions in subjects I had previously shut out. One of these classes — HIST 28, “American Women in the Twentieth Century” with history professor AnneliseOrleck—endedupbeingmy favoriteclassof freshmanyear.Though I swore to myself during sophomore yearof highschoolthatIwouldnever again take a history class if it wasn’t required,I’mincrediblygladIdecided topushmyself andtakethisone;ittook a lot to put aside the apprehension I had toward history and the fear of not succeeding when I enrolled in the class. I’m now considering majoring or minoring in history, which, if I had been told in the fall, I honestly would have laughed at. Havinganideaof whatyouwould like to study before coming into freshman year can provide a good foundation, but it is by no means necessary.Infact,beingopentotrying newsubjectsisoftenfarmorevaluable than restricting yourself to a single departmentordisciplinechosenbefore coming to college. Particularly at a liberalartsinstitutionlikeDartmouth, theabilitytoexploreacademicallyisa gift to be taken advantage of. Though Caitlyn King ’24 came to Dartmouth knowing she wanted to study art history, it took some exploration in other departments to verify her interests and rule out other potential disciplines. “I discovered there were subjects thatIdidn’twanttocontinuestudying. It reinforced the other things I loved to study,” King said. “And there were things that other people were doing that I fgured out I didn’t want to do.” Shealsostressedtheimportanceof blocking out outside infuence when making difcult academic decisions. “At the end of the day, you know yourself best. If you feel external pressure to do something, but in your heart you don’t want to do it, don’t do it,” she said. Kingsaidshetooksomeeconomics courses freshman year — after some direct pressure and indirect infuence — and quickly discovered that they weren’t for her. Of course, this exploration was still valuable in reafrming King’s lack of interest in economics,butitisworthremembering that just because everyone is doing something, it doesn’t mean you must as well. I’ve found this particularly importantassomeonenowconsidering ahumanitiesmajor,likehistory,instead of my initial inclination toward a STEM major, like biology. Whatever interests you is worth studying — that’s right, the humanities are just as important! Aboveallelse,what’smostimportant to remember when starting your frst term at Dartmouth is that you are capable of succeeding academically. Even if it seems like everyone in your classes always knows what to say to appease the professor or perfectly understood the reading you thought was incomprehensible, chances are they are in the same position as you. If I had taken some of my own advice freshman fall, it would’ve been a much more enjoyable experience. It’s unproductive and dangerous to followapathof academiccomparison, especiallywhenthiscomparisonframes your peers in an unrealistic manner. Koff echoed these sentiments, explainingthat“themajorityof people Iinteractedwithwerejustasscaredand intimidated as me.” Though I unfortunately have already made it through all of the excitement, fear and about a million other emotions that come with freshmanfallandcannolongerbeneft from some advice, you all still can. Kof summed it up best. “Iwouldtellmyself totakeabreath and calm down a little, try to make friends in your classes and don’t be afraid to ask questions or speak out in class because, most likely, nothing bad will come of it,” he said.