The Ideal Student: Are You It?

By John McWilliams and Arthur J. Monaco | Wednesday, October 2, 1996

A few years ago President Freedman gave a speech that outlined his version of the ideal Dartmouth student. In his well-known 'Creative Loner' address, Freedman indirectly criticized what he sees as an overly-social and homogeneous campus. He explained that his ideal Dartmouth student would be completely immersed in his studies, with little time for anything else. The ideal student 'plays the cello, translates Catullus, and solves mathematical riddles,' alone in his own dorm room, one imagines.

According to college placement advisors at six different high schools around the country — Barringer High in Newark, NJ; Cate School in Carpinteria, CA; The Cathedral School in Washington, D.C.; The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN; Montclair College Preparatory School in Van Nuys, CA; and Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair, NJ; — Dartmouth has always attracted decidedly independent students. Each of these schools has sent more than three students to Dartmouth over the past five years, with the exception of Barringer. Of all the college advisors questioned, none gave credence to Freedman's ideal student, or to other administrative complaints about the current student body. Indeed, the high-school students the advisors steer towards Dartmouth, the students they see attracted to Dartmouth, even the students they think would fair best at Dartmouth, call into question many administrative observations.

These college advisors disagree with a number of administrative claims about the Dartmouth student body. The administration has routinely complained about a lack of individualism on campus. They often cite the proliferation of white baseball caps as proof. Top administrators — notably President Freedman and Dean Pelton — deliver speeches on how students are too willing to conform to a mold, more often than not a Greek mold. Administration-picked student leaders often write columns in The Dartmouth, complaining that all Dartmouth students look alike, dress alike, and act alike.

While the College decries its students for conformity, these high school officials continually stressed the great individuality of the students who choose Dartmouth. Judy Fullmer, the College Counselor at Montclair College Preparatory School, explained, 'They're usually independent students. They are not kids who feel that they have to conform to the group. They're self-motivated, self-starters.' A counselor at Cathedral School, an all-girls school in Washington, D.C., agreed, 'These are girls who do not fit into any stereotypes. They are all highly individual.'

Ms. Fullmer was even willing to go further. She compared the Dartmouth students to those who attend Harvard or Yale. She said, 'I think that perhaps the Dartmouth applicant tends to be a little more individual — not that the other Ivy League applicants are not. But, more consistently, the Dartmouth student seems to be the kind that marches to the beat of his own drum.'

Some counselors also stressed that Dartmouth students do not take appearances too seriously. A female official from Cate School in California once led a trip up to Hanover. 'I didn't think that the kids were too worried about how they looked,' she said, 'I didn't see much spiked hair.'

Nonetheless, the Dartmouth administration constantly calls for more diversity among the student body. It is here that perceptions truly diverge. While the college advisors look at students' interests and opinions, the Dartmouth administration looks no deeper that the clothes on a student's back and color of a student's skin. In recent years, the administration has made an almost painful effort to ensure that students of color appear in nearly every campus publicity photograph and brochure. The diversity they desire is diversity of appearance — whether it be a certain representative population of each ethnic group, or diversity of dress.

The college advisors felt that the Dartmouth student body is incredibly diverse, but diverse in a different way. Steve George of the McCallie School in Tennessee described the students who attend Dartmouth as adventurous: 'The students from our school that are interested in Dartmouth tend to be a little more aggressive, more willing to go outside of the southern geographic area. They are interested more in diversity, and so forth.' Others agreed that Dartmouth students are interested in diversity, but not the same kind of diversity the administration seems to desire. Instead, these are students interested in diversity of ideas and experiences. The college advisors agreed that these students are adventurous learners, willing to digest new ideas and try new things.

These advisors also see a problem with the whole concept of the 'Creative Loner.' Every single one stressed that the students who go to Dartmouth are 'well rounded' and 'outgoing.' They are interested in learning, but rather than bury themselves in their books, the ideal Dartmouth student in their eyes tends to enjoy the outdoors. Those schools in an urban area said that Dartmouth students were willing to leave the city for rural life. 'The location hooks the outdoors type,' said Ms. Fullmer, 'and scares the others off.'

Also, rather than the loner, the Dartmouth student tends to be much more 'community oriented.' Students here are interested in group interaction. The Advisor from Cathedral School went so far as to say, 'The girls that go to Dartmouth are not nerds.' Mr. George confirmed this, 'When I have been up there and visited, it just seems like a wonderful place to be. You'll see kids biking there, students will be jogging there, students carrying books, having conversations. All in a very natural setting. I think that the kids there are more intellectually curious than I have seen anywhere else.' This seems to debunk the current administrative concern that Dartmouth is anti-intellectual.

The Dartmouth administration has its own opinion of the ideal Dartmouth student. The students who attend Dartmouth, along with the counselors who help to place them here, have an entirely different view. Perhaps the administration is missing the point. Either their ideal Dartmouth student is not right for Dartmouth, or they hope to create a Dartmouth that will fit their archetype.

The Ideal Student: Are You It?

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