Academic Skills Center Blog

This blogpost is the final part of the freshman FAQ series, and it will answer the following questions:

• “How can I pick a balanced course load?”
• “How can I choose classes while being considerate of my major and the liberal arts curriculum?”

Picking Balanced Courses: Workload

Before you select any course, read reviews either on layuplist.com or the course assessment portal. You can access the course assessment portal through Darthub, search “Course Assessment Portal,” click on it, and once you’re in, you can type the course or professor name into the keyword search. For example, “PSYC 11.” 

The course assessment portal does not have reviews of every course nor every professor available, but it is worth checking out as it will give you less biased reviews. Layuplist is great in that it has every course/term, usually the medians, and for most courses, it has reviews for various professors. However, it tends to be biased. If you see terrible reviews for a professor, try to ask upperclassmen (trip leaders, UGA, teammates, etc) if they have taken a course with the professor or if they know someone who has. They can give you more information and help you figure out whether taking the course is worth it. I would take reviews from 20S-21X with a grain of salt because many professors teach much differently over zoom than in-person. 

If you’re wondering where the name “layup list” comes from, at Dartmouth, a layup is considered to be an easy course. Layuplist.com has an option for students to upvote or downvote a course as a layup, but remember that just because a course is a layup for another student does not mean it will be a layup for you. Likewise, just because a course is a layup for you, it might not be a layup for another student. 

I advise you to use the course assessment portal and layuplist.com to gauge the workload of a course and find three with varying degrees of workload or two lighter workload courses with one hefty workload. Some questions you can ask yourself while figuring out workload:

• How many essays will I have to write? 
  • How many words/pages are they?
• How many exams will I have to take?
  • What is the format of the exam? 
  • How much time do I plan to spend studying?
• How many projects will I have to complete?
• How many homework assignments or problem sets will I have to do?
  • How often are they due?
• How many pages of reading will I have to do per class or per week?
  • Do I actually have to do the whole reading for little details, or can I succeed while skimming for the most important conceptual information?
• For language courses: How many times per week will I have drill? 
  • Note: Drill is an extra class, taught by a fluent student, that you take for language courses. For Asian Society, Culture, and Language courses, it is usually four times per week. For European languages, it is usually three times per week. 
• Will my professor be using all x-hours? How many times per week will we meet? 

Ultimately, the choice is yours, but please do not take three intense courses at once. Try to leave time for yourself. 

Picking Balanced Courses: Subjects

When picking courses, it is important to balance the workload and types of work. I find that one reading-and-writing-intensive course, one STEM course, and one creative class (though I am a Studio Art Major, so this isn’t necessarily applicable for everyone) is a good combination. Try to balance your subjects so that you aren’t doing too much of one thing (for example, two reading intensive classes might have you doing 500 pages of reading per week). This should be easy regardless of your academic path because we are required to take distributive classes. 

From personal experience, I find that the best way to transition to the academic rigor at Dartmouth would be to take two layups and one hard class. With this method, you’ll have a taste of what academic rigor really means here, but you won’t be overwhelmed by multiple classes at once. 

For your freshman fall course load, you should have your Writing 2 or Writing 5 course, one easier class, and one harder class in a subject you are interested in exploring. The workload for humanities tends to be more intense than Writing 2 or Writing 5, as you have to read multiple novels, but regardless, I encourage you to take a course with a lighter workload and one course in a subject that you are interested in majoring in regardless of its workload.

Choosing Classes While Being Considerate of Major and Liberal Arts Curriculum 

When planning courses, the most important thing to keep in mind is your goal after college. Are you going to medical school? Check out course requirements and suggestions for your med school of choice. Do you want to be an engineer? Meet with your dean, your academic advisor, or the department chair for help with planning your courses. 

If you aren’t sure what you want to do yet, identify a few departments that you’re interested in and see how many requirements there are for the major, including prerequisites. 

You will pick up distributive requirements as you explore departments, so you don’t have to take classes for the sake of getting distributives during your freshman year. If you do not have most of your distributives by your fifth term (in your sophomore year), then it’ll be time to worry about taking classes to get distributives. 

1. The bottom line is that your first priority should be your plans after college. 
   • Why are you here? 
2. Your second priority should be your major. 
   • What do you want to learn while you’re here?
3. Your third priority should be the liberal arts curriculum requirements. 
   • Which courses do you need to graduate?  

If you are worried about the liberal arts curriculum and picking a major that isn’t applicable to your goal after college, you can justify your studies to employers by saying that any major at Dartmouth teaches you how to think critically. For fields in which your undergraduate studies aren’t essential for your next steps, don’t worry about majoring in any particular department. Employers who hire Dartmouth students know that this is a liberal arts school. They want students who know how to think. 

Have fun choosing classes, and have a great first year! If you have additional questions, feel free to DM our instagram account @dartmouthacademicskills.

1. Be open-minded while being prepared!

The college experience is unique and personal in every aspect. In order to experience college to the fullest, I think being open-minded is extremely important. The open-mindedness not only applies to the new sport, academic field, celebration that you will try but also to the people you meet throughout the journey. I want to clarify that some preparation prior would not conflict with being open-minded. Instead, adequate preparation can enable you better experience new things open-mindedly and without unnecessary worries. I think the cold weather in Hanover is a perfect example to illustrate the point. Before coming to Dartmouth, I knew that Hanover winter would be freezing cold, especially to someone like me who has lived in a country with a tropical climate for the past 18 years. Packing some winter clothes and jacket is the adequate preparation that would allow me to survive the beginning of winter term and able to participate in other fun winter activities that I have never tried in my whole life, such as skiing (one tip I later found out to be helpful is that it might be better to not bring all your winter clothes or try to buy them from where you are because there will be plenty winter clothes thrift shopping opportunities during the end of fall term/beginning of winter term. You can get some amazing cheap clothes from there!). The cold weather is indeed only a small part of the winter term. The preparations that I did beforehand would allow me to explore and enjoy the new things open-mindedly. 

2. Explore as much as you can and take your time to adjust and find your places

Moving on to college from the high school bubble is tough, let alone coming from a different country and culture. Personally, being able to find my own place in any environment that I’m in is very important because it will ultimately make me feel comfortable and grow quickly. During these two years at Dartmouth, I learned that it takes time to find your own places and it is absolutely fine if we never find one. Everyone has a different pace and I think it is especially crucial to give yourself sometimes given that you are still navigating new cultures, living and learning styles, social life, weather, and etc... Navigation is key but the ability to stand up and have the courage to continue exploring and persisting is even more critical. If I can tell my freshman self one thing, I will definitely tell her to let go of the anxiety and wholeheartedly enjoy the process of adjusting, exploring, and navigating while maintaining her own identity and background.

3. Remember to keep in touch with the support system you have at home

With the crazy 12 hours’ time difference and the busy schedule, I found it difficult to schedule calls with friends and family back home. However, I soon realized midway through the fall term of my freshman year that maintaining the connection that I have back home is crucial for my personal well-being. Slight changes of schedule and efforts, such as waking up a little earlier during the weekend can easily make calling possible. These calls are indeed more than worthwhile. Sharing and hearing friends and family telling their recent encounters become great opportunities for me to recharge and rewind myself from the packed commitments. Moreover, sometimes it might be hard to share the difficulties and struggles that you encountered here at Dartmouth with the people beside you or you might just want some outsider perspectives or simply a listener who understands and knows you. In this case, I think talking to friends or family back home can be really beneficial.

For the fifth part of the Q&A for ‘25s blog  series, I (Sarah, the ASC intern writing this) will address the following questions:

1. What is the best way to make friends?
2. How can I acclimate socially, especially if I’m not into Greek life?

Ways to Make Friends

Go on First-Year Trips! I was fortunate enough to have great trippies (which is what we call other freshmen who went on the same trip as us) and made three friends on trips, whom I still talk to and get meals with two years later! Not everyone gets along with their trippies, so if you don’t like yours, don’t worry! The student body is diverse, and you’ll be able to find your people if you look for them.

Joining clubs is another great way to make new friends. This is especially true for smaller organizations where you’ll have the opportunity to interact with people, or you have to interact with people when you show up to events. Some smaller clubs I’ve been able to make friends in are Mental Health Union and Dartmouth Japan Society. Any sort of club that requires collaboration (e.g. Habitat for Humanity) would be also excellent for making friends! 

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) facilitate friendships because LLCs have required weekly meetings, and you live on the same floor, so hanging out is convenient. If your freshman floor UGA organizes events for you all to hang out, those are great opportunities to get to know your floormates better. You’ll have an hour weekly meeting with them as well, so you’ll have plenty of time to get to know them.

Classes that require a lot of interaction or group work are also great. Introductory language classes are helpful for this because you have to see your classmates at drill too, so you’ll be spending at least six hours with them per week, and you’ll have the opportunity to casually converse with them (in another language, of course). I also find that harder classes give way to friendships because people tend to seek out study groups or go to group tutoring when they are struggling, and I have made friends this way as well.

Due to Dartmouth’s housing crisis, you’ll probably have a roommate. If you do, you can make friends with your roomies! However, you don’t have to be best friends with them. Most people are not besties with their roommates. As long as you maintain cordial relationships and respect one another’s needs, establish cleaning rules, etc, you’ll be fine.

If you’re eligible for any affinity-based pre-orientation programs, it doesn’t hurt to attend those as well. I didn’t get lasting, close friendships from FYSEP pre-o, but I formed valuable relationships with staff. FYSEP and the NAP also offer fun student bonding activities (such as apple-picking or canoeing), which are opportunities to make new friends! 

Sometimes people that you vaguely know will sit down with you in FoCo (the main, buffet-style dining hall, called Class of 1953 Commons on Maps) when they see you eating alone. It can be nice if you want to get to know them better. I tried doing it to a girl who sat next to me in one of our classes, but apparently she was waiting for people, so it ended up being awkward. If you try this method, go about it cautiously. 

Club sports and varsity teams are also great ways to meet people, but I can’t speak from experience. 

As you meet other students, keep in mind that you don’t need 4,000 friends. The most important thing is that you have one or two friends that you can be genuinely yourself with. Find people who you can enjoy having a conversation with, sitting in a comfortable silence with -- someone you can explore the town with, hit the gym with, or do little errands like getting mail or going to CVS together. 

Words of advice for going out: If you’ve only known someone for a short time, you don’t necessarily have to do what they’re doing to fit in. Stay true to yourself. When you go out at night, go with friends. Before you leave, promise to take care of one another, and help one another get home safely. 

How to Socially Acclimate if You Aren’t Into Greek Life

We can’t rush until our sophomore year, so you’ll probably have a couple of friends by then (perhaps acquired through the methods described in the previous section) who also aren’t into Greek life. 35% of the student population chooses not to rush, so there are plenty of people like you, for you to become friends with! 

My friends who are not Greek-affiliated often end up in Greek spaces anyway because there’s nowhere else to party in this town, but I honestly have more fun hanging out with them in their dorm room than I do while going fratting. Stepping into Greek spaces isn’t necessary to have a good time! 

Even if you’re not into Greek life, keep an open mind about it. There are three gender-inclusive houses that definitely don’t align with what people think of when they hear “Greek life.” 

Greek life isn’t something that’s shoved in your face as a freshman, and if you want to avoid it, you most definitely can. I probably only spent thirty minutes in Greek spaces during my freshman year (though that might also have something to do with being kicked off campus at the beginning of the pandemic). There are plenty of other social spaces (e.g. clubs, affinity groups, etc.) where you can find your people and enjoy yourself!

As I’ve said before, the most important thing is that you have genuine friends whom you can hang out with regardless of the setting. Many people don’t find their good friends until sophomore year, so if you don’t make besties freshman year, don’t worry! You’ll find your people somehow.

Today’s blog post will be answering four questions: 

• “How can I access accommodations (extra time, etc.)?” 
• “How can I get mental health care at Dartmouth?” 
• “Do you have tips on how to get involved on campus, networking, and how to take advantage of resources?”
• “What are the best scholastic resources at Dartmouth?”

Accommodations

To learn about accessing accommodations, please visit the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) website. I would first look at their “Getting Started” page. Note that it takes approximately one week for SAS to contact you after you put in a request, so do it as early as possible.

Mental Health Care 

In Hanover, there are many free resources to help you take care of your mental health. 

If you need to vent with a peer, Peer Support is a good option, which you can access (now, if you have a dartmouth email and zoom account) by dropping into their Zoom room from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. EST every day.

The College Chaplain at the Tucker Center offers free pastoral counseling to help you, whether you’re religious or secular. The Chaplain provides confidential counseling and is not obligated to share, which means she is not obligated to share what you tell her or make reports to the Title IX office if you disclose an instance of sexual assault. She can help with crisis response, issues such as loss of a loved one, etc. You can contact her to make an appointment at 603-646-3780.

For support in dealing with sexual assault and gender-based violence, you should contact WISE at 603-448-5922. There are on campus resources for survivors of sexual assault and gender-based violence, but WISE are the experts of the Upper Valley, and there is a WISE advocate on campus.  If you are in a situation in which you need support, such as moving dorms or issuing a no contact order, the Title IX Office can help you, should you choose to make a Title IX report. Their phone number is 603-646-0922.

On their website, the Counseling Center has listed a few resources that can help you in a crisis situation. You should save the phone number for Safety & Security (S&S) safe rides, which are when the S&S officers come to your location and take you home if you feel unsafe walking home, regardless of the reason: 603-646-4000. You can call any time. 

If you wish to make a counseling appointment with the Counseling Center, you can call them at 603-464-9442.

These are just some of the resources available to you, but what you do with this information is your choice. Our campus culture has become more open to discussions of mental health in recent years, so don’t hesitate to talk to friends and ask an upperclassman or a mentor about mental health on campus. Talking to students with similar problems can help you figure out what might be the best option for you. 

Lastly, it is important to manage your mental health at Dartmouth on a personal level. Some ways that I do this are by establishing a routine at the beginning of the term (sleeping, eating, & exercise times). I check in with myself to notice changes in mood, sleep or eating habits, pastimes, etc. If I notice a change that I don’t particularly desire, I will find the cause of it and act accordingly to fix it. Try to make genuine friends when you get here because connecting with others is important for mental health. 

Campus Involvement, Networking, Taking Advantage of Resources

One of the best things you can do to get involved and network is join clubs and mentorship programs. This is a great way to meet upperclassmen and make new friends. It is best to go into clubs with the mindset of making friends and less with the mindset of networking, so connections won’t feel forced.

For business-related networking, the CPD has a guide on how to do it! Click the hyperlink to read more. It covers different kinds of networking, how to write networking messages on LinkedIn, how to follow up, etc. You don’t have to follow up with everyone, but if you felt a solid connection with someone, you should. You should include something you talked about when you follow up. For example, if someone tells you that you should read xyz book, offer your thoughts on the book after reading it. 

If you don’t have an obvious follow up topic, but you enjoyed talking with someone, you can update them on your career progress and wish them happy holidays the next time that the holidays come around. These are just examples! Networking is what you want it to be, so if you don’t want to send these messages, there is no need to.

To take advantage of resources, you need to know what exists. The ASC instagram account @dartmouthasc has many posts about campus resources, which you should check out! After that, you can determine what you might want to utilize. If you ever need help but don’t know where to go, you should check in with your undergraduate dean and ask them which resource on campus can help you. 

The best way to take advantage of resources is to make the time and use them. Schedule an appointment with an academic coach to build your time management skills, so you’ll have time to make those appointments with the CPD or your undergraduate dean!

Scholastic Resources at Dartmouth

At the ASC, we’re particularly partial to our freshman fall PE course called Learning@Dartmouth, in which you’ll learn all about Dartmouth’s incredible academic resources! We also offer group tutoring for introductory courses and academic coaching for individualized guidance toward better study habits and figuring out what you want to study.

For information on more campus resources, check out our website, where we have listed other academic resources!

his blogpost is part three of the Freshman FAQ series. Today, we’ll be answering the logistical questions: “How can I prepare over the summer for move-in?” “What important things should I bring?” and “Can you give us winter tips for people who live in areas with little to no snowfall?” 

How to Pack

To prepare over the summer, you should first make a list of things you need. I like to do this starting with categories. For example, you should have the following categories: clothing, toiletries, room essentials, and technology. If you plan to use school supplies or room decor, you should have categories for those as well, though you can purchase those here. We have a Walmart (take bus*), Home Goods (take bus), and CVS (walking distance) nearby! 

Once you have categories established, write down everything you need and gather your boxes. To make move-in painless, you should label each box and keep a document containing what you store in each box that you’re driving or mailing to Dartmouth, so you can easily find everything when you unpack. For example, label one box A, and in a Google Doc, you can write the contents of box A. 

*Our local bus is called Advanced Transit, and you can find the routes on their website: https://advancetransit.com. To get from Hanover to Walmart, you can use the “plan your trip feature,” and it will tell you which color lines to take. Select the Walmart in West Lebanon for your destination. 

Important Things to Bring

You will need twin XL sheets and blankets unless you choose to use Evolving Vox (a paid service that takes your twin bed and replaces it with a full one at the beginning of the term) to get a full bed, in which case you should bring full sheets and blankets. For twin XL beds, you should purchase a mattress topper. The mattresses that come with the room are not very comfortable, so a mattress topper is essential for getting a good night of sleep. Do this as early as possible because they will run out of stock online. 

You also need a good winter coat and boots because it often snows toward the end of the fall term. Many students use L.L. Bean boots, but if you don’t have winter boots, you should research different options. 

If your dorm does not have air conditioning, you should purchase a fan. You can get one in the Hanover Hardware store here or Home Goods. If you would like a full-size mirror, a mini fridge, a vacuum, or storage for under your bed, you probably do not need to buy them now. Each fall, there is a sustainability sale one morning during orientation. At the sale, you can purchase those items at a discounted price (e.g. $7 for a vacuum). 

Each room has a small mirror on the wall that will show your torso and face (depending on your height), so if you like to keep things clean, windex will be useful. For laundry, you will need the basics: detergent, dryer balls or sheets, and a hamper. I bought mesh laundry bags for delicates so they don’t get lost, but it isn’t necessary. You can use your ID to pay for using the laundry machine, so you do not need quarters.

For eating and drinking, you do not need dishes. You probably won’t be eating in your room because the Ivy dining plan you’ll be on in the fall will have more than enough swipes to ensure you won’t go hungry. However, you should bring a reusable water bottle and a cutlery set like this. These are useful for sustainability purposes, but you will also need them during trips. Most dorms don’t have filtered water, so filling up your bottle with filtered water elsewhere, like the library, before you go back to your room for the night is a good idea.

Lastly, bring things that make you happy (pictures, art, books, makeup etc).

Winter Tips For Students from Warm Climates 

As a student from South Florida, I often wore a thin layer of tights under my pants, but I know for some other people thick socks are enough. So, invest in thick wool socks (and wool tights or long underwear if you wish). It is important that your socks are wool or another warm material that dries quickly because snow might get into your boots and melt. 

As long as you have one good winter coat, you might not need many sweaters or layers for your torso. I found that a t-shirt and a winter coat was enough, and if I wore a sweatshirt under my coat, I would be covered in sweat by the time I got to my destination. I liked having sweaters for the fall when a winter coat was too much. However, it is important to note that different things work for different people. Some people prefer layers upon layers under their coat. I suggest you come here with what you have and purchase layering items according to your needs as you learn them.

If you enjoy going to the gym, you will need to wear sweatpants over your gym pants starting around the end of the fall term. I would say 40-50 degrees is a good time to begin doing that, depending on your tolerance for the cold. You will also need to wear winter boots if it is a far walk to the gym, so you don’t slip and fall in the snow. I used my backpack to bring my gym shoes and water bottle. When you arrive at the gym, you can change shoes on the bench and store your boots in a cubby with your backpack, sweatpants, and winter coat. 

On warmer winter days, you need to be very careful while walking outside. The snow will melt because of the heat and freeze again when it is cold enough. This causes the ice to form a slick, thin layer over the sidewalk, which is much more slippery than snow. Walk slowly when this happens. 

This winter tip isn’t just for students from warm climates, but make sure your back-to-back classes, if you have any, are not far from each other. For example, do not take a class at Dartmouth Hall for your B-block and a class in the Thayer School of Engineering for your C-block. The snow makes it harder to take shortcuts around campus, so getting around will be slower in the winter. 

To recap, the essentials are wool socks, good winter boots, a warm winter coat, possibly wool tights/long underwear, and sweatpants for gym-going folk. I hope this helps! If you have any further questions on these topics, feel free to DM us on Instagram @dartmouthacademicskills!