I chose based on its location, size, and reputation. It was also the best college I got into for undergrad. Dartmouth is very beautiful and also gave me the best financial aid package which is why I decided to attend Dartmouth.
Course Curriculum
I love that Dartmouth is a liberal arts college - it allows you to take classes in any department you like as long as you fulfill the prereqs and can fit it into your course schedule for graduation. It was great for me.
Exams
SAT (general, out of 2400) and SAT subjects (math I, II, chem, bio) AP (Calc AB/BC, Stats, Chem, Bio, APUSH, Lang)
Fees
I got great financial aid, but tuition, like any normal private university in the US, is quite high. I believe that if your parents make below 100k, you do not get any loans included in your financial aid package - they are replaced by grants.
Examination Structure
Each class's exams are structured differently. You might get more papers for the more liberal arts classes, like geography or English. For science classes, written exams are the norm, with usually 3-4 exams a quarter.
Faculty
Our faculty honestly vary in expertise and to be honest is not very diverse. There were many issues with hiring diverse faculty for tenure while I was an undergrad, and recently a scandal involving the PBS department broke out. But other than those, I would say the quality of teaching was not bad. I relied mostly on myself though, so it's not a huge issue for me in terms of learning.
