In Praise of Dartmouth (I Hope)

Dartmouth Cites Student Misconduct in Its Ban on Hard Liquor – NYTimes.com.

I put “I Hope” because though all I have seen is good, one never knows.  Anyway, I pointed out that Dartmouth’s administration may be ok.

“This is one of three actions I have seen from Dartmouth that impress me (as a former math professor who taught at a so-called “elite” university) that they act in the interest of what students need, not what “consumers” want. (As David Riesman pointed out, student “wants” aren’t always student “needs”.)

Here are the other two.

Dartmouth showed that AP courses are highly suspect. (They are. I know.  I taught bright kids who did great in them, but don’t really “know” calculus. As Caltech puts it, they are “woefully inadequate” for understanding- and you don’t need to be Caltech caliber to need to understand. Believe me. I was an engineer before being transformed.) Details on how AP really works can be found in the “AP” category on my blog, including Dartmouth’s actions.

Unlike Columbia University and Washington U. in St Louis, Dartmouth is appropriately restrictive in admitting students into their 3/2 engineering program. (Details can be found on my blog.)

Hats off to Dartmouth’s President and Board. Keep up the good work.”