Ignorant College Student--Need Advice!

Welcome, I like your Dart.
Glad to hear you are willing to have a go with it.
You have come to the right place. Someone here will have a good answer
for most any question you can think up.
The more you tell us about the car the better we can help.
Have you driven & does the car have working brakes?
How I start with an a-body that is new to me is give it a good look underneath.
Our cars can have rust thru in a few places that make the car unsafe.
The torsion bar anchors in the transmission crossmember.
Upper control arm mounts. Rear spring mounts.
And the frame rails in general should be looked at.