How to Get Into Dartmouth: Strategies and Essays That Worked
/How hard is it to get into Dartmouth? Learn the Dartmouth acceptance rate and admissions requirements, plus strategies for conquering the Dartmouth supplemental essays
LEARN HOW TO GET INTO DARTMOUTH
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Part 1: Introduction
Most Ivy League institutions are large research universities located in cities along the Eastern seaboard—but one of the most prestigious lies deep in the New Hampshire wilderness. If your child is an Ivy-competitive college applicant hoping for a small student body and a large forested campus, Dartmouth College might be the right place for them.
Getting into Dartmouth requires more than the generic drive to attend an Ivy. If you want to know how to get into Dartmouth, begin by learning about the school’s unique academic and social culture, including the Dartmouth Flexible Study Plan and countless traditions such as the community’s love of the outdoors.
Dartmouth’s unique year-round calendar of four 10-week terms allows students to decide when they want to study, research, and work throughout their undergraduate career. In this flexible study plan, called the Dartmouth Plan or D-Plan for short, students can pursue internship and research opportunities any time of year, giving them a competitive advantage over other college students following a traditional schedule.
Your child could spend their winter conducting seasonally specific ecological research in Costa Rica and return to Dartmouth for spring and summer to continue the same research in one of Dartmouth’s state-of-the-art laboratories. They could work on a Texas congressional campaign leading up to a November election and return to campus in time to ski with the student government association.
No matter where the D-Plan takes your child, each matriculating class at Dartmouth reconvenes on campus for the Sophomore Summer program, what Dartmouth calls the “epicenter” of their educational model. Each summer, Dartmouth gives its campus over to rising juniors as they declare their majors and map out research projects for the remainder of the undergraduate studies. During that season, rising juniors have exclusive access to faculty and subject-area librarians.
If your child is interested in Dartmouth, they can also look forward its outdoorsy, sporty culture (about 25 percent of students are NCAA Division 1 athletes).
They should also be aware of the dominance of Greek life on campus—the comedy “Animal House” was inspired by a Dartmouth fraternity, though these days students say there are more alternatives to a Greek-dominated system. Indeed, Dartmouth’s attention to its small but vocal cohort of Native American students, and its Native American Studies major, is one indication of the school’s awareness of diversity.
In election years, Dartmouth hosts a major debate for presidential nominees thanks to its New Hampshire location, the first-in-the-nation primary state for national elections. Dartmouth attributes this tradition with inspiring many of its graduates to pursue careers in journalism and politics. Notable Dartmouth alums have gone on to become U.S. Supreme Court justices, U.S. senators, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, national news anchors, celebrity chefs, and comedians.
Dartmouth College ranking
Forbes: 16
Niche: 8
U.S. News & World Report: 12
Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: 39
Where is Dartmouth?
Dartmouth is in Hanover, New Hampshire, deep in the scenic Upper Connecticut River Valley. Hanover is a quintessential New England college town, dotted with cute restaurants and bakeries, and beautiful bookstores. The town also hosts a major teaching hospital, an art scene with world-class museums and performance spaces, and a growing high-tech sector, thanks to Dartmouth’s draw as a top research university.
Nestled between the White Mountains and the Green Mountains, Hanover is a perfect basecamp for skiing in the winter. In the summer, canoeing and kayaking are popular on the Connecticut River that runs just next to town.
Dartmouth College setting
Dartmouth rural setting lives up to the school’s motto Vox clamantis in deserto, which translates to “a voice crying out in the wilderness.” Dartmouth is consistently ranked as one of the most beautiful colleges in America. The 269-acre campus coalesces on the five-acre Dartmouth Green, surrounded by academic buildings in its signature Georgian colonial architecture. The Green is Dartmouth’s community hub, hosting such campus traditions as the Winter Carnival and a weekly farmer’s market.
If a 269-acre campus isn’t enough, Dartmouth also owns a large portion of Mount Moosilauke in New Hampshire’s famous White Mountains and 27,000 acres of northern New Hampshire known as the Second College Grant.
Proud of its deep connection with nature, Dartmouth has the oldest and largest collegiate outdoors club in the nation, aptly named The Outing Club. Students often spend their spare time hiking, camping, and skiing in the nearby mountains. The Appalachian Trail runs right through the middle of campus.
Dartmouth student population
Undergrad population: 4,170
Grad and professional school population: 2,122
Dartmouth acceptance rate
Here are the admissions statistics for Dartmouth’s class of 2026:
Applications: 28,336
Acceptances: 1,808
Matriculants: 1,125
Acceptance rate: 6.4%
(Suggested reading: Ivy League Acceptance Rates)
Dartmouth tuition and scholarships
In 2023–2024, Dartmouth’s cost of attendance (i.e., tuition, room, board, and fees) lands at $87,793.
Dartmouth promises to meet 100 percent of students’ demonstrated need, and students whose families earn under $125,000 per year typically get their entire cost of attendance covered without loans. Among the class of 2026, 56 percent received some amount of financial aid—the average award was $67,127.
Who gets into Dartmouth?
To get a sense of what it takes to join Dartmouth’s next incoming class, let’s take a look at the admissions and demographic statistics for the class of 2026:
Note: The standardized test scores below are for the class of 2024, which is the most recent year scores were required to be submitted.
95% ranked in the top 10% of their high school class.
Average high school GPA: Like most of the Ivy League, Dartmouth does not report the GPAs of admitted students. Their admissions team reviews applications holistically, without a minimum GPA requirement, though they mention that a strong GPA is one indicator for success at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth average ACT score: 33
25th percentile: 32
75th percentile: 35
Dartmouth average SAT Critical Reading score: 733
25th percentile: 710
75th percentile: 770
Dartmouth average SAT Math score: 750
25th percentile: 730
75th percentile: 790
International students: 15%
First generation college students: 16%
Legacy students: 10%
52% of the class identified as Caucasian. The next largest group were Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at 22%. 11% were Latino, 11% were African American, and 4% were Native American.
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Part 2: Dartmouth admission requirements
Dartmouth academic requirements
Like most other Ivy League and Ivy+ schools, Dartmouth practices what it calls “holistic admissions,” meaning they look at each applicant comprehensively and not as a sum of their grades, test scores, and class rankings.
Dartmouth doesn’t have a particular set of coursework required, but they seek out students who have taken advantage of the most challenges courses and activities available to them. In order to fully appreciate each applicant, the school also takes their socioeconomic status into account, as well as their particular school’s course offerings and grading and ranking practices.
That said, if your child is planning to major in a STEM discipline, Dartmouth recommends that they complete the following coursework at minimum:
English: 4 years with a preference for writing-intensive literature courses
Mathematics: 4 years, through calculus for students interested in engineering and the STEM disciplines
History and social science: 3 years
Science: 3 years of laboratory science with 4 years including physics for students considering engineering
Foreign language: 3 years of a single language (ancient or modern) with 4 preferred
Dartmouth application requirements
We’ve provided a list of Dartmouth’s application requirements to save you the headache of hunting them down. They include:
Dartmouth Writing Supplement
Optional in 2023–2024: SAT or ACT
2 teacher letters of recommendation
Secondary school report, transcript, school profile, and counselor evaluation submitted by your child’s guidance counselor
Peer recommendation (strongly recommended but not required): a written statement of support from someone who the applicant considers a “peer,” like a classmate or teammate, sibling, co-worker, friend, lab or debate partner.
Optional: Supplemental materials like resumes, art portfolios, or newspaper articles about your child
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Part 3: Applying to Dartmouth early decision vs. regular decision
Dartmouth’s deadline for early decision is November 1st and admissions decisions are mailed out in mid-December. Dartmouth’s early decision admission is restrictive, so students who apply this way are committed to attending Dartmouth if they are admitted, barring extenuating circumstances like unanticipated financial hardship.
Regular decision applications are due January 2nd and applicants receive their results by late March or early April.
Though early decision candidates are accepted at a significantly higher rate, the majority of Dartmouth’s incoming class is still admitted regular decision.
How do you know if your child should apply to Dartmouth early decision?
If Dartmouth is your child’s clear first choice for college, and their application is completely ready by November 1st, then they should apply early decision.
If your child needs their first semester of senior year to bulk up their grades, test scores, or achievements outside of school, or they’re not entirely sure that Dartmouth is the school for them, they should wait and apply regular decision in January.
(Suggested reading: Early Action vs. Early Decision: Pros and Cons and What Your Child Should Do)
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Part 4: 2023–2024 Dartmouth supplemental essays (examples included)
(Note: While this section covers Dartmouth’s admissions essays specifically, we encourage you to view additional successful college essay examples.)
Like other Ivy League and Ivy+ schools, Dartmouth requires three supplemental essays to make sure that applicants are the best fit for the particular culture of the school: the first is a very short essay that every applicant must answer, the second is a fairly standard essay, and the third is chosen from five options provided.
Your child should remember what makes Dartmouth unique: The D-Plan, its signature flexible plan of study, its proud school traditions like the Winter Carnival and the Dartmouth Powwow, and its connection to the natural world.
These supplements are also an opportunity for your child to tell Dartmouth what makes them unique in ways that don’t necessarily translate on a transcript or a list of extracurriculars—and how these experiences, identities, or philosophies might thrive at Dartmouth specifically.
Meet three Dartmouth applicants closely based on students we’ve worked with:
Leena is interested in the intersection of art, technology, and culture. She set up a series of art installations around her hometown of Portland, Oregon last summer, and created a mirror image of these installations in Kerala, India, where her extended family lives. She’s interested in film and media studies but wants to create a custom major.
Roberto is interested in both science and the arts. He started performing stand-up comedy last year in his city, Los Angeles, CA., and also volunteers at UCLA Medical Center. He plans to pursue a materials science or engineering sciences major but wants to supplement physical sciences with social sciences and cultural studies.
Angela became interested in journalism after investigating the school system in her small town in rural Tennessee. For the exceptional work on her school newspaper, she received a scholarship to the School of the New York Times last summer. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, she is also interested in the Native American Studies Program.
Dartmouth supplemental essay 1
Prompt: Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2028, what aspects of the College's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? In short, why Dartmouth? (100 words or less)
This is a very common question that applicants see from many universities. Students have the opportunity to convey exactly what they value about Dartmouth, beyond its prestigious status. Is it a specific program of study? A Dartmouth tradition they can’t wait to participate in? A corner of the campus they found particularly inviting during a campus visit? To stand out, your child should always research the school and be as specific as possible.
Since this is the shortest essay, and the one that most directly focuses on Dartmouth, we’ve provided examples from each of our example applicants. Here’s Leena’s answer:
In my artistic practice, I’m preoccupied with space—how objects interact with their environment. When I visited Dartmouth’s campus last summer, all I could think about was how the school interacted with the nature that surrounds it. How the campus and the historic Appalachian Trail occupy the same physical space—the beauty of the trees so different than my homes in Portland and Kerala. I became so excited to see how my art installations interact with and reflect Dartmouth’s unique intersection of intellect and the natural world. I can’t wait to work in these spaces and be a part of them.
Why is Leena’s essay strong?
She shows continuity and growth in a specific context. Leena demonstrates her enthusiasm for Dartmouth’s culture by envisioning how she will continue her current artistic practice there. Dartmouth is proud of its commitment to nature and Leena uses that to her advantage.
This is how Roberto responded:
While I thought about focusing on Dartmouth’s state-of-the-art laboratories for my scientific research, or how it’s consistently the number one school for scientific patents, I realized there were many aspects of Dartmouth’s culture and community that align with my passions for scientific research and climate activism. That’s why I’m so excited to explore the Upper Valley with courses that both track climate change in the region and search for community-based solutions to these growing problems. As a city boy, I can’t wait to call the Upper Valley Land Trust my new home for research and political organizing.
Roberto’s strengths:
He demonstrates he’s really done his research on the school. Roberto uses a strategy of “while I could talk about x and y, I am going to focus on z” to show that he has dedicated time to learning all he can about Dartmouth and how its facilities fit into his interests and career goals.
And here’s Angela’s essay:
So far, my experience with Native American culture has been limited to family reunions, where everyone is some part Cherokee. Attending Dartmouth would give me an unparalleled opportunity to connect with other Native students from tribes all around the country, learning and collaborating with students who, unlike me, had experiences of growing up in Native communities. No other university would come close to the education in Native American Studies, from the classroom to the Dartmouth Powwow, that I could experience at Dartmouth.
Angela’s strengths:
She focuses on something that only Dartmouth can offer her. Angela uses her essay to home in on a part of Dartmouth that both academically and culturally is not offered at other similar schools, underscoring why she wants to go to Dartmouth and not just any Ivy.
Dartmouth supplemental essay 2
Prompt: Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:
A. There is a Quaker saying: Let your life speak. Describe the environment in which you were raised and the impact it has had on the person you are today.
B. "Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.
Dartmouth supplemental essay 3
Prompt: Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:
A. What excites you?
B. Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta recommended a life of purpose. "We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things," she said. "That is what we are put on the earth for." In what ways do you hope to make—or are you already making—an impact? Why? How?
C. Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth's Class of 1925, wrote, "Think and wonder. Wonder and think." As you wonder and think, what's on your mind?
D. Celebrate your nerdy side.
E. "It's not easy being green…" was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity and outlook?
F. As noted in the College's mission statement, "Dartmouth educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership…" Promise and potential are important aspects of the assessment of any college application, but they can be elusive qualities to capture. Highlight your potential and promise for us; what would you like us to know about you?
Gain instant access to essay examples for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States.
Final thoughts
Dartmouth is a great choice for an Ivy-competitive student who values a traditional college experience, a love of the outdoors, and a small student body. Every applicant should consider the importance of these traits and whether they will thrive in the specific academic and social environment that Dartmouth prides itself on having created.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.
THERE'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS ALONE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO ENSURE YOU LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE.