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
----
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: 5
U.S. News & World Report: 15
Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: 51
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: 4,447 (fall 2023)
Grad and professional school population: 2,299 (fall 2023)
Dartmouth acceptance rate
Here are the admissions statistics for Dartmouth’s class of 2028:
Applications: 31,656
Acceptances: 1,710
Matriculants: 1,183
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
(Suggested reading: Ivy League Acceptance Rates)
Dartmouth tuition and scholarships
In 2025–2026, Dartmouth’s cost of attendance (i.e., tuition, room, board, and fees) lands at $95,490.
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 2028, the average financial aid award was $69,152.
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 2028:
Note: The standardized test scores below are for the class of 2024, which is the most recent year scores were required to be submitted.
93% 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: 14.2%
First generation college students: 17%
Legacy students: 11%
47.8% of the class identified as Caucasian. The next largest group was Asian Americans at 21.7%. 10.5% were African American, 12.6% were Hispanic, and 5.3% were American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Indigenous.
----
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
Required in 2025–2026: 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
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
Gain instant access to 25 exclusive full-length examples covering all seven prompts, plus comprehensive analyses for each to help you craft stellar essays.
----
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 1st 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)
----
Part 4: Getting into Dartmouth as a transfer applicant
Transferring to Dartmouth may sound like an easier route of admission, especially if your child wasn’t quite ready when they graduated from high school. There could be a variety of reasons for this ranging from financial, familial, to academic or even just changing one’s mind after enrolling somewhere else. Whatever the reason, transferring to Dartmouth is still a significant challenge.
According to the Common Data Set, 932 students applied for transfer admission in 2024, 62 were accepted, and only 32 ultimately enrolled. This results in an acceptance rate of just about 6.6%. That’s just slightly higher than the acceptance rate of the traditional route of admission. Furthermore, while the acceptance rates for first-year admissions at Dartmouth tend to be relatively stable, the transfer acceptance rates can vary wildly from year to year. For example, in 2023, only 1.5% of transfers were accepted. If we go back to 2020, a whopping 28% got in.
While these numbers may seem daunting, transfer acceptance is far from impossible. Your child will simply have to understand the nuances of Dartmouth’s transfer process to craft the strongest possible application.
Who can apply to Dartmouth as a transfer student
Before diving into application strategy, let’s make sure your child is even eligible for transfer admission.
Your child can transfer to Dartmouth if they’ve been enrolled in a college or university and have completed no more than two years of college-level coursework, even if they’ve only attended for a single term. This means that students who took a gap year after one semester of college, or those who started college but took time off, can still apply as transfers. Even if your child isn’t currently enrolled at a university, they’re still eligible to apply as a transfer to Dartmouth.
Navigating the transfer application process at Dartmouth
Dartmouth's transfer application timeline runs on a different schedule than first-year admissions. The process begins in January when applications open, with all materials due by March 1. This gives your child most of the spring semester to work on their application, but it’s important to keep those grades up in their current classes while they do so!
Unlike first-year applicants who use the Common Application, transfer candidates must use Dartmouth's specific transfer application. The application fee is $90, though fee waivers are available for students who demonstrate financial need. Along with the application, your child will need to submit their final secondary school report and transcript, as well as a College Official's Report that includes your current college transcript.
They’ll also need to secure two evaluations from their current instructors. These are like letters of recommendation and carry significant weight because they speak to your child’s performance at the college level, something Dartmouth will be keen to see for transfers.
Dartmouth also strongly recommends submitting college course syllabi along with your transcript. Syllabi help the admissions committee understand the content of your child’s coursework, particularly if they’re coming from a less well-known institution.
What Dartmouth looks for beyond grades
Dartmouth's admissions philosophy for transfers goes well beyond academic credentials. As they put it, "Most transfer applicants present strong academic credentials, so the Admissions Committee also considers your ability to make a successful transition after transferring and to contribute to the life of the College—in and out of the classroom."
This means that while excellent grades are essential, they're just the foundation of a competitive application. Dartmouth wants to see evidence of commitment to activities that matter to your child. Rather than trying to do a little bit of everything, your child should focus on developing expertise and taking on meaningful responsibilities in areas where they can make a real impact.
Think about how their experiences align with Dartmouth's campus culture. The college prides itself on traditions like the D-Plan flexible study schedule (think demonstrating autonomy in your child’s academic pursuits), and its strong outdoor recreation programs. If your child has demonstrated leadership in outdoor activities, community service, or unique academic pursuits, make sure these experiences are prominently featured in their application.
Research experience or publications can also help your child stand out. If your child has engaged in an independent project that would benefit from Dartmouth’s resources—perhaps a faculty member’s expertise or an ongoing program—this would be crucial to mention as it links your child’s ambitions directly with Dartmouth.
Crafting a Dartmouth transfer narrative
That’s why articulating a compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Dartmouth specifically is most important for your child’s application. Their essays should focus on academic and career goals that only Dartmouth (as much as possible) can help them achieve. Their essays aren’t the place to simply list reasons they’re dissatisfied with their current school. Dartmouth admissions can easily distinguish between students running away from problems versus those running toward opportunities.
Make sure they highlight their knowledge of Dartmouth's programs, faculty, and opportunities. Maybe they’re drawn to a specific research center, interdisciplinary program, or the flexibility of the D-Plan that would allow them to pursue internships or study abroad in ways their current school can't accommodate. Dartmouth’s D-Plan can be especially helpful with extracurriculars if your child is considering medical school. Essentially, the more specific and informed their reasons, the more compelling their case becomes.
Your child’s transfer essays also provide an opportunity to explain any difficulties or academic growth since high school. Perhaps their time in college so far has helped them clarify their career goals in ways that make Dartmouth a natural next step in their journey.
----
Part 5: 2025–2026 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: As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2030, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you? (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. In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. "A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives," he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?
D. The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall's research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground?
E. Celebrate your nerdy side.
F. "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, outlook, or sense of purpose?
G. The Mindy Kaling Theater Lab will be an exciting new addition to Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts. "It's a place where you can fail," the actor/producer and Dartmouth alumna said when her gift was announced. "You can try things out, fail, and then revamp and rework things… A thing can be bad on its journey to becoming good." Share a story of failure, trial runs, revamping, reworking, or journeying from bad to good.
Gain instant access to essay examples for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
----
Part 6: Frequently asked questions
How do I increase my chances of getting into Dartmouth?
If your child is set on attending Dartmouth, you may be wondering what they can do to increase their chances of entry. Many students and parents want a checklist of action items they can take to break down the admissions process and understand exactly what they need to do to be successful.
While achieving a high GPA and taking challenging courses will certainly put them ahead of many applicants, these things alone are not enough. Your child should strive to demonstrate their intellectual curiosity inside and outside the classroom by participating in research projects and pursuing extracurricular activities such as music, sports, or a debate team. Having many interests is good, but Dartmouth looks for depth in applicants' extracurricular activities so having too many may make your child seem like they have no real direction or are indecisive.
Aside from this, your child’s essays must speak to their best qualities effectively and showcase their fit with Dartmouth’s mission and campus community. Make sure they thoroughly research programs at Dartmouth and have a clear reason for wanting to attend beyond merely desiring an Ivy League education.
Is Dartmouth the easiest Ivy?
No, Dartmouth is not the easiest Ivy League school to gain admission to. While all Ivy League schools have stringent standards for who they accept, Dartmouth’s acceptance rate is typically around 5-6 percent.
Acceptance rates at all Ivy League schools have been trending downwards in recent years but there is usually some fluctuation in either direction. Numbers alone may suggest that Cornell is actually the easiest Ivy to get into, however, each school has unique programs and characteristics that they seek in applicants. Your child should focus on researching each institution for the best fit with their academic goals and career aspirations. If they have the grades to potentially get into an Ivy League school, merely looking for the easiest path may not be in their best interest.
Why is Dartmouth so prestigious?
Dartmouth’s prestige comes from many qualities it possesses. Its broad range of undergraduate programs, its close-knit community and small class sizes, its influential alumni network, research focus, storied history, and Ivy League status all contribute to its prestigious reputation globally.
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 over 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.