What Does It Really Take to Get Into Dartmouth?

Each year, thousands and thousands of hopeful college applicants wait with bated breath to hear back from Dartmouth College, the smallest of the Ivy Leagues. With the number of college applicants on the rise, college admissions have never been so competitive, but the good news is that there are some things that savvy applicants can do to stand out. In this post, we’ll share our top tips for scoring that increasingly rare acceptance to Dartmouth College. Keep reading to unlock our unique insights, gained through our experience with thousands of Ivy League applicants. It should come as no surprise that we’ve written about getting into Dartmouth before. In fact, for a comprehensive overview of all the nitty gritty, including school statistics, requirements, and deadlines, don’t miss our post The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Dartmouth College . In this post, we’ll focus specifically on your application and how you can ensure you’re optimized your chances of getting in. Of course, the first thing you need to do is make sure you meet the basic requirements. This includes getting your application in before the deadline and ensuring that it includes all the required elements. Dartmouth College accepts both early decision (ED) and regular decision (RD) applications. The deadline for ED applications is November 1st. Remember that if you apply early decision, you may only apply to one school and are committed to attending should you be accepted. For more information, don’t miss our post Early Decision versus Early Action versus Restrictive Early Action . The regular decision deadline is January 1st. Dartmouth College accepts the Common Application and the Coalition Application (CAAS). They do not accept the Universal Application. To learn more about the Common Application, don’t miss our post A User’s Guide to the Common App . To complete your application to Dartmouth College, you’ll need to be sure you include: In addition, it is recommended (though not required) that you submit scores from at least two SAT Subject Tests and a recommendation written by a peer. Again, these elements are not required, but they are recommended and you should submit them wherever possible. Dartmouth College is among the most selective colleges in the country. It accepted just 8.7% of its 22,033 applicants to the class of 2022. Applications to Dartmouth have risen 10% over the last year and its most recent admissions cycle was its largest applicant pool in five years. Dartmouth has also increased its yield recently, meaning that it has recently begun to garner a higher percentage of accepted students than in prior years. For this reason, the admissions committee is handing out fewer acceptances than in years past. The yield for the class of 2022 was 61%, the highest in 25 years. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. With such a competitive selection process, Dartmouth College has the ability to be very picky about who it accepts. Ultimately, admissions are offered to students who meet its standards both in terms of academics and achievements outside of the classroom. Dartmouth is of course very selective academically. Students admitted to the class of 2022 achieved a mean SAT score of 1497 or a mean ACT score of 33. 97% of students whose high schools rank students were ranked in the top 10% of their graduating class. Doing well academically is definitely a top priority for students who want to attend Dartmouth, but it is not the only factor considered. Dartmouth values diversity of all kinds. 15% of its admitted students were first-generation college students this year, and 50% are students of color. 11% of the admitted class are foreign citizens and 60% applied for financial aid. Dartmouth also places high value on community, a stance that was reinforced by President Philip J. Hanlon when he welcomed the class of 2022 to campus. â€Å"The search for truth is a team sport, most effectively done when ideas and opinions are exchanged in an open and respectful manner,† he reminded students. To get into Dartmouth, you’ll need to prove that you’re not only a strong student academically, but also that you’re a positive contributor to your community. This is hard for the admissions committee to glean from an application, so you should strive to highlight it through your essays, extracurriculars, and recommendations. Start Early . Don’t rush your college application. You’ll need plenty of time to mull over your essays and short answer questions, and even more time to edit and proofread. If you’ve left your college applications to the last minute, you’ll be at a disadvantage at selective schools like Dartmouth. Highlight Your Value to Your Community. Dartmouth values respectful discourse, cooperative work, and students who work to change the world. You can most easily highlight these skills through your extracurriculars. Try to engage in activities that give back to your community in some way and that show a commitment to civic duty and teamwork.   Ã‚   Consider Early Decision. Of the 1,925, students offered admissions to the class of 2022, 525 were accepted through the Early Decision program. This means that your odds of getting in are significantly increased by applying early. Be Yourself. Admissions committees see a lot of applications over admissions season and they are well trained at recognizing when a student is being true to him or herself. Be authentic and genuine and unapologetically you. If you don’t get in, at least you’ll know if was the real you who didn’t fit, and you can take comfort in knowing the real you will do better elsewhere. Dartmouth is extremely selective and many top students ultimately are rejected. In fact, far more academically qualified students apply to Dartmouth than it is able to accept each year. This means that it routinely turns away students who present top SAT scores and high GPAs. While it can be hard to move past a rejection, try not to dwell on it. Dartmouth does not accept admissions appeals, so don’t waste your time formulating any compelling arguments to change their mind. Dartmouth does accept transfer students, though, and you are allowed to reapply as a freshman another year if you choose to take a gap year. While neither of these should be your knee-jerk reaction after a rejection, they are opportunities to consider if you are well suited to them in other ways too. To learn more about gap years, check out our post What Are the Pros of Taking a Gap Year? and What You Need To Know When Applying to Colleges After a Gap Year . For more about transferring, see our post Transferring Colleges: Opportunity Costs to Consider . Sometimes, the easiest choice after rejection is simply to set your sights elsewhere. While this can initially be a bitter pill to swallow, it’s important to remember that ultimately it’s not where you go to college that matters, but what you do with your time there. For our advice on adjusting to life at a college that wasn’t your first choice, read our post Envisioning a New Future: Preparing for Life at Your Second-Choice (or Third, or Fourth) School .