Dartmouth College is an Ivy League school located in the rural town of Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth’s ethos is intertwined with the landscape around it. The acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 6.7% and there are about 4,400 undergrads.
Dartmouth has a few supplemental questions this year. Read on for our take:
While arguing a Dartmouth-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1818, Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, delivered this memorable line: “It is, sir,…a small college, and yet there are those who love it!” As you seek admission to the Class of 2026, what aspects of the College’s program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? 100 words
This question can be rephrased as “why Dartmouth?” (but the abridged version). 100 words is really short. This whole thing should be 3-5 sentences. We recommend starting by identifying your academic area of expertise, i.e. the specific niche you’ve (hopefully) been developing over the course of high school. Tell a short origin story of your area of expertise. This shouldn’t be a big, grand story. It can be as simple as you did a project on it in 7th grade. Then, identify the specific major or program that most closely aligns with your area of expertise and talk about the upper-level classes within that major. Finally, talk about the extracurriculars that are most relevant here. The key is to draw a connection between your academic prowess and how Dartmouth is the best place for you to further develop it. Specificity is important.
Choose one of the following prompts and respond in 250-300 words:*
a. The Hawaiian word mo’olelo is often translated as “story” but it can also refer to history, legend, genealogy, and tradition. Use one of these translations to introduce yourself.
This is a lovely question if the response is done properly. We advise our students to share more about their family, familial traditions, and where they come from. As such, you should only choose this one if you think your family context will add some color to your application. Try to do this in story form, with a beginning, middle, and end. You can also feel free to get creative here. If you want to write this story in play form using dialogue, that works.
b. What excites you?
This is a fun one, too. We recommend starting off by making a list of everything that excites you so you can get a handle on where you’re headed with your response. Then, answer the question by weaving in most, if not all, of the things into your response.
c. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family’s Malawian house: “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.” What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made?
Dartmouth has some really solid prompts. This is another good one, but mostly if you’ve actually made something or alternatively, made something more efficient, or can write a solution-oriented story. We would advise students against writing about what they hope to make because ideas are a dime a dozen and we’re interested in what is real.
d. Curiosity is a guiding element of Toni Morrison’s talent as a writer. "I feel totally curious and alive and in control. And almost...magnificent, when I write,” she says. Celebrate your curiosity.
If you are drawn to this prompt, you don’t need our advice. Curiosity can take so many different forms. Doing it justice by showcasing it well should feel like an adventure to the reader. If you choose this prompt, our only advice is to try to make it playful and exciting.
e. “Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away,” observed Frida Kahlo. Apply Kahlo’s perspective to your own life.
Wow, another really great prompt! You can also read this one as “nothing is permanent/everything is temporary.” If you’ve already learned that lesson at 17 years old (without anything illicit) tell us how you learned it. Make this a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
f. In the aftermath of World War II, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, Class of 1929, proclaimed, “The world’s troubles are your troubles … and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.” Which of the world’s “troubles” inspires you to act? How might your course of study at Dartmouth prepare you to address it?
There are a lot of really awesome questions in the Dartmouth supplement and this one is, in our estimation, the weakest link. But if you must…start by choosing a problem you have a strong, personal connection to. Don’t just about macro-level issues troubling the world. You want to think about a problem you are actually affected by and (very important) interested in solving. The problem must intersect with coursework you plan to take at Dartmouth… Our advice for this question is to choose another question.
Dartmouth has a lot of great options. You can truly make your candidacy stand out if you answer these questions correctly. But with a 6.7% acceptance rate, you’ll want to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward.
Need help responding to a supplement? Call us. We’re great at helping students write standout responses.