Dartmouth is an Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire. It is the smallest of the Ivies, with around 4,500 undergrads, and Dartmouth is proud of its “small, rural school” reputation. The school has many unique offerings, such as a calendar with four 10-week sessions each year, creating flexibility for students to take on work, internships, vacations, and study abroad opportunities on their own schedule.

Dartmouth is competitive to get into. Last year, their acceptance rate was about 6.2%. We aren’t going to lie. It’s hard to get into Dartmouth. While no one is guaranteed a spot, there are things that you can do to help your chances as an applicant. And we wanted to break it down to give you the best chances possible.

What is Dartmouth looking for?

Dartmouth uses a holistic review process. They don’t explain it all that well on their website, but it means they will review your application based on many different factors. They break down these factors as part of a yearly document called the Common Data Set.

Pay close attention to the factors marked as “Very Important” and “Important.” These are the factors that you want to kill it in.

Rigor, Class Rank, and GPA

So, the first thing you need to do is make sure you get your academic transcript right. Dartmouth has no transcript requirements, but they have some recommendations.

You should 100% hit all these recommended categories. But it's more than that. You want to take as many classes as possible at a high level. This means taking Honors, AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, and/or accelerated courses. This speaks to academic rigor. You want a rigorous AF transcript.

If you just google “Dartmouth average GPA,” you will probably get 4.11. That sounds about right to us, but you should take this number with a grain of salt. Dartmouth doesn’t track average GPA because it's not a great data point. High schools grade differently, and every transcript is different. That being said, you want to get as close to 4.0 or, ideally, over if your school weighs accelerated courses. While they don’t track average GPA, they do track class rank.

If your school doesn’t rank… don’t worry. Something we’ve noticed is how many students submitted class rank to Dartmouth. At other Ivy League schools we have looked at, it was about 19%, and this is much higher. That makes this stat even more valuable. They really are looking for top-ranked students. Even if your school doesn’t rank, try to craft your academic transcript like you are gunning for a top spot. Trust us. They want top students.

Test Scores

Dartmouth has been technically test-optional for the last few years, but they highly encourage all applicants to submit scores. We honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they consider scrapping the policy in the coming years like MIT did. So, if they want you to submit tests, what should those scores look like? Ideally, you want your scores to align with or exceed their middle accepted range. This means for the SAT 710-770 on the EBRW and 730-790 on Math. And for the ACT a 32-35.

Most schools only “consider” test scores. However, Dartmouth calls them “very important,” and you should take note of this.

Essays, Recommendations, and more

Essays and Recommendations are doubly important because they are also where your “character/personal qualities” will come through.

You can’t really control what your teachers say about you in your recommendations. Hopefully, you have teachers who are willing to hype you up. Our one tip is to ask early. Teachers are busy, and asking early will buy you some goodwill. Dartmouth also recommends a peer recommendation. Now, listen, if a school doesn’t ask for it, we usually don’t advise submitting these kinds of recommendations. But Dartmouth is different. The trick here is to not just have your bestie write this. Think about which of your peers can really speak to your accomplishments and work with you. This is who you need to ask.

Now, let’s talk essays. If you are applying to Dartmouth, you need a next-level Common App Essay. We have a ton of blogs on how to approach the Common App Essay, and we think this one is especially helpful. But the TLDR is that your essay should do a couple of things.

You need to tell a good story.
You want to showcase 2-3 of those personal qualities we mentioned earlier. Are you brave, adventurous, determined, hardworking, etc.? Do some of these qualities come through in your essay?
You want your essay to be well-written and creative.

This is a lot to do in 650 words. If you need help, we can do that. Just reach out.

Dartmouth also has a supplement. We have a blog all about it, but it's on the long side. You want to give yourself enough time to really craft three strong essays. Again, if you need it, we can help.

Extracurriculars

When it comes to extracurriculars, you need to do a couple of things. The first is to show commitment. Dartmouth will not be impressed by a club you do for 2 hours a week. They want to see you investing your time in your passions and really going after your interests.

The second is leadership. There are a couple of ways to show your leadership potential. This can be a formal leadership position. Maybe you are a co-captain or a board member. But you can also show leadership by taking on responsibilities and tasks.

This is less important, but they also consider your volunteer and work experience. Including a volunteer position or summer job on your resume is not a bad idea. However, the above also goes for these categories. If you volunteer once a month, they won’t be impressed. They want to see leadership and commitment to your jobs and volunteer work as well.

The last good idea is to follow an academic passion outside of class. They want to see you already pushing yourself to explore intellectually. This might be through courses, research, internships, etc., but it will help your resume.

Consider applying ED

If Dartmouth is your top choice, you should think about applying early decision. While you still need to be a great candidate, applying early decisions might help you get in. We said that Dartmouth has around a 6% acceptance rate, but that rate comprises two rates. The ED rate is around 21%, and the Regular Decision rate is more like 4.8%.

Note that they also consider “level of interest.’ Applying ED will definitely check this box. Even if you aren’t applying ED, you should try to show interest by signing up for a tour, going to an info session, and/or reaching out to the admissions office and asking good questions.

Getting into Dartmouth isn’t easy. It is going to take work and commitment. But if you are serious about going to Dartmouth, these tips should help you be the best candidate you can be. Make sure to plan and take your time to apply.

Feeling nervous about apps? We can help! Reach out here.