Dartmouth is not known for accepting a ton of transfers. Actually, they’re known for the opposite. They accept very few. Very, very few. “In recent years,” they say, “Dartmouth has enrolled between a handful and two dozen new transfer students.” For students enrolling in the fall of 2023, Dartmouth received nearly 800 applications, but accepted only a dozen applicants. The transfer acceptance rate was only 1.6%.
Dartmouth doesn’t make it easy to apply, either. They have a dedicated transfer application, instead of using the Common Application or even the Coalition Application. We repeat, they do not use the Common Application. So, if you apply to Dartmouth as a transfer, you need to plan in advance, allowing additional time to get acquainted with the application itself. Be sure you’re eligible, too. To be eligible for transfer, you must have attended a college, but completed two years or fewer. Taking courses while in high school does not count towards transfer eligibility.
When you’re ready to dig in, we recommend starting with a check-list. Dartmouth requires your high school and college transcripts, a set of essays, two evaluations (also known as recommendations) from college instructors, and the course syllabi for courses you’ve taken in college. Oh, and they also require standardized testing. This is not standard of top-tier schools in the 2025 transfer application cycle, so remember to plan in advance to achieve your best scores.
If all this sounds a little overwhelming, don’t let it discourage you if you want to get into Dartmouth. We’ve found that the best work, and the strongest strategy, comes from a position of empowerment through information. In this post, we’ll give you the tools you need to build your strongest Dartmouth transfer application. Now, let’s get into it.
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The Dartmouth Transfer Application looks nearly the same as any other transfer application, including the Common App. There is general information that they collect, details like where you are now, and a series of essays. The essays, too, aren’t much different other than that they offer you a lot of options — enough for it to occasionally feel overwhelming. By breaking it down systematically, ruling out options that don’t work well for you and focusing on your strongest opportunities, you can do this.
THE TRANSFER ESSAYS
This first prompt is required of all transfer applicants, and you have up to 500 words to work with. You’d be writing it even if it wasn’t required, though, as optional isn’t optional if you want to get in.
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 Dartmouth, what prompted your decision to transfer institutions and what aspects of the College's program, community, or campus environment attract your interest?
The beginning of this prompt is really just a fun set-up for a standard “why transfer?” They want to know why you want to switch schools, and why, in particular, you think Dartmouth is your perfect match.
Let’s start with what this isn’t, though. It isn’t a gossip column, and it sure isn’t a television drama. They do not want to know if you hate your roommate, clashed with administration, or think all your professors are idiots. After all, you want them to leave this essay excited to potentially excited to welcome you onto campus, not glad they don’t have to deal with you. So, when you talk about why you want to transfer you can only focus on two things (with few exceptions): academics and community. You can talk about academics without talking about community, but you can’t talk about community without mentioning academics. Basically, academics must be at the core of your reason for transferring — even if only for this essay.
Writing about how your interests have developed in a direction that Dartmouth can better serve you in will naturally lead you into writing about your prospective major at the college, professors you hope to study under, and courses you would love to take. This, too, can then have community layered on top, as you see out a supportive and encouraging community connected to what drives your curiosity in class and beyond.
And if you’re excited to ski, you can include that too — but it isn’t a compelling reason for transferring on its own.
Please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:
This one is required, too, and you have two options to pick from.
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.
As you’ll see, both of these prompts (this one, and the one below) swim in the same pool. That is to say, they speak to similar themes. Who are you, where do you come from, and what drives you. For this prompt, they are specifically framing this question within the context of what kind of life you’ve been born (and raised) into. We don’t hate this as a premise, except that many students find themselves spending nearly all of the 250 words writing about what has happened to them in life, not what course they’ve charted for themselves. For this reason, we much prefer option “B”, which still offers the opportunity to write about your background but through a more forward-looking lens.
B. "Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.
This prompt does everything that the earlier one offers, while also opening up more options and avenues. “Introduce yourself,” after all, doesn’t mean saying “Hi, my name is…” At least, not when you’re applying to Dartmouth. Instead, the way to introduce yourself is by telling a story that, connecting back to option A, let’s your life speak. Who are you? How do you define yourself? Maybe you write about something that you love doing, and a specific experience that illuminates how you see and engage with the world. Or maybe you write about a place that is deeply meaningful to you, and how being there settles your soul. Whatever you write, stay focused. Keep yourself to a small story with precise detail, and stay focused. 250 words isn’t a lot, and it’s important that your response to this prompt packs a punch.
Required of all transfer applicants, please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 200-250 words:
So, for this prompt you have a lot of options. Perhaps, too many. There are seven, and while there are no bad options there are ones that would be bad for you. Take your time to consider each before selecting your best option and committing.
a. What excites you?
We love this prompt because it’s simple, direct, and nearly impossible to answer incorrectly. There are ways, though, to miss an opportunity with this prompt. There is no wrong answer, true, but there are answers that don’t make an impact. To leave a strong impression on the application readers, you need to make them as excited about what you write about here as you are. The best way to do this is to be extremely focused, even granular.
So, if you are excited by coral reefs, zoom in on a particular coral. If you are excited by history, zoom in on a moment. If you are excited by literature, zoom in on a passage, or a person. Don’t be too tied, either, to your prospective major. It’s best to pick something for here that relates to your major, but it doesn’t have to be an obvious nod to your major.
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?
This is one of a number of prompts that have more explanation than is actually necessary, resulting, often, in students not tackling it from the most favorable vantage point. The essence of the prompt is actually really simple — how do you make a difference for people, animals, or the planet. Again, be really specific here. Writing about a list of things that you do isn’t an effective way of responding. Instead, focus in on one thing, and tell that story. Remember to include the why, as well. You need to communicate what drives you internally to make a difference.
c. In "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think," Dr. Seuss invites us to "Think and wonder. Wonder and think." Imagine your anticipated academic major: How does that course of study sync with Dr. Seuss's advice to you?
This prompt isn’t bad, but it also isn’t our favorite. We recommend skipping it, because you have so much more to write about that will be better highlighted through a different prompt.
If you are committed to this prompt, though, we recommend leaning hard into the “wonder” part. Let yourself dream.
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?
This is another prompt with a hefty intro but a simple premise. Writing about a hard conversation, though, can be tough. It’s easy, if you aren’t careful, for you to come off as perceiving yourself as better than your conversation partner. You’re the one telling the story, so you have the power — and that tends to come across in responses to the prompt. When you have the power, it’s easy to leave the reader with an icky feeling that we definitely don’t want to create.
So, our recommendation is to skip this prompt. If you want to do it, though, don’t go for the highest stakes conversations. Except in exceptional circumstances, avoid specific political issues, or issues like abortion. This isn’t because these conversations aren’t important, but because you don’t know the politics of your reader. When you write, you will likely tend to assume your reader agrees with you. But you don’t know if that is true, so that assumption can be dangerous.
e. Celebrate your nerdy side.
Like prompt “A,” this is a favorite of ours. It’s also super similar to “A,” but with a twist. This prompt wants you to be nerdy, so get into the nitty gritty. The same rules of “A” apply, but if the word “nerdy” speaks to you, pick this one.
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?
This prompt is interesting to us, because it tends to attract students who have some sort of difference from the perceived norm in identity, ability, or background. This isn’t a bad thing to write about, but it is important to take a moment to pause and consider whether highlighting a way that you identify as ‘different’ is worth giving up a whole supplement to. Maybe it is, but don’t assume that. Really think about it.
If you pick this prompt, we recommend taking a perspective that opens up your world, rather than closing you off from opportunities. What do you see differently because of who you are, and how does that impact what you bring to the world?
g. Buddy Teevens '79 was a legendary and much-beloved coach at Dartmouth. He often told parents: "Your son will be a great football player when it's football time, a great student when it's academic time, and a great person all of the time." If Coach Teevens had said that to you, what would it mean to be "a great person"?
This prompt speaks to the soul, and we like that. You don’t want to spend 250 words describing how awesome you are, though. That doesn’t sit well with application readers. Instead, write about who you are striving to be. Tell the story of who you are becoming, and make the reader feel invested in helping you bring that dream to fruition.
Applying to Dartmouth as a transfer is a long-shot, but it is possible to hit your mark if you play it right. You must have top grades. You must have top scores. And you must tell your story. If you do all of that, you have a chance.
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