Dartmouth is a prestigious college with a historic dedication to diversity and excellence, and with an average acceptance rate of only 6.4%, Dartmouth is extremely hard to get into. But that shouldn’t deter the students from inquiring about how to get into Dartmouth.
Dartmouth Admissions At Glance
Dartmouth regularly ranks as one of the top universities in the world. In 2022, U.S. News ranked it 13th in the nation and 5th in best undergraduate teaching. This comes as no surprise considering Dartmouth has always ranked in the top 10 of all schools in best undergraduate teaching and has ranked first in several previous years.
So, if you’ve decided to go to Dartmouth, then you’ll need some assistance. The Ivy League institution is highly competitive, and this article provides all you’ll need to know in order to achieve your best chance of admissionDartmouth Application Basics to Dartmouth.
While there is no one way to get into any school, here, we will discuss Dartmouth’s history, application requirements, and admission statistics to help you to access your own application and to discover what you can do to make your application more competitive.
Ready to learn how to get into Dartmouth? Read on to learn all about the Dartmouth requirements that will give you an edge over the competition while learning all there is to know about this historic American institution.
Dartmouth History
Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College is the ninth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, the ninth and last of the colonial colleges chartered before the Revolutionary War, and the only colonial college to conduct its educational mission without interruption through the American Revolution to the present.
Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 on traditional, unceded Abenaki land along the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. The Rev. Eleazar Wheelock founded the college with the goal of educating the “youth of the Indian tribes in this land… English Youth, and any others” in Christian Theology and liberal arts. Rev. Samson Occom, an ordained minister of the Mohegan Tribe and one of Wheelock’s first students, was instrumental in raising the funds to found the college.
To build and sustain a new college in the wilderness, Rev. Wheelock made use of the uncompensated labor of his enslaved men and women of African descent. Later funding for the College came from private sources tied to profits from the Atlantic slave trade.
Not only this, but during its first 200 years, Dartmouth did little to actualize its founding commitment to Native students. These unfortunate facts are ones that Dartmouth readily acknowledges.
Here’s a quick timeline of some pivotal moments in Dartmouth’s history:
Dartmouth Today
Now, through its celebrated liberal arts curriculum, pioneering professional schools, deep commitment to outstanding undergraduate and graduate education, and distinguished research and scholarship opportunities, Dartmouth has forged a singular identity.
In its own words, Dartmouth is an institution of academic excellence, independent thought, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Their faculty of scholars are leaders in their fields, passionate about teaching, and committed to mentorship and collaboration with their students. They focus on building a diverse community of faculty and students, and they leverage that diversity to enrich and deepen the education of their students while also promoting vigorous and open debate of diverse opinions with mutual respect.
They instill a sense of responsibility for one another and for the broader world in their students while providing them ample opportunities to share their expertise and passions.
Finally, they provide comprehensive out-of-classroom experiences, including service opportunities, international study, and global engagement.
Dartmouth Notable Alumni
Dartmouth boasts numerous notable alumni. They include:
- Michael Arad (Class of ’91), designer World Trade Center 9/11 memorial
- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (class of ’25)
- William Kamkwamba (class of ’14), author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- K Barry Sharpless (Class of ’63), winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001
- and Kirsten Gillibrand (Class of ’88), U.S. senator
Other notable alumni include Mindy Kaling, Daniel Webster, Shonda Rhimes, Robert Frost, Fred Rogers, and Ernest Everett Just.
Dartmouth Fun Facts & Trivia
This is what a college should look like.
Dartmouth’s picturesque 269-acre campus which imparts “a profound sense of place” has become one of the College’s hallmarks. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the campus in 1953, he remarked, “This is what a college should look like.”
Dartmouth Goes For Gold
Since 1924, 147 Dartmouth-affiliated athletes have competed in the winter Olympics, the most in the Ivy League, and as of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the total medal count of these athletes is 13 gold, 10 silver, and 6 bronze. Were Dartmouth a country, its haul would place the College 21st in the all-time medal count, just behind Great Britain.
Experience The Presidential Election Process
Many people know that New Hampshire hosts the first presidential primary in the United States. What they may not know is that Dartmouth is a frequent stop on the campaign trail during this primary.
For more than a quarter of a century, the College has hosted debates featuring key presidential candidates, allowing students nearly unparalleled up-front and personal exposure to the election process.
What Kind of Student is Dartmouth Looking For?
Dartmouth is looking for students who will go on to become leaders in their field, whether that be “in government, industry, academia, journalism, or so on.”
Dartmouth College wants students who embrace collaboration, who make their communities more vibrant, and who will stay engaged with Dartmouth as alumni.
Dartmouth wants students who will take full advantage of their programs and offerings, which generally means they are looking for exceptional humanities students.
Dartmouth is historically a humanities-centric institution. Notice the fields of interest they specified above:
- government
- industry
- academia
- and journalism
They all based in the humanities and social sciences, and those fields, unsurprisingly, are Dartmouth’s strengths.
While the institution briefly refocused on STEM fields during the tenure of Dartmouth President Jim Kim between 2009 and 2012, the humanities seem to have taken the center stage once again. Some admissions officers from this past cycle have even reported that the admissions office was requesting readers to “flag” humanities applicants.
Is Dartmouth the Right Fit For Me?
To answer this question, we’ll look at few different aspects of what the life of a Dartmouth student may look like. These include, but are not limited to:
- Where Dartmouth is located and if it’s surroundings suit your living style
- What kind of activities there are at Dartmouth
- The academic schedule and requirements of Dartmouth Collège
Let’s take a closer look at life as a Dartmouth College student…
Where Is Dartmouth College?
Dartmouth College is located in Hanover, New Hampshire where it reside on it’s 269-acre main campus.
Dartmouth Map
Below you will find a map of Hanover, New Hampshire, specifically the Dartmouth Campus. You can find additional Dartmouth campus maps on their website, including a mobile device friendly version as well as a printable version in case you’re so excited to be attending Dartmouth, you want to hang a map of the campus on your wall to study during your downtime.
What’s The Vibe Like In Hanover?
One thing a student should ask themselves when considering whether or not Dartmouth College is a good fit for them is, “will I enjoy living in this region?” which inevitably means asking oneself, “will I enjoy living in Hanover?”
The town of Hanover and Dartmouth are intimately connected. The College lies in the heart of the town and there is little separation between Dartmouth and the portion of Hanover in which it is located, and one could even consider the town to be part of the campus.
Hanover is a smaller town with a suburban feel and is often called one of the best places to live in the United States. It offers several excellent and diverse food options close to campus: Thai, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Italian, American, pizzerias, bakeries, cafés—not to mention the best authentic gelato in the United States.
The region also supports major teaching hospitals, a burgeoning high-tech sector with global connections, and a world-class arts scene. The town is also nestled between multiple nature preserves and areas of unspoiled natural beauty. An entrance onto the Appalachian trail even comes right up to the campus’s doorstep.
Most students who attend Dartmouth will take advantage of these various activities, especially those relating to the outdoors, a fact which Dartmouth encourages.
In fact, Dartmouth’s First Year Trips, an orientation program for incoming students led and organized by returning students, is an outdoor program.
Take a Dartmouth Campus Virtual Tour
If you’d like to take a virtual tour of the Dartmouth Campus, the college has put together a tour, which we embedded below or view it a new tab by clicking here.
It’s recommended the Dartmouth Campus Virtual Tour be accompanied by this guide on the Dartmouth Campus, which also gives prospective students a glimpse into the lives’ of five different Dartmouth students living in Hanover. It’s pretty informational so be sure to check it out!
For additional ways to experience a Dartmouth Campus Tour, head over to the tours page on the Dartmouth website.
Will Dartmouth’s Academic Requirements Work For You?
In terms of academics, Dartmouth operates on a unique quarter system. There are four ten-week academic quarters per year in the fall, winter, spring, and summer. Of the 15 academic quarters between matriculation and graduation, most students take classes during 12 of those terms to earn their degrees.
Students are required to take on-campus classes for the fall, winter, and spring quarters of their first year, for two of the three quarters in their final year, and for one summer quarter in a year of their choice. (Yes, you read that correctly: you are required to take at least one summer class in order to graduate.)
However, beyond these requirements, students have near complete control over when and where they complete their coursework, and when they take their leave terms. During those leave terms, Dartmouth students can undertake field research, internships, travel, work, or to just take a break, and they can receive funding and networking support for their activities during that term.
So, students who enjoy living in a suburban atmosphere, who enjoy the outdoors, and who seek flexibility in their academic schedule will likely enjoy life at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth Admission Requirements
Below, we will cover the essential requirements students should strive to accomplish if they plan on seeking admission to Dartmouth.
Dartmouth Acceptance Rate (Class of 2026)
The Dartmouth acceptance rate is 6.4%.
The Class of 2026 saw:
Applications: 28,336
Acceptances: 1,808
Acceptance Rate: 6.4%
Percent Enrolled Early Decision: 46%
28,357 applicants applying to Dartmouth. Of those, 1,749 were accepted, of which 46% enrolled early decision.
The acceptance rate was 6.4%, which is low for Dartmouth and may indicate that the College is becoming even more competitive to get into.
For context, the Class of 2024 saw 9.2% of applicants admitted, and that was the third lowest acceptance rate in the school’s history.
Dartmouth Early Decision Acceptance Rate
Of the 1,808 students accepted into Dartmouth’s Class of 2026, 46% enrolled early decision.
The Dartmouth Class of 2025, 95% percent of the incoming class ranked in the top decile of their high school graduating class.
Most students (54%) attended public schools, 34% attended an independent school, and 12% attended a religious school. In total, 956 high schools were represented in the incoming class.
Dartmouth College Gender Demographics
For the Class of 2025, the ratio of men to women is roughly even. Of the 1,228 who entered the incoming class:
- 600 identified as men
- 617 as women
- and 11 as genderqueer/non-binary/questioning
Legacy Students & First Generation College Students at Dartmouth
- 15% of students are first generation college students
- 13% are legacy students
- 13% are international students
Dartmouth College Ethnicity Demographics
A little more than half of the students are white, with 44% of the incoming class being students of color. Of those, the majority are Asian Americans followed by African Americans and Latinos.
Native Americans make up about 5% of the incoming class, more than double that of most other Ivy League institutions.
Note that in the figure below, 17% of students reported belonging to more than one race or ethnicity, so the percentages will not add up to a perfect 100%.
The geographic make-up of the class of 2025 is fairly spread out. The most well-represented regions are the West, Mid-Atlantic, and New England. The least represented region is the Mid-West.
SAT/ACT Test Scores and GPA You Need to get into Dartmouth
(The following data is representative of the Class of 2024, as testing data for the class of 2025 and 2026 was not made available due to Dartmouth’s testing optional policy.)
To have a chance at being admitted to Dartmouth, students will need to achieve mostly A’s in high school while taking the most difficult coursework available to them.
Dartmouth does not list any official statistics regarding the GPA of students admitted to the incoming undergraduate class.
However, 94% of those students had earned a spot in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, and more than 500 students (a little less than half) in the incoming class were either the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school class.
Dartmouth GPA Requirements
Furthermore, there are some Dartmouth GPA requirements that applicants should be aware of. All though there are exceptions to the averages, most admitted transfer students have a 3.7 GPA or above. So, it is safe to assume that students will need to target a GPA close to 4.0 to be considered competitive applicants.
What SAT and ACT Test Scores are Required To Get Into Dartmouth?
Dartmouth College is continuing its optional testing policy through the 2021-22 admissions cycle. Students may take and submit an SAT or ACT score if they wish, but it will not be required for a student’s application to be considered (as it would normally be).
That being said because they are not required during this admission cycle, submitting a competitive SAT or ACT score may still be one way for a student to stand out amongst their competition.
On the SAT, most admitted students scored between a 1440 and 1560, and, on average, most scored close to or above 1500. Most students also score higher on the Math portion than on the reading portion (the average was a 750 in Math and a 730 in Reading).
On the ACT, most admitted students scored between a 32 and a 35. Unlike students who took the SAT, most students who submitted an ACT scored higher on the English and Writing portion than on the Math portion. ACT English scores were generally between a 33 and a 36, while most ACT Math scores were between a 30 and a 35.
For students who wish to submit an SAT or ACT, Early November is the last date for testing.
If your ACT scores aren’t quite there yet, don’t worry, you have options:
- Check out our list of recommend ACT study books and materials
- Sign up for a free, live proctored ACT practice exam that Powerful Prep administers the first Saturday of each month via a Zoom conference
- Take advantage of one of our elite ACT test prep options including an AI-driven app called Achievable or sign up for Personalized ACT Tutoring with one of our Ivy League graduate instructors
Dartmouth Application Basics
All first-year applicants are required to submit their applications through the Common App. With their application, students must submit a secondary school report with a transcript, a school profile, a counselor evaluation, and two teacher evaluations.
Dartmouth also requires a personal statement and a writing supplement which consists of two brief essays.
The Dartmouth writing supplements read as follows:
1. Required of all applicants. Please respond in 100 words or fewer:
Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2027, what aspects of the College’s academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? In short, Why Dartmouth? Please respond in 100 words or fewer.
2. Required of all applicants. Please respond in 200-250 words:
“Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself in 200-250 words.
3. Required of all applicants. Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 200-250 words:
A. 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 making—an impact?
B. What excites you?
C. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba ’14 reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power 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 made?
D. Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth’s Class of 1925, wrote, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” What do you wonder and think about?
E. “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” wrote James Baldwin. How does this quote apply to your life experiences?
Dartmouth Application Deadlines
At Dartmouth, the deadline to apply Early Decision is November 1 while the deadline to apply to Dartmouth via Regular Decision deadline is January 3.
Are Peer Recommendations Required For Dartmouth Admissions?
Students may also submit a Peer Recommendation with their application.
While this is not required for an application to be accepted, Dartmouth strongly recommends that students submit one.
It is a statement written in of support of the student’s candidacy, completed by anyone the applicant considers a peer. Examples include “a classmate or teammate; brother, sister, or cousin; a co-worker; a friend met at summer school or summer camp; lab or debate partner.” It should not be someone who has acted in a supervisory or oversight role in the student’s life.
How to Get an Edge at Dartmouth
If you dream of getting into Dartmouth, there are a handful of things that can give students an edge in the competition.
Below, we’ll cover seven different options that our research shows give Dartmouth applicants a leg up during the admissions process.
Demonstrate Interest
Dartmouth considers “demonstrated interest” during the admission process. Students who make a campus visit, contact an admissions officer, connect with the college on social media, attend any local presentations by admissions officials such as at college fairs, and so on will likely have an advantage of students who do not demonstrate such interest.
Well-Rounded and Focused
Dartmouth seeks to admit students who are among the best or who have the potential to be among the very best at something in the world. That said, Dartmouth does seem to value students who are “well-rounded” more so than its Ivy League counterparts.
So, while having a particular passion and uncommon achievements in that passion will boost a student’s application, having a few commonplace interests as well may also benefit a student’s application.
When it comes to commonplace interests, Dartmouth may prefer interests that are slightly more athletic and outdoorsy. However, it could just as easily be the case that students who have such interests already prefer Dartmouth and not the other way around.
Make the Admissions Officer say “Oh, that’s cool,” when reading your application.
According to a few former admissions readers from Dartmouth, Dartmouth admissions officers tend to fall for the “cool factor.”
So, students who can put something unique on their application that will catch admissions readers’ attention will be more competitive applicants.
Being a Model United Nations champion is not as unique and interesting as starting a nonprofit to host a Model United Nations conference for students in a less developed nation.
Apply to the Humanities
As written above, Dartmouth has traditionally been a college that focuses on the humanities and social sciences. As such, they have excellent programs in those areas, and they know it. Therefore, they will see students who are interested in those programs as more likely to attend Dartmouth when accepted.
That said, students applying for a STEM program may have less competition within their own field, as fewer applicants will likely be applying for those programs.
However, this will only be an advantage for those students who can give a convincing reason for why Dartmouth is their preferred school over another more STEM-oriented institution.
Recruited Athletes
Dartmouth’s 35 Division I sports teams make up about 25% of the undergraduate population, so athletes who can get recruited will likely enjoy an edge in the admissions process.
Geographic Advantages
Students who hail from states which are less populated will not have to compete against an endless stream of qualified applicants (as is the case for students who hail from the Northeast and the West Coast). So, qualified students who hail from the Deep South or the Mid-West are likely to have slightly higher admissions chances.
Demographic Advantages
Students who are part of a minority group, especially students who are Native American, may find that they have a slightly higher chance of admission.
Dartmouth’s commitment to a diverse student body is foundational to its original charter, and it is a component of that charter that they have recommitted to in recent years.
Summary: This Is How You Can Get Into Dartmouth
In the words of Dartmouth’s most famous alumni:
“Congratulations, today is your day. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
With that in mind, if you have decided that you want to get into Dartmouth, remember the school has a deep commitment to diversity which is fundamental to its founding. They have especially been focusing on their commitment to Native American communities in recent years.
Additionally, Dartmouth ranks the following as “very important” to the admissions process:
- rigor of secondary school record
- class rank
- GPA
- standardized test scores
- application essay
- recommendations
- extracurricular activities
- and character/personal qualities
Students interested in attending Dartmouth should make sure they have difficult classwork and excellent grades and test scores first and foremost.
It is highly recommended that students submit the optional peer recommendation with their application.
Also, demonstrated interest is a factor if you want to get into Dartmouth! Be sure to visit the Dartmouth campus, reach out to an admissions officer, anything to get on Dartmouth’s radar!
