What should I do if I am a U.S. Military Veteran applying to Dartmouth?

Common Application
United States Military Veterans applying to Dartmouth should use the Common Application to summarize their academic and work histories and to highlight activities and interests outside of employment and formal educational settings. Detailed explanations of unique circumstances can be included in the “Additional Information” section of the Common Application First-Year Application or Transfer Application.

Academic Record
We understand that an applicant’s military service can result in gaps in educational enrollment and that many veterans will pursue part-time or online enrollment in college course work during their service. While some military veterans find that their academic record prior to serving in the military is no longer an accurate reflection of their academic abilities, Dartmouth still requires the submission of all secondary school and college or university transcripts with an application for admission.

The Admissions Committee works hard to review each application on its own individual merits, accounting for the context of the applicant’s experiences and the time elapsed since earning the grades represented in one’s application.

Veterans who have been away from high school or college course work for more than two years are encouraged to enroll in college courses prior to applying to Dartmouth. Recent and successful completion of challenging academic course work will provide the Admissions Committee with relevant evidence of a candidate’s academic ability. The Admissions Committee assigns great value to the personal qualities and characteristics gained through military service, but application readers also look to recently completed academic course work as tangible evidence of a candidate’s potential for success at Dartmouth.

Transfer vs. First Year Application
Veterans who have been enrolled in college or university course work may have the choice between applying to Dartmouth as a transfer applicant or a first-year applicant, depending on the number of courses they have pursued at the post-secondary level. If you have earned more than one year of college credit, you will likely want to apply to Dartmouth as a transfer applicant.

Course Credits
Because the Dartmouth faculty evaluates each individual course taken by an enrolling student before awarding credit, it can be difficult to predict how many courses taken at another college or university will count towards a Dartmouth degree.

While the Dartmouth faculty does not typically award credit for courses taken at two-year or community colleges, veterans may receive credit for these courses once the syllabi have been reviewed by department faculty. Dartmouth does not grant credit for online course work.