When is the best time to visit the Dartmouth campus?

The best times to visit are generally the summer and early fall. April and July through October are our busiest months for visitors. Thus, these are also the months when we have the most available programming in the Admissions Office- we offer campus tours, information sessions conducted by Admissions Officers as well as student forums with our Admissions Interns.

* Please visit our RSVP calendar for details: http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/visiting/calendar/display.html#

* If you are visiting during the summer, classes will be in session for the sophomore class starting from the end of June through the middle of August so you will get to see the campus in full swing.

* If you are visiting during the fall, you will be able to sit in on a class. This option is NOT available in the summer due to high visitor volume and small summer class sizes.

* If you'd like to come when it's less busy, February, May, June and November may be good times for you!

I'm applying for Transfer admission. Do I need to submit the Common Application's Secondary School Report?

No, but...

Your school does not need to submit the Secondary School Report from the Common Application, but we will need your secondary school to submit your transcript. For most applicants, the Common Application's Secondary School Report is the most sensible vehicle for the transcript, but if using this form would pose a challenge for your secondary school, we can accept an official transcript from your school without this form. Similarly, if your secondary school guidance counselor is not able to complete all portions of the Secondary School Report, it is fine if he/she submits a partially completed report along with your transcript.

I am planning to apply for Transfer Admission. When should I send in my materials?

Our Transfer application deadline is March 1.

Some students send in their application materials during the fall, but for the most part people submit their materials to us during the month of February.

For more info, have a look here.

I haven't been contacted for an interview. How do I request one?

You cannot request an interview.

The Admissions Office forwards applicant contact information to volunteer alumni interviewers throughout the US and abroad. Our alumni then seek to contact as many applicants as possible to invite them to interview. With a wide alumnus/a to student ratio, however, we will be unable to offer interviews to many of our applicants.

For more info, see this page, or have a look at the related posts.

Do my Teacher Recommendations have to come from a junior or senior year teacher?

No.

However, the two required teacher recommendations should come from teachers who know you well at the time you apply. A 9th or 10th grade teacher would be acceptable so long as that teacher knows you well currently and can write about you as a student today and not simply how you were several years ago in his or her class.

What does it mean when an application is "deferred" during Early Decision?

Applications that are deferred at the end of Early Decision are reviewed again during Regular Decision. Early Decision applications will receive one of three replies - acceptance to the Class of 2014, deferral to Regular Decision Review or denial of the candidacy for admission for this year.

The Admission Committee defers the final review of a candidacy to Regular Decision when additional information (senior year grades, more recent test results, etc.) will help us better understand the applicant's potential or when reviewing the case in the context of the larger Regular Decision applicant pool will provide a more complete picture of where the applicant "fits" in Dartmouth's applicant pool.

While the Admissions Committee does not set a specific target for the number of deferrals in Early Decision, in recent years similar numbers of candidates have received deferral notices and deny notices at the end of Early Decision.

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.

When will I be notified of my admissions decision if I've applied Early Decision?

We will notify candidates of their decisions in the middle of December. The week before decisions are released, we will send you an e-mail to let you now that we are in the final stages of our decision making process.

If I have already submitted my application, can I add more information to my file later?

Yes, but only if necessary.

Please understand that submitting more materials is not necessarily very helpful. We encourage you to submit substantive updates (for instance, major accomplishments that occur after you have submitted your application), but you should submit extra materials only if it contains new information that will add significantly to our understanding of your candidacy.