Does the Dartmouth Admissions Office limit the number of students it takes from any school?

No.

We do not read applications by school group and we do not evaluate any application by directly comparing it to others in the school group. We take the strongest candidates who have been successful in their communities, however many or few that may be. Some years we may take every applicant from a school and the next year we may take none. We work very hard to treat every applicant as an individual with his or her own qualities, successes, and opportunities. This is consistent for all applicants--domestic and international.

How Important Are My Grades When Being Considered for Admission?

Your grade are important and are looked at in the application process in several main ways: 1) predictive ability of grades 2) grade trends 3) rigor of curriculum.

1) Many studies have been done by both Dartmouth, the College Board and our peer institutions that show that high school GPA taken into account with standardized test scores are highly correlated with how a student performs GPA-wise in his or her FIRST year in college. This means that a top GPA in high school may be an indicator that you will continue to do well in college. However, this is only part of the way we look at a student's GPA in the application process.

2) We view ALL grades as important. You should think about it this way - when we review an applicant's transcript, we look at grade trends that will help us understand a student's academic trajectory in his or her secondary school. We see transcripts that show steady grades throughout a student's high school career or a positive/upward trend from 9th-12th grade. We see transcripts where a student has bounced back from a transition or dip in grades. We also see downward trends in grades. We use the rest of the application to try to fill in WHY the trend looks the way it does. If you have a particular reason for, say, a dip in grades in your junior year, please let us know about it in the "Additional Information" section of the Common Application. Keep in mind that we will be looking to see how you have done in your most recent coursework since this will be a good indicator of how ready you are to move into a rigorous academic environment at Dartmouth.

3) The Admissions Committee will look at your curriculum and note whether the courses you have been/are taking are the most demanding offered in your school. If your school weights the GPA by counting advanced/AP/honors/IB/etc courses more heavily, we will note this (vs. an unweighted GPA where a school counts any and all courses equally when calculating the GPA). If a school does not weight your GPA, we will "weight" it ourselves when we read your file by looking on your transcript and checking with your school profile and guidance counselor recommendation to see if your coursework in fact shows that you have sought academic and intellectual challenge in your school context.

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything in this post!

Should I attend an information session in my city, if I already attended one on campus?

This year, the Dartmouth Admissions Office will travel to over 40 cities in the U.S. to speak about the Dartmouth experience. These information sessions will be posted on our website as the fall travel season progresses, and they are open to the public.
Typically, the information session in your city will highlight reasons why Dartmouth is unique. We'll talk about the Dartmouth Plan, the research opportunities on campus, and our accessibility to our faculty. If you've already visited campus, the information session might be somewhat repetitive, but chances are you'll learn something new!
We would love to see you while we're on the road!

Who reads my application when I apply for admission?

We do! The Admissions Committee includes 13 Admissions Officers and a small number of experienced additional application readers.

The additional application readers include people who serve in other roles at the College, former full-time Dartmouth Admissions Officers, former Admissions Officers from other colleges who now live near Dartmouth and know the selection process and the College well, and other educators who have worked as teachers, deans, high school counselors and who understand Dartmouth's values.

Dartmouth does not "assign" a specific Admissions Officer or application reader to read all of the applications from one high school, city, state or region. Particular admissions officers may be more familiar with certain areas of the world and as a result may serve as a resource for other application readers, answering questions and perhaps reviewing cases from a specific school or a given area. Most applications are reviewed several times, by multiple application reviewers.

Should I have two teachers from different subjects write my recommendations?

Not necessarily. The most important ingredient for a credible and meaningful recommendation, in my experience, is a teacher who knows his/her student well. You may find that the two teachers who know you best teach in the same subject area, or you may find they teach in different subject areas. Either way, it is fine with us. We will trust you to be the best judge of which teachers will be best able to support your candidacy.

Do I have to take four years of a language to be admitted to Dartmouth?

Dartmouth does not have any set academic requirements. While we do not require students to take four years of a language (or four years of science, or four years of English, etc.), we certainly look to see that a student IS taking a challenging and appropriate curriculum to succeed at Dartmouth.
When we receive your application, we review your high school profile very carefully to understand what curriculum is offered at your particular high school. We hope that you are choosing courses based on your academic interests. If you have a scheduling conflict and you cannot take Spanish 4 since it occurs at the same time as Honors European History, it is okay! Just make sure that you are challenging yourself to your potential...with courses that prepare you for a liberal arts college experience.

Does Dartmouth have a cap on Early Decision Admits?

No. That said, the Admissions Office typically admits about 35% of the entering class through the Early process. We want to make sure that there are ample opportunities for both our Early Decision applicants and our Regular Decision applicants and we have found over the years that the ~35% range allows us to respond favorably to a strong cohort of our ED applicants without infringing on the opportunities of our Regular applicants.

Will I get "credit" for visiting Dartmouth?

No. Dartmouth does not track visits or other contacts for selection purposes. We do, for example, like to know who has visited campus and participated in our programming so we can make sure we're scheduling events appropriately and so we can assess the usefulness of our programming for recruitment purposes. We do not, however, include this information in students' application files. I think visiting our campus is the best way to learn about Dartmouth and to see if it is a good fit for you, but it does not make sense for students to visit as a means of demonstrating interest in attending.

What qualities are you looking for in an application?

Academic ability, intellectual curiosity, creativity, leadership, passion, compassion, talents (athletic, artistic, and any others), self-reflection, awareness of others, sense of humor, integrity, motivation, and any other positive qualities that suggest the applicant will add significantly to the Dartmouth community.

There's no formula for admission. The admissions committee takes great care to understand the full person behind the application, including the applicant's strengths and weaknesses and what she or he will add to Dartmouth.

How do you evaluate music/art supplements?

It is not too often that the Admissions Officers who read your file will see your art supplement directly*. In our Office, we forward your CDs, portfolios, videos and photos to our arts faculty who assess your work and then send us back their evaluations. We take these evaluations into account when reading the rest of your application. An art/music/debate/etc. talent with top marks from our faculty members can be a compelling part of an applicant's candidacy, as is the case with any other form of outstanding extracurricular achievement.

*I do watch many of the YouTube links that you include though! I've listened to your a capella leads and trumpet solos, I've seen you on the ice landing a triple axle, I've watched the video productions filmed in your school hallways and your creative animations. These were a nice breather for me last winter during days when the Admissions team would spend 8-10 hours a day reading files! You guys are great - keep up the good work.

How many times is too many for taking the SAT?

Dartmouth has no cap on how many times a student can take the SAT I exam or any other standardized test (ACT, SAT Subject Tests, TOEFL, etc). However, it is important to keep in mind that how many times you take an exam does reflect in part, your overall allocation of time. How much time are you spending studying for the SAT vs. engaging in academic or intellectual endeavors, or extracurriculars? That said, I would advise most students not to take the exam more than 3-4 times.

I switched high schools halfway through my high school career. Which transcript do I need to submit?

Many students in our applicant pool have attended more than one high school. If you moved at any point during your high school career, chances are that you have more than one high school transcript.
Considering that Dartmouth conducts a holistic review of every application, every semester of your secondary school report counts. Therefore, we require transcripts from every high school you attend. For example, if you grew up in Detroit, but moved to London halfway through your junior year, we will require transcripts from both schools. It is helpful to receive high school profiles from each school as well, just so we are able to make sense of the curriculum available to you.
The more information we have regarding your secondary schooling, the better informed we can be about your academic career.

How can a home schooled student demonstrate language proficiency?

You can demonstrate language proficiency either via an SAT II subject test or via an AP exam. Either one is fine with the Admisssions Office. The AP exam may have the added benefit of gaining you academic credit once you get to college.

If I am applying for transfer admission, who should write my recommendations?

For the transfer application, we require two letters of recommendations from professors that have taught you while at college and a letter of recommendation from your college dean.

Does Dartmouth award credit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaurate Exam results?

The short answer to this question is "yes." The longer answer is that you can find a lot of helpful information about placement and credit opportunities on Dartmouth's website for first-year students. There are even charts that outline what credit or placement will result from specific scores received on AP exams and IB exams.

As a first year applicant, can I receive credit for college or university courses taken before enrolling at Dartmouth?

Yes, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

• First year students may transfer to Dartmouth a maximum of 4 courses taken elsewhere.
  
• Transferred courses must be taken at an accredited four-year college or university in a department or program represented in the Dartmouth undergraduate curriculum.
• Courses taken at a Community/Junior College or Online are not eligible to receive credit at Dartmouth.*
  
• During the review of an application, the Admissions Committee will include the results of all courses taken (including from Community/Junior College or Online)
• Faculty grant credit for courses on a case-by-case basis
• Some departments may restrict the granting of transfer credit
• Entering first-year students can file an Application for pre-matriculation Exemption and/or Credit described here.

*US military veterans may receive credit for appropriate course work pursued at a two-year community college or junior college.