Dartmouth Admission Process

[ajayc]

<p>I found these while looking digging up info regarding Dartmouth. I hope it helps :)</p>

<p>

The admissions process take a wholistic approach and look to all
students. Students are evaluated based on how they took advantage of all
the resources that were offered in the high school. Dartmouth’s
admissions is highly selective. We only offer alumni interviews in the
student’s hometown, and we use the Common Application. The only advice
that I can give is to take the most rigorous courses that are offered in
the high school. And be involved with student organizations. Also pay
much attention to hyour essays!

</p>

<p>

Dartmouth abides by the common application process, complete with your
general personal statements, secondary school reports, test scores, and
teacher recommendations. However, one addendum is a “peer evaluation.”
This is when a friend, sibling, classmate, or teammate basically writes a
recommendation for you. This is give another adolescent perspective to
your application. </p>

<p>A school like Dartmouth is veyr competetive and attracts the best
students from all over the world. As a consequence, the acceptance rate
is very selective. The admissions officers are looking for bright
students that have taken a rigorous courseload (as the quarter system is
intense here), are well-rounded human beings, and are cultured.
Dartmouth students are incredibly diverse, not just racially,
religiously, or politically, but do all sorts of activities from
community service to the arts to sports.</p>

<p>Bearing this in mind, some tips for making your application stand out:

1. Having a “hook.” A “hook” is something that makes you completely
   different from everyone else. What can YOU offer that Dartmouth does not
   already have?
2. Be as personal as you can. Admissions officers are stuck inside for
   days upon end, reading thousands of same-old personal statements. Write
   about something you are passionate about and that will certainly get
   their attention.
3. Interviews are not required, but they are highly recommended. It
   helps the admissions officers to put a personality and face to an
   application.

</p>

<p>

Dartmouth’s admissions process was fairly straightforward since it uses
the common application. I filled out my application, and had an alumni
interview at my hometown. The only interesting difference to the
Dartmouth admissions process is that they require a peer
evaluation/recommendation. At first I found this intimidating, but soon
realized that it was an interesting and effective way for the admissions
officers to get an idea of how my peers view me. I also mailed
additional information to the admissions office, including an audio
recording of my saxophone playing. I was really glad to see that
Dartmouth accepts this type of additional information and it made me feel
like the admissions officers truly cared about who I was and not just
what I was like on paper.

</p>

<p>

Overall, I would say that Dartmouth College seems to have one of the
most holistic admissions processess compared to many other equally
competitive institutions. While academic achievements as reflected
through GPA and test scores (SAT I, ACT, SAT II) are obviously
important, an individual’s extracurricular commitments, personal
character, and genuine interests are highly valued in the admissions
process. The application itself is very unique in that it includes
a ‘Peer Recommendation’ portion where the applicant’s sibling,
relative, friend, peer, etc., writes a recommendation on their behalf
which is great because it allows Admissions Officers to see an aspect
of the applicant that only a friend would be privy to. While Dartmouth
is certainly a respected and selective college, the best advice I have
for a student interested in the college is simply to be as genuine and
straightforward in the application and interview as possible. While
that may sound trite (and I’m sure students would much rather hear a
concrete list of things to do!), it is absolutely the truth. It is
obvious when an individual does activities for ‘resume building’
purposes, or when they are so focused on getting the 4.0 that they
neglect other aspects of life that make someone well-rounded, and these
are all aspects that are considered in the admissions process. Don’t
simply take on 101 activities, instead, find the things you are
passionate about and devote yourself to those, because that will convey
what makes you distinct from all the other applicants and will reflect
your real character.

</p>

<p>The rest of them are there: </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vault.com/graddegree/school/school_main.jsp?program_id=1050&type=1&co_page=5&ch_id=408[/url]”>http://www.vault.com/graddegree/school/school_main.jsp?program_id=1050&type=1&co_page=5&ch_id=408&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[jcll2002]

<p>thanks. I enjoyed that read :)</p>

[ajayc]

<p>Great! I will post more stuff as I come across them ;)</p>

[ajayc]

<p>Another piece I came across:</p>

<p>

Dartmouth is an extremely selective institution, on par with the other
ivies and first-tier schools in admissions rates, etc. That said, the
Dartmouth admissions process is much more thoughtful than that of many
other school, it seems. Dartmouth strives to create the class as a whole
and the admissions process is much less strictly numbers-based like many
other schools. </p>

<p>In terms of advice, my number one piece of advice is: be yourself. Just
tell Dartmouth who you are, through your essays and your interview, and
in throughout the application process. Dartmouth students are fabulous,
amazing, driven, talented, outgoing, and accomplished but fabulously
down-to-earth, and I think that this is determined as much by Admissions
as by the overall atmosphere here. Same goes for essays: be yourself.
DONT try to be something you’re not, don’t put on airs, or be afraid to
show Dartmouth who you are. Your essay doesnt have to say everything
about you, but it does have to say something about you, something
distinct, unique, interesting-something about your passions, about who
you are. </p>

<p>Dartmouth has made a major change to its interview process this year.
Admissions is no longer offering on campus interviews as part of the
process, but now has small group students forums, where students sit down
with a current student, without parents present, and get to chat about
Dartmouth honestly, openly, and candidly. This change is in keeping with
Dartmouth’s overall attitude towards Admissions-openness and
transparency. Dartmouth is as interested in making sure that its the
right school for you as you are in making sure its right for you.

</p>

<p>Cheers!!!</p>

[mountains]

<p>If you can, visit Dartmouth. The campus is beautiful and the students and staff (we did not have a chance to visit with faculty, so I cannot comment) were wonderful and friendly. We visited the Theater Department, and the staff went out of their way to answer our questions, and a very helpful theater major took us on a private tour of the department.</p>

[UCgradmary]

<p>We loved Dartmouth but this is a bunch of hooey. Dartmouth is the most numbers driven of the ivies for our school, the scattergram holds no surprises at all. Every kid who was not a recruited athlete, legacy or such from our school in the past 4 years has had extremely high GPA/SATs (1540 plus).</p>

[student06905]

<p>UCgrad-- I had none of the athlete-minority-legacy “hooks,” got a 1390 on the SATs yet still got into Dartmouth. I posted my stats if you want more info on me–I tend to believe there’s some truth to Dartmouth’s “holistic” admissions process, especially after talking to a student who worked in admissions himself.</p>

[PKswmr76]

<p>ugh…i wish colleges were all about numbers :-(</p>

[maributt]

<p>these are riddled with spelling mistakes</p>

[BigGreenJen]

<p>While these posts might contain some good advice, they obviously aren’t written by Dartmouth Admissions.</p>

[ajayc]

<p>BigGreenJen: Yeah these are not written by D Admissions but by other students.</p>

<p>I just copied them off the sites I found them on for other prospective students. :)</p>

[jdub27]

<p>yeah, you don’t need a 1540+ to get in</p>

<p>I got in with a 1460, and i’m a white, nonathlete, kid from the next state over</p>

[UCgradmary]

<p>Those of you that got in with below average stats and no hook–where are you from? Are you very low income? Only kid applying from your school. I just looked again, at our very competitive school Dartmouth looks less holistic than Princeton and Harvard who did take a couple of non conforming applicants.</p>

[sybbie719]

<p>

Academic credentials of applicants to the Class of 2011 remain similar to last year’s with applicants scoring a mean of 681 on the SAT verbal, 699 on the SAT math and 681 on the SAT writing.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2007/02/22/news/applications/[/url]”>http://thedartmouth.com/2007/02/22/news/applications/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>for the class of 2010 (attending) from the common data set</p>

<p>Percent of first-time, first-year (freshman) students with scores in each range:
SAT Critical Reading 700-800 65%</p>

<p>SAT Math 700-800 70%</p>

<p>SAT Writing 700-800 65%</p>

<p>600-699
SAT Critical Reading 28%
SAT Math 24%
SAT Writing 29%</p>

<p>500-599
SAT Critical Reading 7%
SAT Math 6%
SAT Writing 6%</p>

<p><a href=“This Page Has Moved”>This Page Has Moved;

[tux08902]

<p>Honestly, I’m not going to worry about my SAT II scores. I have two that are little over 700 and one that is in the high-600s.</p>

<p>I’m just going to try to nail the SAT. Taking the first time with not preparation showed me my weaknesses, so I know where to work.</p>

[ajayc]

<p>tux: I have said this before and I am saying it again your SAT II scores are good.</p>

<p>I had selected the Q&A service when I had registered for the SAT but I still havent recieved my paper </p>

[LesOs]

<p>Wait… so the “student forum” = campus interview?
That’s terrible news for me… I had to skip that part of the tour! I was at Dartmouth with my entire family (grandparents + three year old sister), and had to leave because of them… I hope that that didn’t leave a terrible impression…!!!</p>

[yes234]

<p>the q and a thingie took a long time to arrive when i ordered my january one…</p>

[ajayc]

<p>Well I realized that they dont have Q&A service for June test :(</p>

[Astronaut_J]

<p>humpty dumpty sat on the wall! Up you go!</p>