How to Write the Dartmouth College Essays 2023-2024

Dartmouth College has three supplemental essays: one that is required for all applicants, which asks you to explain your motivation for applying to Dartmouth, and two option prompts. The first gives you a choice between two different options, while the second lets you choose between six prompts.

Since Dartmouth is one of the most competitive schools in the country, you want to be sure your essays will help your application truly shine. In this post, we’ll break down each prompt, and discuss how to write an excellent response.

Read these Dartmouth essay examples to inspire your writing.

Dartmouth College Supplemental Essay Prompts

This is a classic “Why This College” Essay prompt, but since you only have 100 words to explain your interest in Dartmouth, there’s an added twist of testing how eloquently and effectively you can describe your connection to the College. 

As an Ivy League college, Dartmouth appeals to many applicants for its excellent academics and elite status within the world of higher education. But these are rather vague, surface-level attributes, that also apply to plenty of other schools around the country. So, to differentiate your response, you’ll need to get much more specific. 

Getting to the level of specificity you need will require a good amount of brainstorming, especially since the essay is so short. You want to make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say before you start writing, or else you might end up using all 100 words without actually saying much of anything.

To avoid that, reflect on your academic and career goals, and pick one or two (you really don’t have space for more than that) that are particularly important to you. Then, research specific resources available at Dartmouth that would help you achieve those goals. 

For example, say you want to pursue a career in environmental policy and conservation. You could highlight Dartmouth’s Environmental Studies study abroad program in Namibia and South Africa as a resource at Dartmouth that will deepen your understanding of how the climate crisis affects other parts of the world, where people have drastically different lifestyles. You could also talk about how you hope to work with Professor Bala Chaudhary through the two-term Presidential Research Scholarship, to study how to increase diversity in STEM fields, as you think it’s crucial that everyone has a seat at the table when discussing how to build towards a greener future.

By citing specific examples of programs that can only be found at Dartmouth, you will show admissions officers 1) that you have done your research on their school, which shows you are genuinely interested and not just applying for fun, and 2) that you already have a clear sense of how you will fit into their campus community, which will give them confidence you are ready to start contributing to Dartmouth right away.

Also remember that your life in college will be about more than just academics. If you have space, mention one extracurricular that you are interested in. It doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the theme you’ve focused the rest of the essay on, as introducing another one of your interests can help make your response feel more thorough.

For example, you could talk about how you’d like to mentor local children through the SIBs program, to develop a stronger connection not just to Dartmouth, but to the surrounding area as well.

One last thing to be aware of is that, like any school, Dartmouth has a few features that, while distinctive to the school, appeal to a large number of applicants. These features include:

• The flexible D-plan calendar
• The historic Dartmouth Outing Club and its associated Freshman Trips program
• Being located in beautiful, remote New Hampshire

While you can talk about these things in your response, make sure you aren’t just name-dropping them. Remember, the point of this essay is to show why you’re a better match for Dartmouth than other applicants. If you just say “I love the outdoors, so I’d like to join the Outing Club,” and don’t provide any more detail, you aren’t doing anything to set yourself apart, as many other applicants are likely to say pretty much exactly the same thing.

Instead, talk about how your high school had an outdoor trip requirement, and you made some of your closest friends on that trip, so you’re hoping the outdoors will play a similar, community-building role for you in college. That extra level of detail will show admissions officers your own personal connection to this popular resource at Dartmouth.

The phrasing is a little more creative, but this is basically a Diversity essay prompt, which means you want to do two things in your response. 

First, describe some particular feature of the environment in which you were raised. The prompt says just “the environment,” but 250 words isn’t enough to flesh out every aspect of your upbringing. So, you want to narrow your focus to one feature that is especially relevant to understanding “the person you are today.” Here are some examples of things you could zero in on:

• Being the oldest of 7 siblings
• Being raised by a single parent
• How both of your parents being doctors shaped your worldview

Keep in mind that “the environment in which you were raised” is a very open-ended phrase, so you can also get creative here if you want. For example, you could talk about you and your parents setting up a garden in your backyard, or about how your dad is a huge Beatles fan and played them non-stop while driving you to school. Basically, if something was an important part of your life growing up, it’s fair game to write about for this prompt.

Once you’ve narrowed your focus, the second thing you want to do is explain how that feature of your environment shaped the person you are today. In other words, how is this thing relevant to the kind of college student you will be? Why do admissions officers need to know about it?

Answering that question will require some reflection on your part, to figure out what exactly you learned from being brought up in that kind of environment. There is no one right answer. Just be honest about what you learned, and make sure that your takeaway clearly connects to your description of your environment, as otherwise your essay may feel generic or impersonal.

For example, you could talk about how your doctor parents sharing stories about patients they saw from all walks of life gave you an appreciation for our shared humanity, and responsibility to each other regardless of background.

Alternatively, you could talk about how your dad bombarding you with trivia about Beatles lyrics eventually inspired you to pursue a creative outlet of your own, to express your feelings in a personal way, which led you to becoming a photographer.

This prompt is a pretty much completely open-ended opportunity for you to tell Dartmouth about some of the key qualities that make you, you. As one of the most prestigious schools in the country, Dartmouth will receive tons of applications from students around the world with impressive GPAs and extracurriculars. This essay isn’t about rehashing your own achievements, though. Instead, you want to tell admissions officers something they don’t already know from reading your personal statement or activities list. Essentially, the question is: beyond your resume, who are you?

Obviously, this question is incredibly broad, but you only have 250 words to answer it, so you want to try to distill your identity down to a few key qualities or experiences. This filtering is much easier said than done, but asking yourself questions like the following can help get the ball rolling:

• How would your friends or family describe you to someone who has never met you?
• Which role do you play in your friend group? How do you stand out from the rest of them?
• Which three words would you use to describe yourself?

Once you’ve picked out a couple of qualities that you want to focus on, think of experiences you’ve had that highlight them. Remember, show, don’t tell–if you just tell admissions officers “Family is important to me,” they won’t really understand anything about your personality, because family is important to lots of people.

Instead, you want to share anecdotes that show your reader how important family has been in your life. For example, you could write about how hard your dad worked when you were little, but how he would take afternoons off to take you to baseball games, and how those days were some of your absolute favorites.

If you’re feeling bold, this prompt can also present an opportunity to get creative and highlight some truly unusual aspects of your personality. For example, you could pick three of your favorite Taylor Swift lyrics, and connect each one to one of your values or qualities. Or you could write about your fascination with the creatures that live in tide pools.

While these more creative approaches can do a lot to truly set you apart from other applicants, they also carry more risk if they aren’t executed well. So, if you aren’t sure if you’re going to be able to pull it off, stick to a more traditional response–you can still write an excellent, engaging essay without doing anything out of the box.

This prompt gives you the opportunity to showcase your personality and talk about a passion, hobby, or experience that does not really “fit” into the themes explored by other prompts. Think about this essay as a personal inquiry, it gives the admissions officer the ability to humanize your application and understand what type of person they are admitting to Dartmouth. 

There is no shortage of topics you can explore with this prompt. 

• Are you excited whenever Sunday Night Football is able to bring together your family for a night? 

• Or, are you excited when it rains outside and you can dance around with your friends? 

• Or, are you excited when you get the opportunity to talk about gender equality at an organization that you intern at? 

Whether it’s a monumental achievement or a simple pleasure, at the core of this essay the admissions office is asking you to speak with passion. 

It’s important to connect whatever topic you are discussing to the resources and opportunities available to you at Dartmouth. 

For instance, if you are a student who gets super excited when you can collect rocks down at the beach with your friends, this would be a great chance to connect your passion back to research opportunities at Dartmouth in the Earth History department or how the outdoorsy-feel of Dartmouth would feel like home. 

Don’t be afraid to take a risk with this prompt. If watching Avatar excites you, feel free to explore this route, especially if you are an applicant that can connect this back to East-Asian studies or film/production studies at Dartmouth. However, be cautious about going on a tangent or exploring too many things within this essay. Stick to talking about one thing that excites you and connecting it back to Dartmouth. 

Different from the personal reflection prompts, this essay is asking you what kind of impact you hope to have on the world in the future. This prompt can be answered in a variety of different ways and largely depends on what your personal goals and passions are. 

When responding to this prompt you should first do a close reading of the quote to provide some further context for your response, “We must use our lives to make the world a better place, not just to acquire things.” Huerta specifies that we use our “lives” to make an impact, not just a single action. This implies that Dartmouth is looking for something long term that you are dedicating your time to that will make a positive impact on others. 

It may also be helpful to look into the author of this quote to discover what motivated them to say the quote in the first place – Dolores Huerta is a prominent civil rights activist who dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of immigrant and migrant labor workers. How might Huerta’s dedication to a life of activism align with Dartmouth’s core values? There are many ways to leave a powerful impact on the world, not all of which are through activism.  

The topic you choose does not necessarily have to be tied to your academic interests. For instance, you could be a Neuroscience major who also has a passion for education and volunteers as an English tutor at a ESL (English as a Second Language) school – aspiring to positively impact immigrant communities by providing them with the powerful tool of language. As long as your passion is long-term, you should be able to create a powerful narrative that will resonate with the admissions committee. 

However, if your topic does align with your academic or career goals, make sure that you explain in detail how it will improve the world around you. Perhaps you want to be a MD-PhD who does cancer research specializing in treating low-income patients? Or maybe you want to be a speechwriter for politicians and world leaders whose words will help to change the world. 

Whatever you choose to write about, be sure to narrate to the admissions committee how your topic contributes to the betterment of the campus community at Dartmouth and beyond.

Although the quote cited in this prompt is from a familiar and likely elicits nostalgic source for many applicants, the question itself is deceptively vague. A prompt is trying to both gauge your personal interests while also evaluating your creativity.  

This essay response is the optimal space to let your creative juices flow and really be yourself. Take some time and brainstorm what unanswered questions you have about the world or what random thoughts might pop into your head during the day. Do not feel as though you have to make something up that will sound profound such as “What is our role in the universe?”or “What is the meaning of life?” These kinds of classic philosophical questions might make your response too closely aligned with cliches. 

In this response you not only want to be unconventional, but you also want to be honest. Maybe you ponder on the long term, psychological impact the pressures of social media will have on our generation in the future. Or maybe it’s something as simple as wondering if our pets can really understand us. 

Here are examples of some other thought-provoking ideas:

• Dreams of visiting the international space station
• Creating a new vaccine 
• Working as a private chef 
• Going on a bucket list trip

For example, if you are interested in history and pirates, and wonder about the possible locations of the famous Captain Kidd’s lost treasures. Explain what sparked your initial interest and why it has remained important to you. “I was born and raised on the Jersey shore. I spent most of my summers sailing with my dad and older brothers. We always joked about how amazing it would be to one day find a mysterious clue that would lead us to a forgotten treasure.”

Write your essay response about a topic that you are genuinely curious about. Do not feel like you have to make up some dramatic narrative to impress the admissions committee and risk being perceived as authentic. Be true to yourself and show Dartmouth how the intricacies your brain functions.

If you choose this option, the first thing to ask yourself is how you want to define “nerdy.” Maybe at first, the word conjures up the typical stereotypes, such as liking math or being obsessed with Star Trek. But remember that the point of any college essay is to set yourself apart from other applicants, so leaning too far into the familiar stereotypes might not be your best bet.

Instead, think of some intellectual or “unpopular” (at least for teenagers) interests you have that are unique to you. Here are some examples:

• Classical music
• Bad horror movies
• Norse mythology
• The technology used by Ancient Romans

Since these things are less commonly talked about in pop culture, they will feel more personal to you, which will in turn teach admissions officers more about your personality. Remember though that, like with any college essay, choosing your topic is only half the battle. The other half is using that topic as a lens to shine light on particular aspects of your personality, by citing specific experiences or anecdotes that show how your interest in that topic has impacted your growth.

For example, you could write about Yggdrasill, the world tree in Norse mythology, and how the idea of being connected to every part of your world has inspired you to read books from people who are different from you, take road trips, and listen to music in other languages, in an attempt to build that same connection in your own life.

One word of caution: make sure that your response doesn’t become too much about your topic. Particularly if you’re writing about something that you’re truly passionate about, you might accidentally slip into a tangent about, for example, Ancient Roman cranes. While that might be informative, Dartmouth is trying to decide whether or not to accept you, not a crane, so make sure the points you’re making about your topic always connect back to something about you.

Like Prompt 2, Option A, this is another Diversity essay prompt being presented in slightly different packaging. While that prompt asks you to structure your response around “the environment in which you were raised,” this prompt more traditionally focuses on what makes you different from others.

Keep in mind that “difference” can be a part of your life in a wide variety of ways. Perhaps what makes you different is your race, ethnicity, sexuality, or some other aspect of your identity that typically gets a lot of attention in discussions about difference. But there are plenty of other ways you can be different. For example:

• Having an unusual hobby, like rock climbing or birdwatching
• Speaking a language at home that isn’t the same as your country’s national language
• Being interested in something teenagers usually aren’t, like opera

Once you’ve identified some way in which you’re different, you want to explain how you have “embraced it as part of your identity and outlook.” In other words, why is it important to understand this aspect of your identity in order to understand who you are as a whole?

You don’t have a ton of room to do this, but you want to make sure your explanation still connects to anecdotes and examples that illustrate the point you’re trying to make. Otherwise, your reader may be confused about how you got from A to B. For example, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical responses:

Response 1: “I started going birdwatching with my dad when I was 5. At first, I found it really boring, but eventually I started to see that patience really is a virtue.”

Response 2: “I was five years old, freezing cold, and incapable of picking out the barn owl my dad swore existed somewhere in the field of brittle corn stalks. That was my first exposure to birdwatching, and, if I had had my way, would have been my last. But my dad, aided by the promise of hot cocoa afterwards, talked me into giving it another shot. For an hour, I was deeply regretting my decision, as I was going cross-eyed staring at a steely gray lake. But then, I heard the rustle of wings, and a heron swooped down from a tree, not five feet above my head.”

Obviously, the second response is much longer. But the length is worth it, as we get to see how the writer started to change their mind about birdwatching, and the details we get about that journey make us feel like we’ve gotten to know them much better, which is the whole point of college essays.

While this prompt tells you exactly which two qualities it wants you to highlight—potential and promise—it also points out that these “can be elusive qualities to capture.” So, you want to make sure you’re thoughtful in how you present yourself.

The first thing to do when you start brainstorming is think of experiences you’ve had that show your potential. Again, there is a range of ways you can do that. For example, you could talk about how you worked one summer at a beachside ice cream shack, just to have something to do, but your boss was so impressed with your work ethic that she invited you to return the following summer, to be the assistant manager.

Your description of your promise as a prospective Dartmouth student doesn’t have to be focused on your career or on academics, however. You could instead choose to highlight your patience and dedication by describing how you spent countless hours with the traumatized rescue dog your family adopted, getting her to slowly trust people again, and eventually were even able to teach her tricks and start taking her with you into public places.

You do want to make sure you avoid stereotypical stories, like working hard to move up from JV to varsity. While you should absolutely be proud of yourself for that achievement, it’s one that many other high schoolers share, and that has been featured in many books, movies, and TV shows. So, in the context of college essays specifically, you’d be better off focusing on something else that will do more to distinguish you from other applicants.

Finally, it’s worth noting that this prompt is a little more focused than the other options. If you’re having a hard time brainstorming, don’t get worked up—just pivot to a different option, which you’ll hopefully feel a more natural connection to.

Where to Get Your Dartmouth College Essay Edited

Do you want feedback on your Dartmouth essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool, where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!