Dartmouth's writing supplement is a required part of your application. Following are the required prompts:
1. Required of all applicants. (100 words or fewer)
"As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2030, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you?"
Dartmouth Essay Slides
Q: What is this essay about?
A:
Demonstrate a clear alignment between your interests and Dartmouth's unique resources.
Show how you will both benefit from and contribute to the Dartmouth community.
Prove this is a genuine fit, not just a generic praise for the school.
Q: How to show academic interest?
A:
Name specific, niche academic programs, professors, or research labs.
Example: "The 'Dartmouth Atlas Project' research on healthcare policy is a perfect extension of my independent study on local public health."
Connect a prior interest directly to a Dartmouth resource.
Q: How to show community fit?
A:
Reference a specific student organization, campus tradition, or a distinct aspect of the environment.
Example: "The First-Year Trips program and its emphasis on collaborative problem-solving resonates with my work mentoring high school robotics teams."
Show how your values and experiences will thrive in Dartmouth's unique setting.
Q: How will you contribute to Dartmouth?
A:
Go beyond what you will get from Dartmouth. Focus on what you will give.
Describe how your past experiences and skills will enrich campus life.
Example: "I will bring my expertise in data visualization to the 'Dartmouth Energy Alliance', helping the group communicate its findings on sustainability."
Q: Final check and what to avoid?
A:
Do not use generic praise for the college's size, location, or reputation.
Do not list activities without connecting them to your passion or future at Dartmouth.
Do not mention anything that could apply to a dozen other schools.
2. Required of all applicants, respond to one of the following prompts. (250 words or fewer)
A. "There is a Quaker saying: Let your life speak. Describe the environment in which you were raised and the impact it has had on the person you are today."
B. "'Be yourself,' Oscar Wilde advised. 'Everyone else is taken.' Introduce yourself."
College Essay Prompts Slides
Q: Which prompt should you choose?
A:
Prompt A is about context: Your environment shaped you.
Prompt B is about character: You are your own context.
Choose the prompt that best fits your most powerful, untold story.
Q: How to address "Let Your Life Speak"?
A:
Identify a specific environment. This is not a summary of your hometown.
Focus on how a unique aspect of that environment shaped your character.
Connect this to the person you are today.
Example: "The daily negotiations required in a family-run restaurant taught me conflict resolution and client management."
Q: What "environment" do you choose?
A:
Go beyond physical location. An environment can be a family culture, a sports team's dynamic, or the intense atmosphere of a debate team.
Show a clear, tangible influence.
Q: What impact did it have?
A:
Describe how your environment forced you to grow.
Connect a specific action to a resulting change in your character.
Example: "The pressure of maintaining my family's farm during my father's recovery cultivated a deep-seated resilience and a skill for long-term planning."
Show, don't just tell, this transformation.
Q: How to address "Introduce Yourself"?
A:
Reveal an aspect of your personality not seen elsewhere.
Show a paradox or a hidden passion.
Demonstrate self-awareness through a personal anecdote.
Example: You are a disciplined coder by day, but your evenings are spent building miniature dioramas from recycled electronics.
Q: How do you "introduce" yourself?
A:
Focus on a singular, compelling insight about yourself.
Not a summary of your resume, but a unique personal detail.
Example: "I am a mathematician who finds patterns not in numbers, but in the chaos of urban design, seeing geometric principles in city grids."
Showcase an unexpected talent, value, or perspective.
Q: Final check and what to avoid?
A:
Do not repeat information from other parts of your application.
Avoid clichés and generic statements.
Focus on a single, compelling narrative for either prompt.
3. Required of all applicants, respond to one of the following prompts. (250 words or fewer)
A. "What excites you?"
B. "Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta recommended a life of purpose. 'We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things,' she said. 'That is what we are put on the earth for.' In what ways do you hope to make—or are you already making—an an impact? Why? How?"
C. "In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. 'A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives,' he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?"
D. "The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall's research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: 'Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.' Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground?"
E. "Celebrate your nerdy side."
F. "'It's not easy being green…' was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity, outlook, or sense of purpose?"
G. "The Mindy Kaling Theater Lab will be an exciting new addition to Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts. 'It's a place where you can fail,' the actor/producer and Dartmouth alumna said when her gift was announced. 'You can try things out, fail, and then revamp and rework things… A thing can be bad on its journey to becoming good.' Share a story of failure, trial runs, revamping, reworking, or journeying from bad to good."
Dartmouth Essay Prompts
Q: How to address "What excites you?"
A:
Focus on a specific, intellectual question.
Describe the process of a new discovery.
Example: "A new question on quantum entanglement led to independent research."
Q: How to address "Make the world a better place"?
A:
Identify a problem in your community.
Describe the specific action you took to solve it.
Example: "Building an app to coordinate surplus food delivery to shelters."
Q: How to address "The impact of reading"?
A:
Name a book that altered your perspective.
Explain a specific insight you gained from the book.
Example: "The Grapes of Wrath taught me resilience is a collective action, not an individual trait."
Q: How to address a "difficult conversation"?
A:
Describe a disagreement on a specific topic.
Show the process you used to find common ground.
Example: "A debate on local zoning policy taught me to find shared values behind opposing views."
Q: How to address "your nerdy side"?
A:
Focus on a niche, unique hobby.
Explain the skill or insight you gained from it.
Example: "Building antique clock movements taught me to think in mechanical systems."
Q: How to address "embrace difference"?
A:
Identify a specific difference that shaped you.
Describe how you turned a challenge into a source of purpose.
Example: "My non-traditional background inspired a club that provides support for others from similar situations."
Q: How to address a "story of failure"?
A:
Describe a genuine failure, not a disguised success.
Focus on the learning process.
Example: "The failure of a robotics project taught me more about debugging in one week than a semester of classes."
Q: Final check and what to avoid?
A:
Avoid clichés and generic statements.
Do not repeat information already in your application.
Focus on a single, compelling narrative for the chosen prompt.
