Dartmouth College supplemental essays

The prompts, one by one

1. Why Dartmouth?up to 100 words · Why us

   “As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2031, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you?”

   What it's really asking

   Not "why is Dartmouth College good" but "what will you do here that you can't do elsewhere, and what in your past proves you'll actually do it." The reader already knows the school is good.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Opening with the campus, the ranking or the "world-renowned faculty." Every sentence that would survive with another school's name swapped in is wasted. Listing three programs with no explanation of any of them is the second trap.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Start with the specific thing you've already been doing. Name one or two concrete Dartmouth College resources (a course, a lab, a program, a professor's actual work) and say what you'd do with each. End on the next step, not on a compliment. At 100 words there is room for exactly one example, explained properly.

2. Essay 2 option A: Let your life speakup to 250 words · Leadership

   “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.”

   What it's really asking

   Not your title but a moment where you changed what a group did. Dartmouth College reads "leadership" broadly; the youngest sibling organising a family can answer this as well as a club president.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the role instead of a decision. "As president, I led the team to success" contains no information. Taking credit for a group's work.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One situation, one decision you made that others didn't have to accept, how you got them to, and what happened. Include what it cost you or what you'd do differently.

3. Essay 2 option B: Introduce yourselfup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “"Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Dartmouth College is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

4. Essay 3 option A: What excites youup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “What excites you?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Dartmouth College is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

5. Essay 3 option B: Making an impactup to 250 words · Leadership

   “Labor leader Dolores Huerta stated: "We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for." In what ways do you hope to make—or are you already making—an impact? Why? How?”

   What it's really asking

   Not your title but a moment where you changed what a group did. Dartmouth College reads "leadership" broadly; the youngest sibling organising a family can answer this as well as a club president.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the role instead of a decision. "As president, I led the team to success" contains no information. Taking credit for a group's work.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One situation, one decision you made that others didn't have to accept, how you got them to, and what happened. Include what it cost you or what you'd do differently.

6. Essay 3 option C: Insight from readingup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Matt Haig wrote: "A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives." How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter your understanding of yourself and others?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Dartmouth College is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

7. Essay 3 option D: Difficult conversationup to 250 words · Disagreement

   “Dame Jane Goodall stated: "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with a different perspective. How did you find common ground?”

   What it's really asking

   Whether you can hold a disagreement without flattening the other person. Dartmouth College is checking for intellectual humility and the ability to keep talking, not for who won.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Choosing a disagreement where you were obviously right and the other person obviously wrong. Or ending with "we agreed to disagree," which says nothing happened.

   The shape of a strong answer

   A real disagreement with a real person, stated fairly from their side. What you did in the conversation (not what you felt). What shifted afterwards, in you, even if your view held. Specific lines of dialogue help.

8. Essay 3 option E: Nerdy sideup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Celebrate your nerdy side.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Dartmouth College is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

9. Essay 3 option F: Embracing differenceup to 250 words · Community

   “"It's not easy being green…" was Kermit the Frog's frequent refrain. 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?”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Dartmouth College because of it. The second half is where most drafts stop short.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the community instead of your role in it, or choosing the one that sounds impressive rather than the one that changed you. "Diversity" as an abstraction, with no scene.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Pick a community you can describe with a scene, not a label. Show one moment where it taught you something or asked something of you. Spend the last third on what that means you'll do at Dartmouth College: a specific contribution, not "bring my perspective."

Every US applicant also writes the Common App personal statement: 650 words, seven prompts. Don't repeat it here; the supplements are for what the statement didn't show.

A self-check before you submit

Cover the school name and read the essay. Then cover your name and read it again. It should fail the first test (it only makes sense for Dartmouth College) and pass the second (only you could have written it). If it passes the first test, it's a brochure. If it fails the second, it's a template.