| Full-time undergraduate program |
Dartmouth College is an Ivy League school, so you can bet it's going to
be a selective school with a competetive admissions process. Obviously,
good grades in high school and a decent-or-better SAT or ACT score
are 'requirements'. Just as obvious, make sure to ask for letters of
recommendation from people who know you well and who will write glowing
things about you. Less obvious, perhaps, make sure your peer reviewer
can write well. Glowing comments are good, but if the letter isn't
written well, that could hurt you. My essays were fairly personality-
oriented. I treated them as an opportunity to let the admissions
committee know who I was, what my interests were, what I've done, what I
hope to do, etc. They certainly were not dry, 5-point MLA format
essays. The interview was similar. Very laid back, though this could
certainly depend on the alumnus/a interviewer. I recommend scheduling
an interview with an alumnus/a rather than with a current student. I
did a practice interview with a student a year before the real thing,
and it was much more stressful, more difficult, and probably less
meaningful for the admissions process (I find that students will be more
likely to go with the 'thought-provoking self-awareness' kinds of
questions, whereas older graduates are more likely to want to know
simply who you are - get you talking a bit, etc.). My interview was
about 45 minutes long, as I recall, and was more or less a review of my
application materials - grades, classes, interests. If you are self-
controlled, confident, relaxed, these things will help you more in the
interview than a 4.0 GPA.
|
Dartmouth College Admission & Application Surveys
