Dartmouth Supplemental Essays & Deadlines 2026-2027

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. Every 2026-2027 prompt and deadline, verified against the school's own materials on August 7, 2026.

Dartmouth Application Deadlines 2026-2027

Dartmouth Supplemental Essay Prompts 2026-2027

Under each prompt: what it is really asking, the mistake most applicants make, and the first question Jim asks you so the essay comes from your story, not a template.

1. 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?
   100 words

   What they are really asking: Do you know one thing about Dartmouth that is not the Green or the outdoors?

   The mistake most applicants make: Spending 40 of your 100 words on how beautiful Hanover is. Everyone does.

   Do this instead: One sentence on a specific program (the D-Plan, a Foreign Study Program, one professor). One sentence on why that fits you. Done. Cut every adjective.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What is one specific Dartmouth thing you found that is not the Green or the outdoors, and why does it fit you?” Answer it with Jim, free →

2. Required of all applicants, please select and respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer: Option 1: 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. Option 2: "Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.
   250 words

   What they are really asking: What is the one detail about you that makes an admissions reader look up?

   The mistake most applicants make: Option 2 written as a list of traits. 'I am curious, driven, and kind' is not an introduction.

   Do this instead: Choose the option where you have one vivid scene. Open inside the scene, not with a summary. Let the reader figure out the trait from what you did.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What is a detail about your life that would make a stranger want to hear the rest of the story?” Answer it with Jim, free →

3. Required of all applicants, please select and respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer: Option 1: What excites you? Option 2: 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 impact? Why? How? Option 3: 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? Option 4: 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? Option 5: Celebrate your nerdy side. Option 6: "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?
   250 words

   What they are really asking: When you are not being graded, what pulls you in?

   The mistake most applicants make: Choosing the purpose prompt because it sounds noble, then writing a vague essay about helping people.

   Do this instead: 'What excites you' is the easier win. Pick something specific and slightly odd, go deep, and show how you chase it. Passion with evidence beats purpose without it.

   Jim starts by asking you: “When you are not being graded, what do you find yourself doing?” Answer it with Jim, free →

Stuck on one of these? Open it in AlphaApply.ai and Jim will work through the prompt with you, in your own words.

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Deadlines and prompts change. This page was verified on August 7, 2026; always confirm on Dartmouth College's official admissions site before submitting.