Admissions Office
6016 McNutt Hall
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755
603-646-2875
COSTS:
Tuition:
$34,520
Room and Board:
$9,824
Fees, books, misc.:
$2,500
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
Overview
Dartmouth, America's ninth-oldest college, is rich in history and tradition. Founded in 1769 by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock “for the education . . . of Youth of Indian Tribes, . . .English youth, and others,” Dartmouth graduated its first class in 1771. The institution met its greatest challenge in 1819 when Daniel Webster, class of 1801, defended the College against government intervention. This famous dispute, which was finally resolved in the Supreme Court, came to be known as “The Dartmouth College Case.” It was Webster's eloquent and convincing oratory that ensured Dartmouth's permanence as a private and independent institution of higher learning. Still appropriately called a college in view of its historic and continuing emphasis on undergraduate education, Dartmouth is actually a small university. Students aspiring to careers in medicine, business, or engineering may find special opportunities at Dartmouth's three professional schools: Dartmouth Medical School, the nation's fourth-oldest school of medicine; the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, the nation's first graduate school of business administration; and the Thayer School of Engineering, founded more than a century ago.
Undergraduate education provided by an outstanding faculty dedicated to both teaching and research is at the heart of Dartmouth. The College seeks students of outstanding abilities who display curiosity and great intellectual potential and who bring to the community their particular talents and passions. Dartmouth strives for a heterogeneous student body representative of the world's diversity. The College's 4,300 undergraduates represent all fifty states and seventy-three other nations.
Location and Community
Set among the rolling hills of Hanover, New Hampshire, the College's beautiful 265-acre campus combines the educational opportunities of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions with an ideal New England setting. While the College itself provides many of the intellectual and cultural advantages usually found only in more urban areas, Dartmouth's proximity to the mountains and rivers of Vermont and New Hampshire allows for a range of outdoor activities. With its 10,000 residents, Hanover provides a comfortable small-town atmosphere for the College community, while the major metropolitan areas of Boston, New York, and Montreal are easily accessible by interstate highways and by regular bus, train, and air service.
Academic Life
All Dartmouth students study a broad spectrum of courses fundamental to higher learning and basic to a liberal arts education. Of the thirty-five courses needed for graduation, students must take ten courses distributed across eight intellectual fields: arts; social analysis; literature; quantitative or deductive science; philosophical, religious, or historical analysis; natural science; technology or applied science; and international or comparative study. In addition, students are required to take three courses in world culture, including the culture, ideas, or institutions of the United States, of Europe, and of at least one non-Western society; and a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary course. All students must become proficient in at least one foreign language and must also complete a major. Majors typically comprise about one third of a student's total course count. Students of exceptional ability may undertake an honors program in the department of major study.
Dartmouth operates on an innovative year-round calendar, which provides unparalleled opportunities for each student to design a formal educational program closely suited to his or her personal goals. Under the Dartmouth Plan, students develop flexible enrollment patterns involving four 10-week terms in each academic year. Dartmouth students take three courses per term, which encourages more intensive study in each subject and allows enough academic variety for challenge and stimulation. Enrollment patterns may include off-campus study and vacation terms in addition to on-campus study.
As an institution devoted to undergraduate education, Dartmouth prides itself on the fact that all senior faculty members teach introductory courses as well as more specialized offerings. For example, all entering first-year students participate in the First Year Seminar Program, which is designed to provide them with experience in independent research and small-group discussion, under the direction of an experienced faculty member.
Off-campus study is available in nineteen countries, and more than half of all Dartmouth students participate in at least one off-campus program. These programs are considered vital extensions of the regular Dartmouth curriculum, offering opportunities both to study other cultures and disciplines in depth and to gain new perspectives on American life. The programs are led by members of the Dartmouth faculty, and students earn full academic credit for their participation. Many of these programs also give students a chance to live with an international family. Foreign language programs are offered in Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, the People's Republic of China, Russia, and Spain. Other off-campus academic programs include the study of religion in Scotland; classics in Greece or Italy; geography in the Czech Republic; government in England or Washington, D.C.; philosophy in Scotland; earth sciences in Mexico; biology in the Caribbean; art history in Florence, Italy; anthropology and linguistics in New Zealand; environmental studies in Zimbabwe; and drama, history, and music in England. Students can also participate in domestic exchanges at Stanford University, Tufts University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Howard University, the University of California at San Diego, and through the twelve-college consortium.
Majors Offered:
Dartmouth College awards a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree in the following areas: African and African-American studies; ancient history; anthropology; art history; Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures; Asian studies; biochemistry and molecular biology; biology; biophysical chemistry; chemistry; classical archaeology; classical studies; classics; cognitive science; comparative literature; computer science; drama; earth sciences; economics; engineering physics; engineering sciences; English; English—literature and creative writing; environmental and evolutionary biology; environmental studies; film studies; French; genetics, cell, and developmental biology; geography; German; German studies; government; history; Iberian studies; Italian; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Latino studies; linguistics; mathematics; mathematics and social sciences; music; Native American studies; philosophy; physics and astronomy; psychological and brain sciences; religion; Romance languages; Russian; Russian area studies; sociology; Spanish language, culture, and society; Spanish literatures; studio art; and women's studies. Interdisciplinary programs in education, Jewish studies, and neurosciences may be used to modify or expand on a departmental major.
Facilities and Resources
Dartmouth's comprehensive library system includes more than 2.1 million volumes, 170,000 maps, and 2.4 million units of microtext. Collections are housed in Baker/Berry Library and in the eight branch libraries on campus. All libraries operate under a policy of open stacks, giving students direct access to their resources. The faculty members, students, and staff of Dartmouth have a long tradition—spanning nearly fifty years—of envisioning and embracing computing systems and information technologies. Dartmouth's far-reaching computing network touches nearly every activity on campus and allows for wide-ranging access to peers, colleagues, and research associates around the globe. Recently, Dartmouth was named “the most wired” campus in the nation by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, in part because the campus is completely wireless. Personal computers, workstations, and central host systems are well integrated at Dartmouth through the computing network. More than 12,000 network ports provide service to more than 120 buildings on campus. All students are required to own personal computers, and Apple Macintosh computers (the recommended system at Dartmouth) number more than 10,000 at the College, professional schools, and the medical center.
Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Creative and Performing Arts offers every student participation in and exposure to a broad range of activities, including theater, dance, music, art, exhibits, films, and lectures. The 480-seat Moore Theater is complemented by the flexible, smaller Warner Bentley Theater. Facilities for curricular music and performing organizations include a 1,000-seat concert hall, four recital halls, twelve practice rooms, an extensive music library, and a multistation listening facility. The Student Workshops are fully equipped for woodworking, metalworking, jewelry making, and pottery. Three facilities have greatly enhanced the College's curricular offerings. Burke Laboratory, the $26-million chemistry facility, houses the most modern equipment and state-of-the-art research technology. The Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences provides a forum for disciplines concerned with social and political issues. The Hood Museum of Art features additional gallery, classroom, and theater space. Recent construction on campus includes Moore Hall; among other offerings, the 100,000-square-foot facility includes “smart” classrooms and a research-dedicated MRI laboratory. Construction of the new $50-million Berry Library is now complete. This undertaking produced a companion facility to the existing Baker Library and created a new academic hall in the west wing of the Berry Library, which houses the History Department and several high-technology classrooms.
Campus Life
Dartmouth offers many extracurricular activities, including more than 250 student organizations. Students participate in theater, music, dance, a daily newspaper, literary publications, student-run AM and FM radio stations, debate, foreign language clubs, service groups, fraternities and sororities, and ethnic, political, and religious organizations. Through the Dartmouth Outing Club, students enjoy bicycling, canoeing, hiking, kayaking, mountaineering, skiing, and other benefits of the North Country.
All first-year students and a majority of upperclass students live in forty dormitories, all within easy walking distance of other College buildings and facilities. College housing is provided for all registered students, and dormitories contain a mixture of all four classes. All first-year students and many upperclass students maintain meal contracts through Dartmouth Dining Services.
Sports / Varsity Athletics
Dartmouth's comprehensive athletics program includes extensive intramural offerings, and a physical education program. Featuring a comprehensive athletic menu, Dartmouth offers 34 varsity sports - 16 for men, 16 for women and two coeducational programs in sailing and equestrian. In addition, there are 23 club and 24 intramural sports as three-quarters of Dartmouth undergraduates participate in some form of athletics.
Nicknamed "The Big Green," Dartmouth's varsity athletic teams compete in NCAA Division 1 as well as in the eight-member Ivy League conference and the ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference). Throughout the years, Dartmouth athletes have competed at the very highest level, excelling in NCAA championships ranging from track and field to basketball, cross country to soccer, as well as skiing, golf, lacrosse and diving.
Expenses
Expenses for the three-term first year are as follows: tuition and fees, $34,527; room rent, $6,400; board, $4,724; and estimated books, fees, and personal expenses, $2386. Travel costs vary.
Financial Aid / Scholarships
Dartmouth is committed to providing students with the financial support necessary to enable their attendance. The College wishes to be accessible to the broadest range of students possible such that attendance is based upon an individual's talents and accomplishments, not the ability to pay. For many years, Dartmouth has operated with a need-blind admissions policy, which ensures that admissions decisions are made without regard to the financial circumstances of applicants. Furthermore, the College has guaranteed that 100 percent of an admitted student's demonstrated financial need is met for all four years of enrollment. Currently, 46 percent of the student body receives scholarship assistance, totaling more than $39 million, with an average financial aid package of approximately $22,520 per aid recipient.
Admission Requirements / Application
Admission to Dartmouth is selective and highly competitive; approximately 12,000 candidates applied for 1,075 places in the entering class last year. Although there are no inflexible subject requirements for admission, candidates are urged to undertake the strongest program of preparation available at their secondary school. Evidence of intellectual capacity, motivation, personal integrity, and involvement in nonacademic areas are all of primary importance. Dartmouth requires all applicants, including all international citizens, to take two SAT II Subject Tests and either the new version of the SAT I with the writing section or the ACT with the writing section. All tests must be taken no later than January of the senior year in high school. An optional part of the admission process is the interview. All high school seniors are welcome to call the Admissions Office to arrange an on-campus interview during their visit to Dartmouth. In addition, most students will have the opportunity to interview with graduates of the College. Group Information Sessions, conducted by admission officers, are offered weekdays January through November on a walk-in basis. Student-guided campus tours are available Monday through Saturday throughout the year.
Under Dartmouth's application procedures, new students are enrolled only at the opening of college in September of each year. Applications may be filed up to January 1 of the calendar year in which the candidate expects to enter college. Admission decisions are announced in mid-April; candidates normally must respond to offers of admission by May 1. Candidates who definitely plan to attend Dartmouth if admitted may request an early decision on their applications, and such requests must be filed by November 1. By mid-December, early decision candidates are notified that they have been accepted, denied, or that a final decision has been deferred until mid-April. Requests for additional information and application forms should be addressed to:
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