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How to Write the Dartmouth College Essays 2023-2024

Dartmouth College has three supplemental essays: one that is required for all applicants, which asks you to explain your motivation for applying to Dartmouth, and two option prompts. The first gives you a choice between two different options, while the second lets you choose between six prompts.

Since Dartmouth is one of the most competitive schools in the country, you want to be sure your essays will help your application truly shine. In this post, we’ll break down each prompt, and discuss how to write an excellent response.

Read these Dartmouth essay examples to inspire your writing.

Dartmouth College Supplemental Essay Prompts

Prompt 1: Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2028, what aspects of the College’s academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? In short, why Dartmouth? (100 words)

Prompt 2: Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:

• Option 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.
• Option B: “Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself.

Prompt 3: Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:

• Option A: What excites you?
• Option 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 impact? Why? How?
• Option C: Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth’s Class of 1925, wrote, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” As you wonder and think, what’s on your mind?
• Option D: Celebrate your nerdy side.
• Option E: “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 and outlook?
• Option F: As noted in the College’s mission statement, “Dartmouth educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership…” Promise and potential are important aspects of the assessment of any college application, but they can be elusive qualities to capture. Highlight your potential and promise for us; what would you like us to know about you?

Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2028, what aspects of the College’s academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? In short, Why Dartmouth? (100 words or fewer)

This is a classic “Why This College” Essay prompt, but since you only have 100 words to explain your interest in Dartmouth, there’s an added twist of testing how eloquently and effectively you can describe your connection to the College. 

As an Ivy League college, Dartmouth appeals to many applicants for its excellent academics and elite status within the world of higher education. But these are rather vague, surface-level attributes, that also apply to plenty of other schools around the country. So, to differentiate your response, you’ll need to get much more specific. 

Getting to the level of specificity you need will require a good amount of brainstorming, especially since the essay is so short. You want to make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say before you start writing, or else you might end up using all 100 words without actually saying much of anything.

To avoid that, reflect on your academic and career goals, and pick one or two (you really don’t have space for more than that) that are particularly important to you. Then, research specific resources available at Dartmouth that would help you achieve those goals. 

For example, say you want to pursue a career in environmental policy and conservation. You could highlight Dartmouth’s Environmental Studies study abroad program in Namibia and South Africa as a resource at Dartmouth that will deepen your understanding of how the climate crisis affects other parts of the world, where people have drastically different lifestyles. You could also talk about how you hope to work with Professor Bala Chaudhary through the two-term Presidential Research Scholarship, to study how to increase diversity in STEM fields, as you think it’s crucial that everyone has a seat at the table when discussing how to build towards a greener future.

By citing specific examples of programs that can only be found at Dartmouth, you will show admissions officers 1) that you have done your research on their school, which shows you are genuinely interested and not just applying for fun, and 2) that you already have a clear sense of how you will fit into their campus community, which will give them confidence you are ready to start contributing to Dartmouth right away.

Also remember that your life in college will be about more than just academics. If you have space, mention one extracurricular that you are interested in. It doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the theme you’ve focused the rest of the essay on, as introducing another one of your interests can help make your response feel more thorough.

For example, you could talk about how you’d like to mentor local children through the SIBs program, to develop a stronger connection not just to Dartmouth, but to the surrounding area as well.

One last thing to be aware of is that, like any school, Dartmouth has a few features that, while distinctive to the school, appeal to a large number of applicants. These features include:

• The flexible D-plan calendar
• The historic Dartmouth Outing Club and its associated Freshman Trips program
• Being located in beautiful, remote New Hampshire

While you can talk about these things in your response, make sure you aren’t just name-dropping them. Remember, the point of this essay is to show why you’re a better match for Dartmouth than other applicants. If you just say “I love the outdoors, so I’d like to join the Outing Club,” and don’t provide any more detail, you aren’t doing anything to set yourself apart, as many other applicants are likely to say pretty much exactly the same thing.

Instead, talk about how your high school had an outdoor trip requirement, and you made some of your closest friends on that trip, so you’re hoping the outdoors will play a similar, community-building role for you in college. That extra level of detail will show admissions officers your own personal connection to this popular resource at Dartmouth.

Prompt 2, Option 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. (250 words).

The phrasing is a little more creative, but this is basically a Diversity essay prompt, which means you want to do two things in your response. 

First, describe some particular feature of the environment in which you were raised. The prompt says just “the environment,” but 250 words isn’t enough to flesh out every aspect of your upbringing. So, you want to narrow your focus to one feature that is especially relevant to understanding “the person you are today.” Here are some examples of things you could zero in on:

• Being the oldest of 7 siblings
• Being raised by a single parent
• How both of your parents being doctors shaped your worldview

Keep in mind that “the environment in which you were raised” is a very open-ended phrase, so you can also get creative here if you want. For example, you could talk about you and your parents setting up a garden in your backyard, or about how your dad is a huge Beatles fan and played them non-stop while driving you to school. Basically, if something was an important part of your life growing up, it’s fair game to write about for this prompt.

Once you’ve narrowed your focus, the second thing you want to do is explain how that feature of your environment shaped the person you are today. In other words, how is this thing relevant to the kind of college student you will be? Why do admissions officers need to know about it?

Answering that question will require some reflection on your part, to figure out what exactly you learned from being brought up in that kind of environment. There is no one right answer. Just be honest about what you learned, and make sure that your takeaway clearly connects to your description of your environment, as otherwise your essay may feel generic or impersonal.

For example, you could talk about how your doctor parents sharing stories about patients they saw from all walks of life gave you an appreciation for our shared humanity, and responsibility to each other regardless of background.

Alternatively, you could talk about how your dad bombarding you with trivia about Beatles lyrics eventually inspired you to pursue a creative outlet of your own, to express your feelings in a personal way, which led you to becoming a photographer.

Prompt 2, Option B

“be yourself,” oscar wilde advised. “everyone else is taken.” introduce yourself in 200-250 words..

This prompt is a pretty much completely open-ended opportunity for you to tell Dartmouth about some of the key qualities that make you, you. As one of the most prestigious schools in the country, Dartmouth will receive tons of applications from students around the world with impressive GPAs and extracurriculars. This essay isn’t about rehashing your own achievements, though. Instead, you want to tell admissions officers something they don’t already know from reading your personal statement or activities list. Essentially, the question is: beyond your resume, who are you?

Obviously, this question is incredibly broad, but you only have 250 words to answer it, so you want to try to distill your identity down to a few key qualities or experiences. This filtering is much easier said than done, but asking yourself questions like the following can help get the ball rolling:

• How would your friends or family describe you to someone who has never met you?
• Which role do you play in your friend group? How do you stand out from the rest of them?
• Which three words would you use to describe yourself?

Once you’ve picked out a couple of qualities that you want to focus on, think of experiences you’ve had that highlight them. Remember, show, don’t tell–if you just tell admissions officers “Family is important to me,” they won’t really understand anything about your personality, because family is important to lots of people.

Instead, you want to share anecdotes that show your reader how important family has been in your life. For example, you could write about how hard your dad worked when you were little, but how he would take afternoons off to take you to baseball games, and how those days were some of your absolute favorites.

If you’re feeling bold, this prompt can also present an opportunity to get creative and highlight some truly unusual aspects of your personality. For example, you could pick three of your favorite Taylor Swift lyrics, and connect each one to one of your values or qualities. Or you could write about your fascination with the creatures that live in tide pools.

While these more creative approaches can do a lot to truly set you apart from other applicants, they also carry more risk if they aren’t executed well. So, if you aren’t sure if you’re going to be able to pull it off, stick to a more traditional response–you can still write an excellent, engaging essay without doing anything out of the box.

Prompt 3, Option A

What excites you (200-250 words) .

This prompt gives you the opportunity to showcase your personality and talk about a passion, hobby, or experience that does not really “fit” into the themes explored by other prompts. Think about this essay as a personal inquiry, it gives the admissions officer the ability to humanize your application and understand what type of person they are admitting to Dartmouth. 

There is no shortage of topics you can explore with this prompt. 

• Are you excited whenever Sunday Night Football is able to bring together your family for a night? 
• Or, are you excited when it rains outside and you can dance around with your friends? 
• Or, are you excited when you get the opportunity to talk about gender equality at an organization that you intern at? 

Whether it’s a monumental achievement or a simple pleasure, at the core of this essay the admissions office is asking you to speak with passion. 

It’s important to connect whatever topic you are discussing to the resources and opportunities available to you at Dartmouth. 

For instance, if you are a student who gets super excited when you can collect rocks down at the beach with your friends, this would be a great chance to connect your passion back to research opportunities at Dartmouth in the Earth History department or how the outdoorsy-feel of Dartmouth would feel like home. 

Don’t be afraid to take a risk with this prompt. If watching Avatar excites you, feel free to explore this route, especially if you are an applicant that can connect this back to East-Asian studies or film/production studies at Dartmouth. However, be cautious about going on a tangent or exploring too many things within this essay. Stick to talking about one thing that excites you and connecting it back to Dartmouth. 

Prompt 3, Option 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 making—an impact (200-250 words).

Different from the personal reflection prompts, this essay is asking you what kind of impact you hope to have on the world in the future. This prompt can be answered in a variety of different ways and largely depends on what your personal goals and passions are. 

When responding to this prompt you should first do a close reading of the quote to provide some further context for your response, “We must use our lives to make the world a better place, not just to acquire things.” Huerta specifies that we use our “lives” to make an impact, not just a single action. This implies that Dartmouth is looking for something long term that you are dedicating your time to that will make a positive impact on others. 

It may also be helpful to look into the author of this quote to discover what motivated them to say the quote in the first place – Dolores Huerta is a prominent civil rights activist who dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of immigrant and migrant labor workers. How might Huerta’s dedication to a life of activism align with Dartmouth’s core values? There are many ways to leave a powerful impact on the world, not all of which are through activism.  

The topic you choose does not necessarily have to be tied to your academic interests. For instance, you could be a Neuroscience major who also has a passion for education and volunteers as an English tutor at a ESL (English as a Second Language) school – aspiring to positively impact immigrant communities by providing them with the powerful tool of language. As long as your passion is long-term, you should be able to create a powerful narrative that will resonate with the admissions committee. 

However, if your topic does align with your academic or career goals, make sure that you explain in detail how it will improve the world around you. Perhaps you want to be a MD-PhD who does cancer research specializing in treating low-income patients? Or maybe you want to be a speechwriter for politicians and world leaders whose words will help to change the world. 

Whatever you choose to write about, be sure to narrate to the admissions committee how your topic contributes to the betterment of the campus community at Dartmouth and beyond.

Prompt 3, Option C

Dr. seuss, aka theodor geisel of dartmouth’s class of 1925, wrote, “think and wonder. wonder and think.” what do you wonder and think about (200-250 words).

Although the quote cited in this prompt is from a familiar and likely elicits nostalgic source for many applicants, the question itself is deceptively vague. A prompt is trying to both gauge your personal interests while also evaluating your creativity.  

This essay response is the optimal space to let your creative juices flow and really be yourself. Take some time and brainstorm what unanswered questions you have about the world or what random thoughts might pop into your head during the day. Do not feel as though you have to make something up that will sound profound such as “What is our role in the universe?”or “What is the meaning of life?” These kinds of classic philosophical questions might make your response too closely aligned with cliches. 

In this response you not only want to be unconventional, but you also want to be honest. Maybe you ponder on the long term, psychological impact the pressures of social media will have on our generation in the future. Or maybe it’s something as simple as wondering if our pets can really understand us. 

Here are examples of some other thought-provoking ideas:

• Dreams of visiting the international space station
• Creating a new vaccine 
• Working as a private chef 
• Going on a bucket list trip

For example, if you are interested in history and pirates, and wonder about the possible locations of the famous Captain Kidd ’s lost treasures. Explain what sparked your initial interest and why it has remained important to you. “I was born and raised on the Jersey shore. I spent most of my summers sailing with my dad and older brothers. We always joked about how amazing it would be to one day find a mysterious clue that would lead us to a forgotten treasure.”

Write your essay response about a topic that you are genuinely curious about. Do not feel like you have to make up some dramatic narrative to impress the admissions committee and risk being perceived as authentic. Be true to yourself and show Dartmouth how the intricacies your brain functions.

Prompt 3, Option D

Celebrate your nerdy side. (250 words).

If you choose this option, the first thing to ask yourself is how you want to define “nerdy.” Maybe at first, the word conjures up the typical stereotypes, such as liking math or being obsessed with Star Trek. But remember that the point of any college essay is to set yourself apart from other applicants, so leaning too far into the familiar stereotypes might not be your best bet.

Instead, think of some intellectual or “unpopular” (at least for teenagers) interests you have that are unique to you. Here are some examples:

• Classical music
• Bad horror movies
• Norse mythology
• The technology used by Ancient Romans

Since these things are less commonly talked about in pop culture, they will feel more personal to you, which will in turn teach admissions officers more about your personality. Remember though that, like with any college essay, choosing your topic is only half the battle. The other half is using that topic as a lens to shine light on particular aspects of your personality, by citing specific experiences or anecdotes that show how your interest in that topic has impacted your growth.

For example, you could write about Yggdrasill, the world tree in Norse mythology, and how the idea of being connected to every part of your world has inspired you to read books from people who are different from you, take road trips, and listen to music in other languages, in an attempt to build that same connection in your own life.

One word of caution: make sure that your response doesn’t become too much about your topic. Particularly if you’re writing about something that you’re truly passionate about, you might accidentally slip into a tangent about, for example, Ancient Roman cranes. While that might be informative, Dartmouth is trying to decide whether or not to accept you, not a crane, so make sure the points you’re making about your topic always connect back to something about you.

Prompt 3, Option E

“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 and outlook (250 words).

Like Prompt 2, Option A, this is another Diversity essay prompt being presented in slightly different packaging. While that prompt asks you to structure your response around “the environment in which you were raised,” this prompt more traditionally focuses on what makes you different from others.

Keep in mind that “difference” can be a part of your life in a wide variety of ways. Perhaps what makes you different is your race, ethnicity, sexuality, or some other aspect of your identity that typically gets a lot of attention in discussions about difference. But there are plenty of other ways you can be different. For example:

• Having an unusual hobby, like rock climbing or birdwatching
• Speaking a language at home that isn’t the same as your country’s national language
• Being interested in something teenagers usually aren’t, like opera

Once you’ve identified some way in which you’re different, you want to explain how you have “embraced it as part of your identity and outlook.” In other words, why is it important to understand this aspect of your identity in order to understand who you are as a whole?

You don’t have a ton of room to do this, but you want to make sure your explanation still connects to anecdotes and examples that illustrate the point you’re trying to make. Otherwise, your reader may be confused about how you got from A to B. For example, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical responses:

Response 1: “ I started going birdwatching with my dad when I was 5. At first, I found it really boring, but eventually I started to see that patience really is a virtue.”

Response 2: “ I was five years old, freezing cold, and incapable of picking out the barn owl my dad swore existed somewhere in the field of brittle corn stalks. That was my first exposure to birdwatching, and, if I had had my way, would have been my last. But my dad, aided by the promise of hot cocoa afterwards, talked me into giving it another shot. For an hour, I was deeply regretting my decision, as I was going cross-eyed staring at a steely gray lake. But then, I heard the rustle of wings, and a heron swooped down from a tree, not five feet above my head.”

Obviously, the second response is much longer. But the length is worth it, as we get to see how the writer started to change their mind about birdwatching, and the details we get about that journey make us feel like we’ve gotten to know them much better, which is the whole point of college essays.

Prompt 3, Option F

As noted in the college’s mission statement, “dartmouth educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership…” promise and potential are important aspects of the assessment of any college application, but they can be elusive qualities to capture. highlight your potential and promise for us; what would you like us to know about you (250 words).

While this prompt tells you exactly which two qualities it wants you to highlight—potential and promise—it also points out that these “can be elusive qualities to capture.” So, you want to make sure you’re thoughtful in how you present yourself.

The first thing to do when you start brainstorming is think of experiences you’ve had that show your potential. Again, there is a range of ways you can do that. For example, you could talk about how you worked one summer at a beachside ice cream shack, just to have something to do, but your boss was so impressed with your work ethic that she invited you to return the following summer, to be the assistant manager.

Your description of your promise as a prospective Dartmouth student doesn’t have to be focused on your career or on academics, however. You could instead choose to highlight your patience and dedication by describing how you spent countless hours with the traumatized rescue dog your family adopted, getting her to slowly trust people again, and eventually were even able to teach her tricks and start taking her with you into public places.

You do want to make sure you avoid stereotypical stories, like working hard to move up from JV to varsity. While you should absolutely be proud of yourself for that achievement, it’s one that many other high schoolers share, and that has been featured in many books, movies, and TV shows. So, in the context of college essays specifically, you’d be better off focusing on something else that will do more to distinguish you from other applicants.

Finally, it’s worth noting that this prompt is a little more focused than the other options. If you’re having a hard time brainstorming, don’t get worked up—just pivot to a different option, which you’ll hopefully feel a more natural connection to.

Where to Get Your Dartmouth College Essay Edited

Do you want feedback on your Dartmouth essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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College Admissions

Dartmouth College , located in Hanover, New Hampshire, is one of the best universities in the world. A member of the Ivy League, Dartmouth has notable graduates, top-of-the-line programs, and a minuscule admissions rate.

If you want to be one of the 7.9% of students accepted to Dartmouth every year, you'll need to write some amazing essays as part of your application's Dartmouth supplement.

In this post, I'll talk about what the Dartmouth essay prompts are, which essays you can choose to write, and how to craft standout responses that'll help ensure your admission.

What Are the Dartmouth Essay Prompts?

You can apply to Dartmouth using the Common Application or QuestBridge Application. No matter which application you choose, you'll also have to submit the Dartmouth Supplement.

Part of the Dartmouth Supplement involves answering three required writing prompts. The first two writing prompts are the same for all students. Students have five prompt options for the third essay and must answer one. 

According to Dartmouth's website, "the writing supplement includes questions specific to Dartmouth that help the Admissions Committee gain a better sense of how you and Dartmouth might be a good 'fit' for each other."

Basically, that means that the Dartmouth Admissions Committee wants to know who you are… and how you'll fit in on Dartmouth's campus. Your Dartmouth supplemental essays give the admissions committee a chance to get to know you beyond your test scores and other credentials. The essays will give Dartmouth a better idea of how you think and act, so they can see if you would be a great addition to the student body.

Similarly, the essays also give the admissions committee a chance to assess your passion for Dartmouth - how badly do you really want to go there? The more you can show your passion for Dartmouth, the better.

Let's take a look at the Dartmouth essay prompts.

Dartmouth Essay Prompts

Here are the 2022-2023 Dartmouth Essay Prompts. Like we mentioned earlier, the first two prompts are the same for all students. For the third essay, students are given five prompt options and must answer one. 

Please respond in 100 words or fewer:

• Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2027, what aspects of the College's academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? In short, Why Dartmouth? Please respond in 100 words or fewer.

Essay #2 

Please response in 200-250 words: 

"Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself in 200-250 words.

Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 200-250 words:

• 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 making—an impact?
• What excites you?
• In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba '14 reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power electrical appliances in his family's Malawian house: "If you want to make it, all you have to do is try." What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you made?
• Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth's Class of 1925, wrote, "Think and wonder. Wonder and think." What do you wonder and think about?
• "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced," wrote James Baldwin. How does this quote apply to your life experiences?

Dartmouth Essays Analyzed

Let's take a look at the Dartmouth essay prompts for 2021-2022.

Dartmouth Essay Prompt 1

All Dartmouth students are required to answer this prompt and for good reason — it's the "Why Dartmouth" essay! This essay shows the admissions committee why Dartmouth is the right school for you.

At only 100 words, this prompt doesn't give you a lot of room to expand upon your favorite parts of the College, so you should pick one or two aspects of Dartmouth that you really love and focus on those.

The prompt encourages you to talk about the program, community, or campus, so don't feel like you have to limit yourself to academics. You can talk about other things about Dartmouth that interest you, such as the student life or extracurricular activities.

Whichever features you choose to highlight, make sure your connection to them is real and personal. In other words, don't just say you're a fan of Dartmouth's sterling academic reputation. Instead, focus on a specific part of that reputation - a professor whose work you admire or a class that you really want to take.

Dartmouth Essay Prompt 2

First impressions can be daunting! How do you want to be perceived? What would you say to pique Dartmouth’s admissions counselors’ interest? This is your chance to be bold, and to stand out from the crowd. But remember the prompt: they’re not quoting Wilde for fun. You’ll need to introduce your most authentic self. In other words, introduce who you are, not who you think Dartmouth wants you to be.

Don't feel confined to traditional, linear methods of storytelling in this prompt. You can play around with form and structure, as long as you do it well. Get an advisor or mentor to read your work and offer feedback, especially if you deviate from your typical style.

Dartmouth Essay Prompt 3

Dartmouth's longer essay prompts give you plenty of room to think creatively and show off your individuality. All students are required to pick and answer one of the prompts in 250-300 words. Let's take a look at the prompts and examine how to answer them.

Prompt A: The Introduction Prompt

A. 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 making—an impact?

This prompt is more tangible and concrete than the others available for selection. If you feel intimidated by discussing your creativity or personal history, this prompt is a good one to choose.

This prompt asks you to pick a real-world issue and discuss how you wish to address it (or are already addressing it). Don't feel like you have to pick something grand and far-reaching, like starvation or world peace. You can also pick an issue that affects people locally, in your community, for instance. The key is to pick a topic that you have a personal connection to and reason for wanting to fix. Your passion will come across in your description of the issue.

Prompt B: The Passion Prompt

B. What excites you?

This essay prompt is asking you to think toward your future and write about something—anything!—that gets you pumped. Dartmouth Admissions is looking to see if you have purpose and passion.

To answer this prompt, take some time to think about your future: your goals for your time in college, things you hope to achieve, opportunities that you find invigorating. You'll want your response to be focused and organized, so choose one idea, goal, or possibility that most excites you and go into detail about that in your response.

For example, maybe you're excited about the opportunity to improve your creative writing craft in the company of other student writers at Dartmouth, so you make becoming a better writer the central idea of your response to this prompt. You might go into detail about how you're excited to take writing workshop courses, learn from other students' writing styles, and eventually work on a creative writing publication with other students.

Whatever topic you choose to write about, you need to have a central idea—something that excites you—and you need to be able to explain how your excitement will shape your life choices as a student at Dartmouth.

There are no right or wrong answers in terms of what excites you, but it is important to try to think toward your future and explain

Prompt C: The Creativity Prompt

C. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind , William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family's Malawian house: "If you want to make it, all you have to do is try." What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made

Creativity is crucial to every field of study, and this essay prompt is asking you to show that your interests, academic or recreational, inspire you to make things. To respond to this prompt, you'll need to be able to explain an idea, issue, or interest that motivates you to make stuff, then describe what you've made in the past or hope to make in the future!

The first thing to do is establish what drives you to create . To do this, think about who you are, where you come from, what experiences you've had, and who you want to become. Like in the example given in the prompt, maybe there's a need right in your own home that inspires you to create. You could think locally, like The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, or you could think outside of your personal experience too. Is there a global issue that drives you to create something that will help others in the future, during, or after college? If so, describe that vision and the global issue that motivates it.

Keep in mind that "creating" and "making something" can be interpreted many different ways. Your vision for "making" doesn't have to be artistic or some scientific invention. It could be creating a virtual reading service for overworked parents who need help educating their children during a global pandemic! On the other hand, maybe you're creating a science curriculum through your school's independent study program so you can learn more about climate change, which is your passion.

Whatever the case may be, it's a good idea to relate that creativity to your time at Dartmouth. For instance, maybe your virtual reading service has inspired you to major in business, so you can turn that service into your future career. It would be a great idea to research and talk about joining the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth to help show admissions counselors that Dartmouth is the only school that can help your dreams become a reality.

Prompt D: The Curiosity Prompt

D. Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth's Class of 1925, wrote, "Think and wonder. Wonder and think." What do you wonder and think about?

This prompt is actually just an invitation for you to dive deep into something that you're insatiably curious about. Dartmouth admissions wants to see that you have that intrinsic motivation to learn, grow, and expand your horizons, and they want to get to know you better by hearing you go off about that thing that you're endlessly curious about.

So, how do you celebrate your curiosity in this response? Start by pinpointing that one thing that you're the most curious about. You can probably look to your activities, relationships, and even your Google search history to identify what that one thing is. Maybe you're endlessly curious about food: different cultures of eating around the world, America's relationship to food, how to select, prepare, and eat it...and if you're really curious about food, you could probably go on and on about everything you know and want to know about it in your response.

This is a good thing! To organize your response, describe the thing you're curious about in a way that helps admissions counselors get to know you better . Going back to the food example, you could talk about where your curiosity about food comes from, or your background with food, how your curiosity with food plays into your day-to-day living, and some specific things you hope to learn about or do with food as you continue engaging with it.

And finally, connect your past experience, present questions, and future goals at Dartmouth in your response. This will show Dartmouth that you're a dedicated, independent learner who will be an endlessly curious student too.

Prompt E: The Baldwin Prompt

E. "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced," wrote James Baldwin. How does this quote apply to your life experiences?

Some challenges in life appear insurmountable at first—and not all of them can be overcome. This prompt asks you to reflect on your own life, and on your own experiences with growth and change, whether or not you succeeded.

In your response, you'll get the chance to show that you see the value of being adaptable and accepting change. You can demonstrate this quality by writing about how you've seen something happening cyclically, something changing, or a season coming to an end in your life. It's important that you write about a situation that was meaningful to you—one where you saw yourself growing and learning.

Alternatively, you could write about an ongoing situation in your life that you are still facing. For example, maybe your school enacted a policy that you and your peers consider unfair, and you’ve been working for a while to make your voices heard.

It's okay if the thing you choose to write about is something you've had conflicted feelings about. What's important in your response here is showing how facing the challenges you describe strengthened your determination and adaptability —qualities that will be valuable when you become a Dartmouth student.

How to Write Great Dartmouth Essays

In order to write great Dartmouth essays, you need to show the committee two things. First, you need to give them a clear idea of who you are. Second, you need to show them, "Why Dartmouth." In other words, why Dartmouth is important to you. Here are some tips to help you accomplish both of those goals.

#1: Use Your Own Voice

The point of a college essay is for the admissions committee to have the chance to get to know you beyond your test scores, grades, and honors. Your admissions essays are your opportunity to make yourself come alive for the essay readers and to present yourself as a fully fleshed out person.

You should, then, make sure that the person you're presenting in your college essays is yourself. Don't try to emulate what you think the committee wants to hear or try to act like someone you're not.

If you lie or exaggerate, your essay will come across as insincere, which will diminish its effectiveness. Stick to telling real stories about the person you really are, not who you think Dartmouth wants you to be.

#2: Avoid Clichés and Overused Phrases

When writing your Dartmouth essays, try to avoid using common quotes or phrases. These include quotations that have been quoted to death and phrases or idioms that are overused in daily life. The college admissions committee has probably seen numerous essays that state, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Strive for originality.

Similarly, avoid using clichés, which take away from the strength and sincerity of your work. Don't speak in platitudes about how the struggle for gay and lesbian rights has affected you… unless it actually has! And even then, you don't want to speak in platitudes. It's better to be direct and specific about your experience.

#3: Check Your Work

It should almost go without saying, but you want to make sure your Dartmouth essays are the strongest example of your work possible. Before you turn in your Dartmouth application, make sure to edit and proofread your essays.

Your work should be free of spelling and grammar errors. Make sure to run your essays through a spelling and grammar check before you submit.

It's a good idea to have someone else read your Dartmouth essays, too. You can seek a second opinion on your work from a parent, teacher, or friend. Ask them whether your work represents you as a student and person. Have them check and make sure you haven't missed any small writing errors. Having a second opinion will help your work be the best it possibly can be.

That being said, make sure you don't rely on them for ideas or rewrites. Your essays need to be your work.

#4: Play With Form

Dartmouth's essay prompts leave a lot of room open for creative expression - use that! You don't need to stick to a five paragraph essay structure here. You can play with the length and style of your sentences - you could even dabble in poetry if that makes sense!

Whichever form you pick, make sure it fits with the story you're trying to tell and how you want to express yourself.

What's Next?

Learn more about the most selective colleges in the US . If you're applying to multiple Ivy Leagues, it's a good idea to know your chances at each!

If you're hoping to attend a highly selective school like Dartmouth, you'll need to have a very strong academic record in high school. Learn more about high school honors classes and societies.

Not sure what your GPA means for your chances of college admission? Find out what a good or bad GPA might look like based on your goals.

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

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Dartmouth Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Prompts and Advice

August 11, 2023

Dartmouth receives the fewest number of applications of the eight Ivy League schools. There were 28,841 hopefuls for the Class of 2027, less than half the number at Columbia or Harvard. Yet, that still represented an increase in the number of Dartmouth applications from the two years prior, resulting in the school’s lowest-ever acceptance rate of 6% (down from 6.2% the previous year, and a whopping 8.8% in 2024). When applying to a school that rejects 94% of applicants, you need to find ways to grab an admissions officer’s attention and give them a reason to say, “Yes!” The Dartmouth supplemental essays are one such chance.

Want to learn more about How to Get Into Dartmouth College? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into Dartmouth: Admissions Data and Strategies  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.

One of the best opportunities to move the admissions needle is through the three supplemental essays that Dartmouth requires. Dartmouth College’s essay prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle are listed below along with accompanying advice about how to tackle each one:

1) Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Required Essay #1

Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2028, what aspects of the College’s academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? In short, why Dartmouth? (100 words)

This is, in essence, a straightforward “Why this College?” essay. Great things to highlight here include:

• Firstly, specific  student organizations at Dartmouth  that you would like to become involved with.
• Particular courses  offered in your discipline of interest at Dartmouth.
• Dartmouth professors whose work/research/writings you are intrigued by.
• Undergraduate research opportunities  unique to Dartmouth.
• Aspects of Dartmouth’s mission statement that resonate with you.
• Lastly,  study abroad opportunities .

Make sure to really do your research on the school. As a side benefit (and not an unimportant one), you may discover further reasons why Dartmouth truly is the perfect fit for you.

2) Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Required Essay #2

Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 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.

This is an opportunity to share something about your background that may not shine through anywhere else on the application. To do so, consider discussing how your role in your family, important aspects of your upbringing, or a particular cultural, religious, or community influence either impacted your core values and beliefs or helped develop a particularly important attribute.

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

This is a fun opportunity to share something genuinely unique about yourself. As such, pick one (or several) key aspects of your personality/background that reveal something deep and meaningful about you. As you brainstorm, consider the following avenues:

• What moves your spirit? Discuss any art, movies, music, and books that you find deeply moving and personally important.
• Your role in your family.
• Your role in your social group.
• The funniest things you’ve ever done.
• The strangest things you’ve ever done.
• Commitment, passion, and enthusiasm.
• Core values and beliefs.
• Important aspects of your upbringing.
• Most intriguing and unique attributes.
• Cultural, religious, community influence.

3) Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Required Essay #3

Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 200-250 words:

A) What excites you?

Out of everything on this Earth, what makes you tick? What keeps you up at night? What subject makes you read books and online content until your eyes bleed? If you could address one problem in the world, large or small, what would it be? What do you love to do? If you are answering at least one of these questions, you are on the right track with this essay.

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 making—an impact? Why? How?

This is your chance to show that you are a global citizen, aware and sensitive to issues faced by this planet and all life that occupies it. If you are passionate about climate change, the fate of democratic institutions, food scarcity, human rights, the impact of disinformation campaigns, privacy issues related to big tech, or any of the millions of other challenges faced by humanity, this is a great choice for you. Note that this year’s prompt includes the guiding questions why and how , so be sure to let them both guide your response.

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays (Continued)

C) Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth’s Class of 1925, wrote, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” As you wonder and think, what’s on your mind?

Last year’s prompt: what do you wonder and think about? This year’s prompt: as you wonder and think, what’s on your mind? It’s clear that Dartmouth is not only interested in what you’re thinking about but also your overall thought process. What questions are you asking? Why are you asking them? What conclusions have your questions led you to, and how do you feel about those conclusions? Is there anything that you  like to know that you don’t have the answer to right now? What motivates, scares, or surprises you about your most pressing questions? The key here will be to take the reader on a little trip inside your brain (Magic School Bus not required).

D) Celebrate your nerdy side.

In just about every nineties movie, the nerds function as insanely smart social rejects with questionable outfit choices and pocket protectors, often banished to the worst lunch table. Luckily, times have changed, and being a nerd—especially at a school like Dartmouth—is downright aspirational. Moreover, the definition of a “nerd” is someone who is incredibly enthusiastic about a certain topic—especially if unique. Accordingly, if you’re interested in answering this question, make a list of any “specialties” that you are particularly dedicated to. Do you love the soundtracks of eighties movies? Science fiction short stories? Strategy games? Rubik’s cubes? Your backyard barometer? Comic book collections? Whatever topic you choose, make sure to truly lean in and celebrate it—what do you love about it, and why? How does it influence you?

E) “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 and outlook?

Do you feel that your lived experience is different from others in your peer group, family, or community, perhaps in regard to relationships, household income level, mental or physical challenges, neurodiversity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or cultural background, to name a few? If so, answering this prompt could be a good option. While crafting your response, the important thing to keep in mind is that the difference/challenge itself is  less important  than what it reveals about your character and perspective. What steps have you taken to cope with your chosen difference? How has it positively impacted you? How has it influenced your perspective and the way you engage with the world? Is there anything about your difference that you feel especially appreciative of?  Make sure you share what you were feeling and experiencing; this piece should demonstrate openness and vulnerability.

F) As noted in the College’s mission statement, “Dartmouth educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership…” Promise and potential are important aspects of the assessment of any college application, but they can be elusive qualities to capture. Highlight your potential and promise for us; what would you like us to know about you?

One of the best ways to communicate promise and potential is to demonstrate a passion for learning and growing. This prompt is not about presenting a laundry list of accomplishments; instead, it’s about showing the admissions committee that you possess qualities that can be cultivated for a lifetime, regardless of major or career, such as dedication, curiosity, innovation, or creativity, to name a few. You can accomplish this goal by describing how you’ve grown in a particular area and/or how you wish to grow, while remembering that flaws and mistakes made along the way often demonstrate tremendous self-awareness.

How important are the Dartmouth Supplemental Essays?

The essays (both the Common App essay and the supplemental ones) are “very important” to the evaluation process. Seven other factors are “very important.” These factors are: rigor of coursework, class rank, GPA, recommendations, test scores, character/personal qualities, and extracurricular activities. Clearly, Dartmouth College places enormous value on the quality of your supplemental essay.

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Want Personalized Essay Assistance?

To conclude, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Dartmouth supplemental essays, we encourage you to  get a quote  today.

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Dartmouth College Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the Dartmouth essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Dartmouth application essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Dartmouth supplemental essays and maximize your chances of admission.

If you need help crafting your Dartmouth supplemental essays, create your  free account  or  schedule a no-cost advising consultation  by calling (844) 505-4682.

Dartmouth  Essay Guide Quick Facts:

• Dartmouth has an acceptance rate of 9.0%— U.S. News  ranks Dartmouth as a  highly selective  school.
• You must answer both Dartmouth supplemental essays. The first Dartmouth essay essentially asks, “Why Dartmouth?” The second gives you a choice of six Dartmouth essay prompts!

Does Dartmouth have supplemental essays?

Yes. The Dartmouth essay prompts are available on the  Common App , which all Dartmouth candidates must use to apply. After responding to the Common App’s main essay prompt, you’ll also need to write two additional Dartmouth application essays. The Dartmouth supplemental essays are also on the college’s website.

Need some help writing your Common App essay? Get great tips from  our Common App essay guide .

How many supplemental essays does Dartmouth require?

There are   two school-specific Dartmouth application essays on the 2021-2022 Common App. Both Dartmouth essay prompts are  required , meaning you must complete both essays in order to apply. You should consider how your Dartmouth application essays will complement and enhance the other elements of your application.

How to write the Dartmouth essays:

The Dartmouth supplemental essays allow you to create a narrative around your identity as a student beyond your academic credentials. Take the time to understand the individual Dartmouth essay prompts. As you begin each Dartmouth essay, consider the following questions:

• What does the prompt specifically ask me to include?
• Do I include new information or building upon a point I’ve made elsewhere, or do I repeat information already included in another section of my application?
• Does my response highlight my unique qualities?
• Does my essay authentically reflect my experiences?

What does Dartmouth look for in essays?

Personality! Your Dartmouth application essays should not only reflect what you’ve done but should also capture who you are. In reading your Dartmouth essays, the admissions team wants to get a sense of you as a person: your qualities, your passions, and the way you move through and see the world. Your Dartmouth supplemental essays should help admissions officers understand what makes you  you  and imagine what you will bring to campus.

How do you respond to the Dartmouth supplements?

We have provided the  prompts for the 2021-2022 Dartmouth supplemental essays  below. You’ll find a breakdown of how to approach each of the Dartmouth essay prompts. We’ll also discuss tips for writing Dartmouth essays that will help you stand out in admissions.

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Question 1 (Required)

While arguing a Dartmouth-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1818, Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, delivered this memorable line: “It is, sir,…a small college, and yet there are those who love it!” As you seek admission to the Class of 2026, what aspects of the College’s program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? (100 words or less).

Although this question begins with an anecdote, the first of the Dartmouth essay prompts can be distilled into two words: “Why Dartmouth?”

This Dartmouth essay is your chance to highlight what specifically about Dartmouth stands out to you. As you prepare to answer this question, consider the three categories the prompt provides and do some research into each. A great place to begin is Dartmouth’s website. If you want to discuss academic programs, look into different  areas of study . Or if you want to address community, look into different  student groups & activities . If you want to write about the campus environment, look into various  student resources . Successful Dartmouth application essays will include details specific to the school.

As you do your research, imagine you are a freshman on Dartmouth’s campus. How would you be excited to use your time, both in and out of the classroom? Are there specific faculty or opportunities you would seek out? What student groups or organizations would you explore?

This Dartmouth essay is limited to 100 words or less, so you’ll have to be concise. Even if everything about Dartmouth appeals to you, limit your response to 2-3 specific attributes you want to spotlight. Additionally, you will want to avoid writing general statements, like “I am excited to join a student group” or “I am interested in Economics.” Instead, get as specific as you can. Which student groups are you interested in joining? Are there specific courses or methods of thinking that interest you?

Finally, you’ll want to explain  why  you are excited to have these experiences. Don’t leave it up to Admissions to guess why you’ve chosen to include a specific group or organization. It is important you only highlight the things you are passionate about, whether it is connected to your academic interests, hobbies, or sense of self. For example, if you are passionate about the  Dartmouth Outing Club , include a brief reason as to why having clubs dedicated to hiking, kayaking, skiing, or organic farming is important to you. Dartmouth application essays that address both the school’s offerings and the applicant’s relationship to these offerings will stand out to Admissions Officers.

Dartmouth Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Does your response answer the question “Why Dartmouth?”
• Do you name the specific attributes that excite you?
• Does your response reflect something you are passionate about?

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays – Question 2 (Required)

Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 250-300 words:

A. The Hawaiian word mo’olelo is often translated as “story” but it can also refer to history, legend, genealogy, and tradition. Use one of these translations to introduce yourself.

B. What excites you?

C. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family’s Malawian house: “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.” What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made?

D. Curiosity is a guiding element of Toni Morrison’s talent as a writer. “I feel totally curious and alive and in control. And almost…magnificent, when I write,” she says. Celebrate your curiosity.

E. “Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away,” observed Frida Kahlo. Apply Kahlo’s perspective to your own life.

F. In the aftermath of World War II, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, Class of 1929, proclaimed, “The world’s troubles are your troubles…and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.” Which of the world’s “troubles” inspires you to act? How might your course of study at Dartmouth prepare you to address it?

Unlike the first prompt, the second of the Dartmouth application essays revolves around you. Not only do you get to choose which of the Dartmouth essay prompts to answer, but many of the Dartmouth supplemental essays are open-ended. This leaves you free to use the Dartmouth essay prompts to discuss anything in your life and experiences that resonate with you. As with the first essay prompt, your response is another opportunity to add to the story of who you are. What is important to you that haven’t you included in other parts of your application?

To help you get started, let’s break down each prompt and unpack what they ask.

This prompt is actually multiple prompts rolled into one. As you think about this Dartmouth essay, consider the different translations as lenses through which you might examine who you are. What is the story of your life through the traditions you or your family practices? Through tracing your family tree? Through the stories of your great-great relatives, or the cultural or religious figures you believe in?

Since you only have 250-300 words for these Dartmouth essay prompts, you’ll want to be concise. You may choose to open your Dartmouth essay with an anecdote about your history, traditions, or culture. Then, get right into describing how the trait you choose reflects your identity.

Remember—the Dartmouth application essays are intended to help Admissions Officers get to know  you . Don’t get hung up on the semantics of a particular tradition or story. Instead, use your topic to help Dartmouth Admissions Officers understand more about who you are. In this case, the Dartmouth application essays that focus on the applicant’s own identity will be the most successful.

This Dartmouth essay prompt is all about your passions. Is there a specific anecdote that embodies your passion? Or is there an origin or starting point you can trace your passion back to? Is there a personal reason you are passionate about a specific area of study?

Since this prompt is so open-ended, you can use it to give Dartmouth an honest glance into who you are and how you view the world. Above all, be honest! Authenticity is key when approaching the Dartmouth essay prompts.

Quickly explain what excites you, then delve into  why  it excites you. For instance, if you’re interested in geology, don’t spend your Dartmouth essay just talking about rocks; instead, quickly explain your interest, then move into a discussion about how your interest relates to your overall identity. Admissions officers should come away from this Dartmouth essay with a clearer image of who you are.

This Dartmouth essay prompt is about creativity. What are you passionate about making? Why are you passionate about it? Where does your passion come from? What effect do you hope your creation has on others? On yourself? On the world?

As you approach this Dartmouth essay, begin by brainstorming different things you have either already created or want to create. Keep in mind that “creation” can mean a wide variety of things! Maybe you invented a device in your engineering club; maybe you put in place a new set of community guidelines to promote kindness and equity at your school. Any form of creation will be suitable for this Dartmouth essay!

You can answer this Dartmouth essay prompt in a variety of ways, choosing to discuss either something you’ve already made or something you hope to create. Either way, your response should foreground the relationship between creativity and your own life. Again, make sure your response talks about YOU and how you view the world!

This Dartmouth essay prompt can also be a great chance to supplement your candidate profile by showing particular ways you’ve engaged with your interests. For example, if you won a state-wide robotics competition but didn’t discuss robotics in your other essays, the Dartmouth supplemental essays give you the chance to talk about the things you’ve made in more detail.

Like the other Dartmouth supplemental essays, this prompt allows for a lot of flexibility. In fact, it doesn’t even pose a question—instead, it asks you to “celebrate your curiosity.”

As you approach this Dartmouth essay prompt, think about what curiosity means to you. What are you curious about? Is there a specific story or anecdote that embodies your curiosity? What does your curiosity look like? Is it research? Reflection? How do you like to learn and feed your curiosity?

In responding to this prompt for the Dartmouth supplemental essays, consider how curiosity manifests in your own life. Maybe you taught yourself ASL to communicate with a Deaf classmate; maybe you took a road trip to the desert to study ecological phenomena. This Dartmouth essay prompt is the chance for you to celebrate who you are and convince Admissions Officers that you would be a great addition to their community.

This Dartmouth essay prompt asks you to consider how change manifests in your own life. There are many ways you could approach this prompt, whether you agree or disagree with Kahlo’s perspective. In what ways has your life changed? How has your understanding of change and impermanence developed? When were you forced to change?

If answered appropriately, this Dartmouth essay question can help show Admissions Officers your intellectual maturity. After all, change is a huge part of life, and few changes are more momentous than the transition to college! In this instance, successful Dartmouth supplemental essays will use the theme of change to tell a story about how a student has developed and will continue to develop at Dartmouth.

As you answer this Dartmouth essay prompt, be careful about your choice of topic. Change can be a great thing, but it can also be a challenge. While you can certainly write about difficult topics in your Dartmouth supplemental essays, be careful not to veer into subjects that might negatively impact your application. As a general rule, Admissions Officers tend to struggle with essays about high school drama, mental illness, or severe trauma (though there are exceptions to every rule).

Finally, this prompt has to do with passion for change. What do you believe should be different in our world? What is your medium for change? Activism? Technology? Invention? What specific course(s) at Dartmouth will feed and grow this passion? Are there current members of the faculty or alumni involved in the kind of work you hope to be doing?

This Dartmouth essay prompt also hints at the “Why Dartmouth” question. With this in mind, the most successful Dartmouth supplemental essays will use Dartmouth as a means of expressing how a student hopes to change the world.

Above all, your answer to this Dartmouth essay question should be genuine. Additionally, you’ll likely want to choose a “trouble” related to your overall candidate profile. For instance, if you’re interested in electrical engineering, you may not want to write about solving world hunger. Be honest, be humble, and express what matters to you.

As you can see, there is a wide variety of Dartmouth supplemental essays. If you’re having trouble choosing one of the Dartmouth essay prompts, try setting a timer for five minutes and write out a bulleted list for each of the prompts that interest you. The longer the list, or the more detailed the bullets, the more likely it is you’ll have plenty to write about. If none of the Dartmouth supplemental essays immediately jump out at you, try one of our  writing exercises  to jumpstart your brainstorm. Then, see how you could connect it to one of the Dartmouth essay prompts.

• Does your response reflect a unique experience or perspective?
• Do you offer new and valuable information not found elsewhere in your application?
• Does your response address the specific question asked in the selected prompt?

What kind of students does Dartmouth look for?

The Dartmouth essay prompts help Admissions to look for students that believe in building community and will embody  their core values . They aim to admit students who are committed to academic excellence, integrity, collaboration, and respect. Dartmouth is dedicated to a diversity of opinions and looks for students from all backgrounds and financial means.

If you think Dartmouth is the right school for you, try to demonstrate their values throughout your application. The Dartmouth supplemental essays give you lots of opportunities to discuss your identity in a clear and authentic way. Take advantage of the Dartmouth essay prompts and show Admissions Officers that they want you at their school!

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays: Final Thoughts

The Dartmouth supplemental essays help the Admissions team learn more about who you are and why you belong at Dartmouth. Your Dartmouth essays give you space to express who you are and what matters to you on your own terms. Rather than viewing these essays as a challenging task to complete, view them as an opportunity to be honest about your experiences and let your personality shine through. This will help your Dartmouth application essays stand out!

Distilling everything important about yourself into the Dartmouth supplemental essays may seem intimidating, but remember that you are your own greatest asset. As you craft your Dartmouth essays, use this guide to help. Be sure to give yourself enough time to draft and revise each of your responses. Remember, you have complete control over how you answer the Dartmouth supplemental essays, including good spelling and punctuation. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on Dartmouth College was written by Stefanie Tedards, Northwestern  ‘17 . For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on Dartmouth,  click here . Want help crafting your Dartmouth supplemental essays? Create your   free account  or  schedule a no-cost advising consultation  by calling (844) 505-4682.

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How to Approach the Dartmouth College Supplemental Essays 2021-2022

Padya Paramita

September 7, 2021

How to Approach the Dartmouth College Supplemental Essays 2021-2022 

If you’re planning to apply to Dartmouth College, you probably already know that you need to build a stellar application in order to stand out among the tough competition. After all, Dartmouth only accepted 8.8% of students for the Class of 2024. Your scores, extracurriculars, and personal statement are undoubtedly important, but you send these to every school. So in order to be more specific about why you’re applying to Dartmouth, and convey to the admissions officers why you are a good fit, you need to take advantage of the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 . 

Many students apply to top schools like Dartmouth for the name and fame—to appease their parents or tell their friends they got into an Ivy League school. If you’re truly interested, writing a well-thought-out supplemental essay that demonstrates your commitment to the school can go a long way. Admissions officers use the supplemental essays to get to know you better—what you value in an academic setting, what current events matter to you, an unusual aspect of your background—and determine whether you would thrive at the college. To guide you through Dartmouth’s essays, I’ve outlined each of the prompts, how to tackle them, and more tips for writing your Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022.

How to Write the Dartmouth College 2021-2022 Supplemental Essays

Alongside the standard “why Dartmouth” question, the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 also offer you the chance to showcase how you might fit in with certain characteristics the school values in prospective students. While the first prompt is mandatory, you only have to answer one of the six short answer prompts. Depending on which prompt resonates with you, you can elaborate on your background or what you hope to change about the world. You might reflect on the way you find creativity or a story that has moved you. 

Let’s take a look at each of the upcoming cycle’s prompts, and some ways to go about answering them. 

Please respond in 100 words or fewer:

Why Dartmouth Prompt

While arguing a Dartmouth-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1818, Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, delivered this memorable line: "It is, sir,…a small college, and yet there are those who love it!" As you seek admission to the Class of 2026, what aspects of the College's program, community, or campus environment attract your interest?

The first thing that catches the eye with this prompt (other than the fact that it’s not optional) is the word limit. 100 words aren’t many. In fact, you can barely write an introduction in under 100 words. So how are you supposed to write about all of the things you like about the college?

The key to answering this prompt is to prioritize what you’re looking for from your college experience. Don’t write one sentence each about ten or twelve different things you enjoy about Dartmouth. Focus on one or two. Remember, admissions officers want to know if your interest in the school is authentic and well-informed. When the word limit is so restricted, there’s no space to beat around the bush. Browse the college’s website or social media pages and see how courses, clubs, or study abroad programs align with your passions. 

You might be fascinated by the ability to design your own unique major. You might be excited by the prospect of studying astrophysics in greater detail than ever. You may be inspired to write about how you’re drawn in by the campus improv groups and view them as a great opportunity to hone your performance skills. It’s important to think about how you might benefit from the community. 

Don’t spend too much time providing context on who you are. Get straight to the point because you have very little space. When the admissions officers finish reading your essay, they should have a clear picture of why you are excited to attend Dartmouth! Your essay should highlight your application persona, which is the memorable hook that makes you unique.  . Are you an artist who has participated in exhibitions around your state? Are you a budding zoologist who’s worked in animal shelters? Even though the word limit is so restrictive, admissions officers should be able to picture you contributing to different aspects of campus life.

Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 250-300 words:

The Hawaiian word mo’olelo is often translated as “story” but it can also refer to history, legend, genealogy, and tradition. Use one of these translations to introduce yourself.

Dartmouth makes sure each of its classes is made up of individuals from a wide array of backgrounds, and makes it a priority to “ leverage that diversity to enrich and deepen the education of our future global citizens. ” So this prompt is a chance for admissions officers to learn more about where you come from or an interesting story about your background that they might not deduce from your application.

Since this question asks for a story, legend, genealogy, or tradition, you have freedom in deciding the part of your background to highlight. Don’t forget the second part of the question, however, which asks you to introduce yourself . So while it’s okay to talk about how your grandmother migrated to a different country at a young age or how a certain tradition holds a lot of meaning to your ancestors, your mini-essay should ultimately focus on you. How are you affected by your family history? What has the story in focus taught you about your goals and ambitions? How do you navigate a family tradition in the present day? 250 words provide slightly more room to talk about various parts of your identity. It’s important to strike the right balance between sharing your background and clearly introducing yourself within this still restricted limit.

What excites you?

This is an extremely open-ended prompt. In fact, the scope is so broad, you might be tempted to avoid answering this question altogether. However, this prompt does provide a wonderful opportunity for the Dartmouth admissions officers to get to know you beyond what you’ve stated on your personal statement and activities list. On its website , the school states that it, “encourages independent thought, and promotes a robust culture of interdisciplinary collaboration” as well as provides a “comprehensive out-of-classroom experiences, including service opportunities, international study, and global engagement.” Think about these factors as you ponder on what to write about — how do you express yourself? How have you collaborated with others? What inspires you to get out of bed every morning?

The answer to this question doesn’t have to center on a groundbreaking activity or passion. While it’s certainly impressive if you started a reproductive rights advocacy organization based on your passion for women’s health issues, you can also write about something on a smaller scale, such as how excited you are to play with your own rock band because you live and breathe music. You might add in how you plan to take action on these ideas at Dartmouth. Don’t go overboard with connecting it back to Dartmouth (the question doesn’t ask for this explicitly), but it may feel natural to reference how you plan to use these ideas at the college. 

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family's Malawian house: "If you want to make it, all you have to do is try." What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made?

This question might appeal to you if you’re someone who spends time on creative work - whether it is poetry or a documentary. Creative work definitely doesn’t mean you have to be an artist or filmmaker — Dartmouth wants to give you “ opportunities to share [your] expertise and passion ,” regardless of what it is. You could also be an engineer who has made a robot that does household chores. Or you could be a programmer who’s coded an app that helps your community. It could also be something on a larger scale, such as your own nonprofit - the word “make” in the prompt is flexible. 

Whatever your interest, there is almost certainly the opportunity to make something. Use the 250 words to write about what inspired you to start the project, what were some fulfilling and tough parts of the creative process, how you feel about the end result, and what you hope to achieve with it. Remember, what you focus on can also be something you haven’t done yet. If you’re planning to write a novel or create your own recipes, talk about your vision. The goal here is for admissions officers to read your answer and know right off the bat that what you’re describing is a project you’ve worked hard on (or plan to work hard on), and are genuinely passionate about. If your love for what you do shines through, admissions officers will gain a deeper understanding of your interests and how the school might be able to help you. 

Whether you’ve created the object of your focus yet or not, your project should be thoughtful and require effort. It should authentically reflect your goals and interests as a creator, and not be something you make up on a whim as an answer for this question. 

Curiosity is a guiding element of Toni Morrison's talent as a writer. "I feel totally curious and alive and in control. And almost...magnificent, when I write," she says. Celebrate your curiosity.  

This particular prompt is another very open-ended question among the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 . To “celebrate” your curiosity can mean almost anything. And your curiosity doesn’t have to be academic either. While it’s definitely not a bad idea to connect the prompt to your extracurricular or career interests, you can write about something entirely different from your application persona so that Dartmouth admissions officers can see a different side of you. You can use this prompt as an opportunity to talk about a unique interest and let them know that you’re not a one-trick pony!

This is the place to write about a niche topic that you could talk about forever. You could be curious about anything. If you were a dancer as a kid, you might be curious about how dancers rehabilitate and recover from injury depending on the genre of dance. If your favorite subject is math, you might be completely intrigued by the Pigeonhole Principle.

Another way to tackle this prompt might be to narrate an anecdote which demonstrates the ways you expressed your curiosity. For example, you could outline a series of instances in your childhood when you asked your dad questions completely threw him off. Just like the, “Why Dartmouth” essay, don’t try to squeeze all of the questions or anecdotes you may have about your curiosity about the world into 250 words. Find one or two related topics that you are curious about and elaborate.

"Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away," observed Frida Kahlo. Apply Kahlo's perspective to your own life.

This prompt asks for a story of growth. It might be intimidating at first to try and analyze the quote, but upon greater observation you may realize that it’s very similar to how the personal statement prompts often expect you to reflect on moments of change. Dartmouth admissions officers hope to use this prompt to understand how you’ve dealt with change, and what you’ve taken away from situations that may even have forced you to change yourself. 

Over your four years in high school, you meet a lot of new people and go through a lot of new experiences. It’s not unheard of for someone to feel like a completely different person by the end of those four years. Like the other prompts, there’s no one way to interpret what the question asks. You could have gone from the weakest link on your football team to the star player, or from the singer in the back of your choir to the top a capella soloist. If you found yourself working hard to practice and improve, the end result may have been impressive. Don’t forget to highlight what you learned about yourself through the experience. It could be your own grit and never-give-up attitude. You could have learned who your true friends were in a time of struggle. Whatever it may be, make sure to exemplify how your actions have changed since the growth - is there anything different that you’ve noticed in your behavior or approach to matters? Demonstrate your self-awareness and ability to adapt to new circumstances.

In the aftermath of World War II, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, Class of 1929, proclaimed, “The world’s troubles are your troubles…and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.” Which of the world’s “troubles” inspires you to act? How might your course of study at Dartmouth prepare you to address it?

Dartmouth College appreciates students who are aware of current events and aren’t afraid to have a “ sense of responsibility for one another and for the broader world. ” This question on the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 directly aligns with that value. The heart of this prompt is in the last two sentences: admissions officers want to know which issue in the world you’re the most concerned about, and how a Dartmouth education can help you improve it. 

Think about which academic program or department might connect with the “trouble” that drives your future plans the most. If you’re passionate about the environment, you could write about your concern regarding the current state of climate change, and how you want to work with an organization that studies and tackles the issue. Support your passion with details about how the Dartmouth College Environmental Studies can prepare you for your career, mentioning specific courses, such as ENVS 60 - Environmental Law or ENVS 80.1—Arctic Environmental Change, that can instill the skills and knowledge that you need. Complement your course choices with relevant activities you’d want to participate in such as the organic farm, sustainable living community, or study abroad program in South Africa to learn more about how to best prepare for tackling climate change.

Additional Tips for Writing Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022

• You have a choice - use it well - Since you have the option to choose one from the six prompts for your second essay, the topic selection could make a significant difference to your admissions decision. You could also look at the finished product and make your decision. If it turns out that a story about your sketchbook fits prompt D better than prompt C, then select prompt C. Don’t be afraid to be flexible with your ideas, but ultimately choose the prompt that you believe will bring the strongest essay out of you.
• Cut unnecessary words - It’s obvious that the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 provide you very little room to write your answers. Between the two essays, you have to write you only get 350 words! It can be tricky to get your point across in so little space, but you can’t change the limit. So don’t waste your time sulking or complaining about the fact that you’re 200 words over on your essay, but instead start cutting words. Use a thesaurus, ask a teacher or friend for feedback, and read sentences out loud to see if they still make sense after you shorten them.
• Don’t repeat your personal statement - Since a lot of the options in the second part of the Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 ask you to reflect on your goals, achievements, or background, it could be easy to repeat what you’ve written about in your personal statement. After all, your personal statement is a story unique to you, and the topic of it might overlap with one of the Dartmouth prompts. But, remember that the admissions officers will already have read your personal statement. Supplemental essays are meant to add another layer, providing schools with more context on who you are. Don’t repeat your personal statement and give admissions officers the idea that you have no other interesting stories to tell. 

The Dartmouth College supplemental essays 2021-2022 provide you with the chance to tell the admissions officer who you are. While the first prompt is all about showing that you really have done your research, the optional essays enable you to share more about your background and interests. All are golden opportunities to solidify your interest in Dartmouth and convince them how you embody the values they look for in students. So take advantage of the supplemental essay component. Your knowledge of the school and your stories exemplifying Dartmouth’s ideal characteristics might culminate in an Ivy League acceptance letter.

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• November 18, 2021

How To Write The Dartmouth College Supplemental Essays (2021-2022)

Pierre is a leading college and graduate admissions consultant with extensive experience in education and entrepreneurship. His advice has been featured on Forbes.com, U.S. News, CNN Business, the Washington Post, ABC News, Business Insider, and more.

Welcome to the Dartmouth College supplemental essay prompts for the 2021-2022 application cycle! Here’s everything you need to know to write the best Dartmouth supplemental essays possible to increase your chances of admission to the class of 2026.

As one of the Ivy League schools, Dartmouth is one of the most competitive schools in the country with a record-low acceptance rate of 6.17% for the class of 2025. The college, which is not part of a larger university with grad schools unlike many comparable schools, is known for its small class sizes, rigorous academics, and uniquely rural setting in New Hampshire.

You can refer to the Dartmouth College website if you want to see how exactly they’re presenting their essay prompts for this year. Here’s how you can write your Dartmouth supplemental essays in order to stand out from the crowd.

Dartmouth’s writing supplement requires that applicants write brief responses to two supplemental essay prompts as follows:

In other words, answer question 1, and answer one of the questions provided under “2.”

1. Please respond in 100 words or fewer:

While arguing a Dartmouth-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1818, Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, delivered this memorable line: “It is, Sir… a small college. And yet, there are those who love it!” As you seek admission to the Class of 2026, what aspects of the College’s program, community or campus environment attract your interest?

We get it, Dartmouth — you didn’t want New Hampshire to turn you into a public school back in the early 19th century, and you made it into this whole big thing, and you won in court. But this pompous quote, which they’ve been using for years, is just a fancy way to ask a very familiar kind of question: “Why Dartmouth?”

This is a typical “Why This College” question, but your response has to be very, very short. Do your research on Dartmouth and make sure you come up with some concrete examples of why Dartmouth is the place for you, and don’t just say that you wouldn’t mind being in the middle of nowhere for four years. Make sure your reasons for wanting to attend Dartmouth are in line with your own personal narrative. Consider three main areas: academics, extracurriculars, and campus life. Research classes and find specific professors that fit your unique interests and aspirations. In other words, make sure your points are authentic and that you’re not simply pandering to that small college that some love.

2. Please choose one of the following prompts and respond in 250-300 words:

A. The Hawaiian word mo’olelo is often translated as “story” but it can also refer to history, legend, genealogy, and tradition. Use one of these translations to introduce yourself.

The great thing about this question is that it’s so open-ended it can be about almost anything. You’ve already written your Common App essay, but hopefully, you have another subject for a personal story up your sleeve, and now would be the time to use it. Use this opportunity to discuss a personal story, legend, genealogy, or tradition. In other words, talk about whatever you like, as long as it’s personal and uniquely you. Use your restricted word count wisely by sticking to one main anecdote.

B. What excites you?

Truly revolutionary figures, whether in the sciences, technology, art, or anything else, are always very passionate about what they do. Whether it’s the thousands of hours the Beatles spent practicing or Marie Curie’s late nights in the lab, there’s evidence of that deep interest in their habits. It would benefit you to show the admissions officers two things here: first that you have already worked to identify some of the things that drive you, and second that when you pick something you truly go after it. Don’t just talk about how cool it is that black holes don’t even let light escape–go further and discuss how you followed up by interviewing astrophysicists or staring through the cheap telescope you got for your birthday every single clear night. This combination will best present you as someone likely to make the next breakthrough.

C. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family’s Malawian house: “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.” What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made?

“What drives you to create?” sounds a lot like “What excites you?” in my mind, just with an added specification. Maybe one calls you more strongly than the other, but you can approach the prompts similarly. Think about the most likely way for you to meaningfully impact the world. What does it look like? Does it involve “creating” a lifesaving biomedical device, a nonprofit that provides banking services for the homeless, a movie about new environmental technology, or something else (probably something else)? Is there something you have already created that was a formative experience for you? For an effective response here, you’ll want to hint at how you might achieve your vision in addition to describing your motivation and outlining what it is you hope to create.

D. Curiosity is a guiding element of Toni Morrison’s talent as a writer. “I feel totally curious and alive and in control. And almost…magnificent, when I write,” she says. Celebrate your curiosity.

I’m starting to feel like a broken record, but now is a good time to recognize that a lot of supplemental essay prompts are really asking you to do the same thing: show your potential. “Celebrate your curiosity” is the version of this that perhaps appeals to the artists and authors while Prompt C is probably geared more towards engineers.

This is also a great question for our student-entrepreneurs though: what lack did you see in your community? What was missing and how did you find a solution to fill the gap? To answer this question, you don’t need a special talent , but you need the kind of curiosity you can demonstrate and quantify. If you haven’t made a serious splash in something, this question probably isn’t the best for you. And that’s fine — there are five others.

E “Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away,” observed Frida Kahlo. Apply Kahlo’s perspective to your own life.

It’s easy to see this prompt and think the essay task is as simple as directly correlating the theme with the events of your life with no further analysis. Resist the temptation to discuss how many times you’ve switched schools and how many states or countries you’ve lived in. To make your application part of the less than 7 percent that gets accepted to Dartmouth, you’ll need to be more creative and poetic (but not cheesy)than that. You can start with noticing examples of this in your life, but follow up with the big questions. Why does it matter that everything changes? How do you and should you deal with change? Does everything really go away? What stays if anything? Your answer to these questions will say a lot about how you view your future and how prepared you are to deal with changing, moving, and flying away to college.

F. In the aftermath of World War II, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, Class of 1929, proclaimed, “The world’s troubles are your troubles…and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.” Which of the world’s “troubles” inspires you to act? How might your course of study at Dartmouth prepare you to address it?

There’s a question like this on the Common Application that asks about a problem you’d like to solve — no matter the scale. In my personal opinion, these kinds of questions should be avoided when possible. And since this question for Dartmouth is not mandatory, I’d suggest you avoid it.

The way the question is phrased is simply too much to ask of a 17-year-old, or a 27- or 37- or 47-year-old for that matter. Many of the 2020 presidential hopefuls end up sounding a little phony when they try to speak to the “the world’s troubles” and they are far older and more experienced than college students. And they have professional speech writers. You may be a “better human being” (than what?), but the fact is that you don’t need to have solutions to the greatest problems facing our world to get into Dartmouth. You’re trying to get into college, not run for president. It is extremely difficult to tackle subjects like climate change, the threat of nuclear war, the patriarchy, systemic racism — take your pick — in a meaningful way in 250-300 words, as a high school student. Students who attempt these grand problem questions often sound like they’re parroting NPR, and their responses generally sound like amateurish editorials rather than authentic personal statements. Which is no wonder: questions like these set them up for failure.

If you do opt for this question, make sure it’s personal. Climate change affects us all, but unless you live on a melting iceberg, I wouldn’t recommend you propose an alternative to the Green New Deal here. Unless you have accomplished incredibly uncommon things in the realm of activism, I’d choose to talk about something else.

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Make sure your essay illustrates your personality! 

Applicants to Dartmouth are required to complete four essays – a personal statement and three brief supplemental ( writing supplement ) essays.

Writing supplement prompts included in Dartmouth's application for admission to the Class of 2028

The Common App offers a variety of topics to choose from for your personal statement as well as access to Dartmouth's supplemental essay prompts .

Your essays should help us understand those intangibles that can't easily be reflected in a resume. Show us the qualities that make you you. Your sense of humor, your passion, your intellectual curiosity, your self-awareness, or social awareness, or some mix of these. Your writing lets us get to know you and we read every word. Help us envision what you'll bring to Dartmouth.

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January 11: the best american essays 2022 reading.

Join the English and Creative Writing Department for a reading featuring Ryan Bradley, Naomi Jackson, Justin Torres, and Best American Essays editor Professor Alexander Chee.

The Department of English and Creative Writing invites you to the The Best American Essays 2022 Reading, featuring Ryan Bradley, Naomi Jackson, Justin Torres, and The Best American Essays 2022 editor Professor Alexander Chee on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. in Haldeman 041.

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Ryan Bradley has worked as an editor at National Geographic Adventure , the World Policy Journal , Popular Science , and Fortune . He has written for The New Yorker , The New York Times Magazine , New York , The Awl , The Atlantic , The Virginia Quarterly Review , The Sewanee Review , GQ , The Los Angeles Times , Eater, LitHub, The Guardian , The Verge, The Wall Street Journal Magazine , and many others. He has been nominated for a National Magazine Award and won a Press Club Award, as well as having his work featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing and The Best American Essays.  

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Naomi Jackson is the author of The Star Side of Bird Hill . Jackson studied fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She traveled to South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship, where she received an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. She is a graduate of Williams College. Jackson's writings have appeared in Harper's Magazine , The Washington Post , Virginia Quarterly Review , Poets & Writers , and The Caribbean Writer . She is the recipient of residencies and fellowships from MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Camargo Foundation, Bronx Council on the Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Jackson is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark. She lives in New York City with her family.

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Justin Torres has published short fiction in The New Yorker , Harper's, Granta, Tin House, The Washington Post, Glimmer Train, Flaunt , and other publications, as well as non-fiction pieces in publications like The Guardian and The Advocate . A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Justin's novel We the Animals has been translated into fifteen languages and was recently adapted into a film. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards. He was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library. The National Book Foundation named him one of the 2012's 5 under 35. He was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, a Rolón Fellowship in Literature from United States Artists, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is an Assistant Professor of English at UCLA.

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August 23, 2022

Tips for Answering the Dartmouth College Supplemental Essay Prompts [2022 – 2023]

Dartmouth College utilizes the Common Application. It requires the main Common Application essay and additional supplemental Dartmouth-specific essay responses. The additional essays help the admission committee round out the overall picture of you as a prospective student by providing insight into your personality. Don’t approach this as just another essay you have to write. Look at this as an opportunity for you to make a convincing statement about why Dartmouth is the ideal school for you to achieve your goals and how you can enrich the campus community. 

Everyone must answer the first two essay prompts, but you have a choice to make about which question to address with your third response. As you decide which of the latter essay prompts to answer, allow yourself some time to think about Dartmouth’s comprehensive character. Consider its location in Hanover, New Hampshire; if possible visit the campus and imagine yourself there as an undergraduate. Take a virtual campus tour. Research the different ways Dartmouth’s curriculum and approaches to education are a good fit for you . Think about the specific activities, programs, or organizations that attract you to Dartmouth. In short, ask yourself why is Dartmouth the best place for me to achieve my goals?

Dartmouth reflects its commitment to assess your potential as a student on the Dartmouth campus in its request for a peer recommendation. Dartmouth encourages you to include a letter of recommendation from a friend, classmate, family member, or someone else you regard as your peer. Although the peer recommendation is a “suggestion,” it is not an opportunity to overlook. This endorsement provides insight into how you are perceived by others. It also gives some indication about your potential fit with the Dartmouth community.

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Dartmouth prides itself on learning without boundaries. The overall academic structure and approach at the school is intended to allow you freedom. The year-round quarter system offers flexibility for you to design your own calendar. You can enter any major without a need for institutional approval (this includes Engineering). How might this sort of structure contribute to your educational success? Students are encouraged to: “Challenge yourself. Be yourself.” Don’t worry about choosing an uncommon topic. Instead, focus on discussing whichever topic you select from your point of view. Your essay responses should express your individual story and reflect your personality.

The Dartmouth writing supplement

Dartmouth’s writing supplement requires applicants write brief responses to three supplemental essay prompts as follows. The first two are the same for all applicants but the third allows you to select from several prompts.

1. Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Clas of 2027, what aspects of the College’s academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest? In short, Why Dartmouth? Please respond in 100 words or fewer .

How is Dartmouth special to you? You have a limited number of words to work with, so be succinct. Remember, they already have your letters of recommendations (counselor, teachers and peer), grades, SAT/ACT/AP/IB scores, curriculum, and list of extracurricular involvement. This question asks you to focus on your personal and/or academic goals and how Dartmouth is a good match for you and vice versa. How will being a part of the close-knit Dartmouth community and engaging with the Dartmouth curriculum prepare you for your future? Consider the factors that make the Dartmouth program, community, and campus environment unique and how those factors will provide the foundation to support your aspirations. Communicate how these elements align with your sense of place and purpose.

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2. “Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself in 200-250 words.

What is your personal story? This is a perfect prompt to allow you to showcase specific conditions, situations, and/or circumstances in your background that are significant to your identity. Share something fundamental about yourself, your family, or your intimate community. You can discuss the intricacies of your cultural, familial, and/or social background—tell your story. Sometimes it might be something obvious, other times it might be disguised or hidden in some way. Do you feel pressure based on a set of arbitrary characteristics? Do you feel judged or liberated in some way? What is important to you? How does this relate to your values and sense of individuality? As you discuss your story, you must provide some context—remember to address why it is significant for others to know this about you. Spend a good portion of your essay discussing how this story relates to your sense of identity. What does this reflect about you? How might what you shared influence your goals for the future? How do you reconcile finding a sense of belonging on your own terms? How might attending Dartmouth impact your story?

3. Choose one of the following prompts and respond in 250-300 words:

A. 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 making—an impact?

This prompt is about what motivates or excites you to action and how you make an impact when driven by passion to make something better for others. Demonstrate your enthusiasm for a cause that is meaningful to you. Discuss a specific incident and what was at stake. How did you make a positive impact? Or how did that motivate you to continue working toward that goal? If you acted on something, consider the repercussions of your actions. What was the outcome? What was the cost to you? What did you learn about yourself? How did this experience change you? This is really about why you think striving for change is important. Consider compassion, empathy, and understanding in terms of interpersonal and global impact. How might an education at Dartmouth prepare you for the future? What kinds of skills, ways of thinking, and experiences will help lay the foundation for success? How does a liberal arts education play into your plans? 

B. What excites you?

This prompt has a broad scope but at the core is, what fascinates you? You don’t need to be an expert about the topic—how do you explore and engage your interests? This is an opportunity to discuss your passion for a particular area (academic or otherwise) and how you learn best. Provide an example of something that attracted your interest and then discuss the path you took to embrace your curiosity. What sparked your interest? What made the topic/activity/information/concept/question so meaningful to you? How did you explore the subject more deeply? What did you discover? What did you learn about yourself? Consider your learning style and how you approach new concepts. Also think about the connection you established to the subject—what might that reveal about your personality? How did this process inspire you? Make sure to convey your passion for the subject and your enthusiasm for learning!

C. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba, Class of 2014, reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power the electrical appliances in his family’s Malawian house: “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.” What drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you already made?

This prompt discusses how creativity and innovation are often borne of necessity. How did/do you apply your creativity to problem-solving? The focus is on your motivation for creativity while providing a space for you to discuss your passion, imagination, motivation, and aspirations. In this modern technological world, how do you think outside of the proverbial box? Capture a specific moment or urge that sparked your vision. This may be an opportunity to incorporate discussion about an extracurricular interest/activity that demonstrates your creativity. Think about the ideas or values that inspire you to make some sort of impact and the ways in which you express your imagination. What have you learned about yourself through your exploration? Then discuss how that influences your sense of identity and perspective about the world. What does what you learned in this creative process reveal about the person you are? How might this affect how you embrace the future? How might you apply this energy going forward? How might you express your creativity and embrace your aspirations at Dartmouth?

D. Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth’s Class of 1925, wrote, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” What do you wonder and think about?

This is another board prompt that deals with how you expand or enhance ideas, thoughts, and perspectives about the world to reflect on new possibilities. Examine the on-going cycle of coming up with ideas and how you explore those ideas. At the heart of this prompt is how you process the world around you. Consider how this new knowledge or way of thinking impacted or changed you. The focus of this prompt allows you to discuss the relationship between imagination and intellectual thought. Also consider what you might learn about yourself in the process of trying to understand new ideas. Remember to discuss how these new ideas influenced you—the way you interact with others, how you think about your identity , what you might do differently with this new understanding. Dartmouth prides itself on providing flexibility in learning and an education without boundaries—here’s your chance to tell them why that’s so important to you!

E. “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” wrote James Baldwin. How does this quote apply to your life experiences?

This question asks you to identify a specific problem or issue and explain how you actively engaged with it. How did recognizing the problem/issue help you to deal with it? You can address any problem, large or small. Think about the global community, humanitarian efforts, or any issue you would like to fix but make it personal by sharing the impact on your life experiences. Keep in mind that sometimes situations are beyond your control. You can tie this response to community service activities, thoughts about empathy, discussions about agency, and individual responsibility. Consider how you view yourself in relationship to those around you. Why are you inspired to confront this problem? Why is it significant? This response reveals your approach to problem solving, ability to conceive solutions, and illustrates how you process the world around you. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your values, critical thinking skills and creativity. Consider if and how an education at Dartmouth might help you to bring about positive change and address this dilemma. 

Note: If you have unusual curricular patterns, your counselor can mention this in the Secondary Education Report, or you can discuss your circumstances in the “Additional Information” section of the Common Application. 

Final thoughts on applying to Dartmouth

The context of your academic success is a significant factor in determining your overall competitiveness as an applicant. The top applicants take the most rigorous curriculum available at their high schools. Furthermore, by achieving high grades, they demonstrate their ability to thrive in Dartmouth’s challenging academic environment. Dartmouth embraces a holistic approach to the admission process and is committed to reviewing all aspects of your application. This is even more significant given that this application cycle is again test optional. Although Dartmouth is not reporting testing profiles from the last few application cycles, keep in mind; for the class of 2023, over 95% of accepted students were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average SAT score of 1500, and an average ACT score of 33. For the Class of 2026, it received 28,336 undergraduate applications and had a record low acceptance rate of 6.2%. Your personal narrative essays are your opportunity to pull away from this extremely competitive applicant pool.

Although it is easy to get overwhelmed, remember to stay focused on your goals. Allow yourself enough time to reflect on your experiences in a unique way that expresses your personality. Meet all deadlines and word limits. Your overall application should clearly reflect your interests and motivations while enthusiastically demonstrating why Dartmouth is the best school to help you achieve your objectives!

If you’re applying to Dartmouth College, you already know you’re up against tight competition. Don’t be overwhelmed. Get the guidance of an experienced admissions specialist who will help you stand out from the highly competitive applicant pool so you can apply with confidence, and get accepted! Click here to get started!

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your College Application Essays , a free guide
• How Should I Choose Which Essay Questions to Answer When I Have Choices?
• School-Specific Common App Supplemental Essay Tips

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Dartmouth College 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 2

You Have: 

Dartmouth College 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 100 words, 2 essays of 250 words or fewer.

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Oddball , Community

The Dartmouth writing supplement offers you options! Let’s dig in.

1. Required of all applicants. Please respond in 100 words or fewer:

Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. as you seek admission to dartmouth’s class of 2027, what aspects of the college’s academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest in short, why dartmouth please respond in 100 words or fewer..

If you have the unsettling feeling that you’ve read this prompt somewhere before, worry not. This prompt should ring a bell because it’s just a slightly more verbose version of the most common supplemental essay question out there: why here? Phrased this way, Dartmouth’s prompt is specifically probing for information about what piques your interest about its academics, community, and/or campus environment. Focus on how you would spend your time at Dartmouth and how the environment might enrich your own sense of purpose. What are you hoping to major in and why? What cozy corners of campus would you curl up in to review course materials? Are you eager to get involved in the student newspaper or gospel choir? As with all other “why” prompts, research is the key to writing a memorable essay, so spend a little time on the Dartmouth website and literally map your path from where you are now to where you hope to be in the near or distant future.

2. Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 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. .

Admissions wants to know what or who has made you into the person you are today. Where do you come from? What has shaped you as a person, and how has that made your perspective unique? What you focus on here can be reflective of larger cultural constructs or specific to you and only you. Dartmouth is looking to add diverse perspectives to weave into the fabric of their student body. Is there anything you can teach your classmates about your hometown, traditions, culture, cuisine, orientation, identity, race, or ethnicity that they might not already know? Were you raised in a Muslim family in a small southern town? Have you grown up on a farm tending to the animals and land? Were you adopted as a toddler? Consider what has influenced your identity and how your worldview or background will bring something of value to the community at Dartmouth.

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

This is the kind of prompt that tends to stump students the most. It’s so open-ended that many applicants don’t know where or how to start! Don’t worry, you’ll have a finished draft in no time. Start by answering the question stream-of-consciousness style. How would you introduce yourself to someone in a setting you’re comfortable in? Think about introducing yourself to someone after one of your plays or soccer games, gaming competitions or yoga classes. What would you say? You might talk about what interests you, things that are important to you, ideologies about life that offer you hope or feelings of connection. Maybe you’d address your favorite qualities about yourself or the burning passions that motivate your choices and worldview. We believe your best bet at a unique and memorable response is to leave yourself enough time to freewrite, draft, organize, edit, and polish. Responses to prompts like these shouldn’t be written in one sitting—there’s too much to capture!

3. Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:

A. what excites you.

This prompt is as simple as they come, and yet it can be totally overwhelming to tackle. If nothing comes to mind immediately, read through the other prompts to see if anything makes that magic light bulb appear above your head. If you find yourself coming back to this prompt, try to focus on a subject that stokes your curiosity, a specific concept that has infiltrated your browser history, or an experience that has burned itself into your brain. Which kind of homework assignments are you clamoring to complete first? Which topics want to make you open up a new book, Google the definition of a word you’re not familiar with, or hit play on a podcast? Who challenges you to think of issues in new ways? Whatever excites you, Dartmouth is aiming to bring self-motivated, deep thinkers into their student body. Admissions officers want to know that you’ll be eager to contribute to lively class discussion and maybe conduct research in your latter years on campus. Remember, enthusiasm is infectious, so show them that you’ll be a valuable addition to any classroom setting by getting specific here — and maybe even getting them excited about a new topic!

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 impact? Why? How?

Community, community, community. Even though it doesn’t say it explicitly, this question is asking, “What do you hope to achieve for the greater good?” Dartmouth wants to know what you consider to be your life’s purpose. (They know you’re young and still figuring things out, so don’t worry about being held to it!) What kind of mark would you like to leave on the world? If you find yourself drawn to this prompt, odds are you already have a few ideas in mind. Whether you’d like to dedicate your life to advocating for the voiceless or tearing down barriers for marginalized groups, tell admissions why this path is the one you’ve chosen (or maybe it has chosen you!). Be sure to mention any progress you’ve already made toward this goal and how it will influence the work you hope to do in the future.

C. Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel of Dartmouth’s Class of 1925, wrote, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” As you wonder and think, what’s on your mind?

Dartmouth wants to accept intellectually curious applicants, so take this opportunity to share one of the concepts that lives rent-free in your mind with admissions! When was the last time you went down an internet rabbit hole researching something that piqued your interest? Maybe you spend time wondering about the mind, body, and spirit—where each begins and ends—or perhaps you find yourself daydreaming about the potential of time travel and its related consequences on Earthlings (cue Tony Stark’s lecture that it’s nothing like Back to the Future ). Ultimately, you want to discuss examples of what truly fascinates you while also reflecting on what these examples say about your personality traits, interests, and/or learning style.

D. Celebrate your nerdy side.

Alright, passionate people, this one’s for us! Dartmouth wants to accept intellectually curious applicants, so take this opportunity to demonstrate your passion for pursuing knowledge! When was the last time you lost track of time while researching something that caught your interest? When were you recently motivated to solve a problem or create something new? What was the last fact or skill you learned outside of school? Ultimately, you want to discuss examples of what truly fascinates you while also reflecting on what these examples say about your personality traits, interests, and/or learning style. Whether you could read about the cult of celebrity for hours on end or spend all weekend in the garage refurbishing old cars with your mom, admissions wants to hear about it. And don’t forget: this is still an essay about you, so don’t get lost in a detailed explanation of linear algebra; instead, focus on why it brings you joy, satisfaction, etc. 

E. “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 and outlook? 

What a fabulous essay prompt—so simple, so concise, yet so ripe for exploration. Admissions is thinking critically about this common Kermit quote that others may overlook, and they want you to do the same. What is your “green,” so to say? Feeling different from others is quite a universal experience, especially for teenagers, so take some time to think about what makes you feel different and how your relationship with that difference has changed over the years. This prompt could be a great opportunity to discuss your relationship with your racial, ethnic, or gender identity, but it doesn’t have to be. Maybe you have celiac disease and pizza parties have been off the table, forcing you to bring food from home! If this prompt calls to you, trust your instincts and leave yourself plenty of time to freewrite and revise. 

F. As noted in the College’s mission statement, “Dartmouth educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership…” Promise and potential are important aspects of the assessment of any college application, but they can be elusive qualities to capture. Highlight your potential and promise for us; what would you like us to know about you?

In this prompt, admissions plainly states that promise and potential are elusive qualities to capture, then challenges you to highlight those very aspects of your candidacy in your response. (Cool, cool, cool.) If you feel that your application, as it stands, does not capture your full potential, this is likely the prompt for you. Maybe responsibilities at home have prevented you from exploring more academic and extracurricular interests. Walk admissions through how taking care of your younger siblings or an elderly family member taught you valuable lessons that you’ll be able to apply in higher ed. Perhaps you are incredibly tenacious and firmly believe that when a door shuts, another opens. How have you applied this ideology to your life thus far? Have you taken rejection on the chin and thrown yourself back into the ring time after time? Show admissions that you have what it takes to succeed.

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Breaking boundaries with videographic scholarship, posted on may 28, 2024 by arts and sciences.

A video essay by professor Desirée Garcia offers new insights into early American film—and was selected to screen at an international competition focused on audiovisual essays and videographic criticism.

(Photo by Katie Lenhart)

A video essay by Desirée Garcia , an associate professor in the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies , was selected to screen on June 15 at the Marienbad Film Festival , an international competition in the Czech Republic focused on audiovisual essays and videographic criticism.

The video, What Happened in the Dressing Room , premiered this spring in the 10th anniversary issue of [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Studies . The first academic journal of its kind, [in]Transition invites scholars to craft criticism using the same materials that constitute their objects of study: moving images and sounds.

Although Garcia trained in video editing just two years ago, in 2022, she has already joined a growing number of film scholars who are supplementing their traditional research publications with videographic essays.

Garcia's black-and-white, under-six-minute What Happened in the Dressing Room draws on research she conducted on a genre she calls "dressing room films"—movies that take place exclusively or primarily in the dressing room. Dressing rooms became an "object of fascination for the general public," she says, in the late 19th and early 20th century, in large part because of the rise of popular entertainments like variety, vaudeville, and musical theater.

Garcia discovered 31 dressing-room films released between 1897 and 1910. Of those, she viewed 21 of them at the Library of Congress and excerpted 13 in the video essay.

When she began working with the files in editing software and "playing with them, moving them around, and seeing how they sit next to each other," she grappled with the poor quality of the images caused by aging and limited preservation.

"Then I started to embrace those imperfections, and it really became part of the video itself," says Garcia, who is also a faculty affiliate in the Department of Film and Media Studies . "Moving past and through those imperfections to try to find who's in the dressing room became a kind of subjective entry point for watching these films and putting them into conversation. There's an element of discovery in finding these films and seeing what they're about in the same way that there's an element of discovery when you go into a dressing room."

The video essay will complement Garcia's forthcoming book, The Dressing Room: Backstage Lives and American Film , a study of race and gender in backstage film narratives.

"Because the book is structured thematically rather than chronologically, I wanted to use the video essay to compliment the book by putting these films into conversation," she says. "These early films are sprinkled throughout the book, while the video hones in on this moment of early cinematic production and why the dressing room was such an important space right at the beginning."

Garcia's fascination with dressing rooms in film evolved from her research on American movie musicals, which resulted in two earlier books: The Movie Musical for Rutgers' Quick Takes series and The Migration of Musical Film: From Ethnic Margins to American Mainstream , which traces the history of early sound era musicals from the makers of African American films and the transnational networks of Yiddish and Mexican cinema.

"One of the reasons why I find dressing rooms interesting is that they tell us about specific social actors that we find there, whom we see again and again in these films," she says. "For instance, we see the wife and mother who's torn between her ambition for a stage career and her commitments to her husband and children in dressing rooms across the history of American film. Another social actor is the Black maid, a character in a lot of these films who only occupies the dressing room and no other space within the film. She's restricted to that space because of her race, class status, and sexual identity."

Another chapter in the book examines groups of women sharing dressing room spaces who are often in competition, such as the terrifying scenes in the 2010 thriller Black Swan —a topic Garcia references in another recent video essay .

For Garcia, videographic criticism offers a refreshingly direct way to express an argument.

"When you're working with a film and elements like sound and image that elicit an emotional response, it makes for a powerful mode of delivery because you're using those same tools to make an original argument," she says. "And it comes across in ways that are more direct and more felt than if you were reading an academic book on the same topic."

The genre also encourages Garcia to harness her own creative freedom.

"There are ways in which my individuality can be registered in videographic scholarship that are usually discouraged in scholarly articles and books," she says. "Even in the humanities, there's still an impulse toward objectivity and the idea that if you're not objective, then you're not being scholarly enough. In the videographic world, there are all of these ways in which you can use the tools to try to create a sense of feeling with scholarly work."

Garcia received training in video essay production when she attended the Scholarship in Sound and Image workshop at Middlebury College in 2022, a program that has been especially popular among film scholars. Soon after, she began introducing her Dartmouth students to videographic criticism and video editing.

"Students love learning editing skills and engaging in a really material way with the films I show them," she says. "It's almost like they kind of have to take the film into their bodies in a way that's much more active than if they were just sitting and watching a film at a distance."

Garcia and her students sometimes call their video-editing work "breaking the film"—an expression she suspects may not be appreciated by film creators.

"You break the logic of the film," she says, "and in that process, you get to know it even better. You understand why the choices are there and what they're doing, and how if you alter one little thing, the entire meaning of a scene could change."

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland Visits Campus

Native American students meet with Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna.

Perspectives in Native American Studies

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, met with faculty, students, and staff during a visit this week to discuss Dartmouth’s academic program in Native and Indigenous studies and related initiatives.

Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico, traveled to Hanover with a group that included Department of the Interior Senior Counselor Lynn Trujillo ’94 and Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all of whom would later head to the New Hampshire coast to highlight federal support for habitat restoration efforts.

Her visit included a meeting on Sunday with President Sian Leah Beilock , faculty, and staff, and a campus tour Monday morning.

Haaland, President Beilock, and faculty and staff from the Department of Native American and Indigenous Studies and the Native American Program discussed Native American and Indigenous studies, support for recruiting and retaining Native and Indigenous students, and new programs reflecting the institution’s founding commitment to Native American and Indigenous students.

“I was very appreciative of the chance to meet with Secretary Haaland and discuss several of the important initiatives we are undertaking at Dartmouth,” Beilock said.

The tour Monday started at the Hood Museum of Art , where Jami Powell , associate director of curatorial affairs and curator of Indigenous art, gave a talk about a display of work by Native American and Indigenous artists.

The next stop was in front of Dartmouth Hall, where Bruce Duthu ’80 , the Samson Occom Professor and chair of Native American and Indigenous Studies, pointed out a plaque honoring the crucial role of Samson Occom, a member of the Mohegan tribe, in raising the equivalent of more than $2 million to help launch Dartmouth in 1769.

The 18th-century scholar and Presbyterian minister was working under the promise that Dartmouth would be a school to educate Native students, but after completing the fundraising, Occom learned that the school’s founder, the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, had switched his focus to educating the sons of Colonial settlers and “given up on the Indian condition,” Duthu said. “So, we’re slowly regaining the perspective as well as honoring the legacy.”

In the early 1970s, then-President John Kemeny rededicated Dartmouth to its original mission. Now, more than 200 Native and Indigenous students are currently enrolled at Dartmouth and more than 1,300 have since graduated. The Class of 2027 includes more than 60 self-identified Native and Indigenous students, tied for the largest cohort in Dartmouth history.

Duthu also noted that in 2022, Dartmouth repatriated Occom’s papers to the Mohegan Tribe, which he called “a wonderful step” in the reconciliation process.

At Baker Library, Dean of Libraries Sue Mehrer led a tour of The Epic of American Civilization , the series of murals by noted Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco, which was followed by a stop at the Department of Native and Indigenous Studies.

The visit wrapped up with breakfast at the Native American House , where Haaland addressed more than 30 Native and Indigenous students, some wearing traditional clothing. 

Haaland said she was proud of the students for taking time to value their education, thanked them for the sacrifice they were making by studying so far away from home, and encouraged them to aim high.

“There’s a place for you in our government, in our corporations, in our nonprofit organizations at the most senior level, because we need your voice, and your perspective is incredibly important to the future of this country,” she said.

Haaland also stressed the importance of Indigenous knowledge.

Your perspective is incredibly important to the future of this country.

Everything they have learned from their families, the ceremonies they have participated in, and the steps they have taken to carry on their culture and traditions, “all have value to our country,” she said. “Future generations will benefit from the knowledge that you have currently.”

After the short talk, Haaland made her way from table to table, greeting students individually and answering their questions.

Jolynn Tripi ’26, a Tlingit student from Portland, Ore., said she wouldn’t have missed the chance to meet Haaland.

“I wrote part of my college essay about how you don’t see role models like this growing up,” said Tripi, who is studying neuroscience with a minor in Native American and Indigenous studies. “Now that I’m older and can see her in this position under Joe Biden and having such an important role for the Native community, it just gives me so much hope for my little cousins.”

Noah Martinez ’27, of Redding, Calif., called Haaland’s visit “a really good reminder” of how important representation is.

“Seeing where she is and how successful she’s been, it’s really inspiring to be able to see someone like us at that level,” he said.

Aimee Minbiole can be reached at [email protected]

• Society & Culture
• Department of Native American and Indigenous Studies
• Arts and Sciences
• Hood Museum of Art
• Dartmouth Libraries
• Office of the President
• Sian Leah Beilock

In Ipswich, a Dam’s History Butts Heads With the River’s Future

Nothing beat the joy I felt after receiving positive feedback from people who stopped by my poster. It affirmed the progress I’ve made and fueled my determination to continue pushing my boundaries.

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Moreton, Huang and Voekel: Staff and Faculty Open Letter In Response to the College’s ‘Day for Community’

Over 120 staff and faculty members argue that community repair begins with administrative accountability.

We appreciate that our colleagues working on student well-being face incredible pressure and are constrained by Dartmouth’s definition of the problem. We were, nonetheless, stunned by the framing of the May 23 “Day for Community” as a “journey of reflection, connection and community building following the protest on the Green on May 1,” according to a message from the College’s chief health and wellness officer, Estevan Garcia. Last Thursday’s event was advertised as an opportunity for healing — healing, apparently, from the peaceful May 1 protest, but not from the mass arrests, physical injuries and collective harm inflicted on students, faculty and staff by the police response to that protest .

The campus departments that conduct activities like the “Day for Community” have no more power to provide actual solutions than any of us has individually. Real solutions include dropping the charges and bans placed on arrested community members, correcting the dangerous mischaracterization of protesters as violent or antisemitic, restoring safety for the Pan-Asian Council whose space has been repeatedly vandalized in apparent retaliation for supporting Palestinians and pledging that the place in which students live and study will not be thrown open to the armed agents who make them and their communities fearful in the name of “safety.”

Such substantive steps are, however, well within the power of the administration. It is the gulf between those solutions and the “Day for Community” that feels like such a slap in the face to us, some of the many people who are managing the fallout on the front lines of student support.

Very few faculty, staff and students were invited to design the May 23 “Day for Community.” However, many campus employees in junior, contingent or staff positions were asked to volunteer for the program alongside paid external consultants. Those solicitations were distributed in part through the “Employee Resource Networks” for LGBTQ+, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latinx-Hispanic-Caribbean and women of color employees, among others. 

Many of those who were asked to volunteer had been working themselves into emotional and physical exhaustion to support the most affected students. Many of our colleagues — including student services staff, house professors, contingent faculty and junior faculty — have been responding to students who have been doxxed or are facing harassment. We have been connecting students with legal support, facilitating small group processing sessions, raising bail fees and strike funds and working to address threats against their physical safety. 

When many of us are working to meet students’ needs, the request for volunteers adds insult to injury — especially as some of us were on the Green supporting the protestors on the night of May 1.

No previous Dartmouth administration has deployed such force against its own students and faculty, and thus no previous administration has been called on to address this scale of community repair. However, the “Day for Community” echoes a recurring mismatch between some of the most consistent sources of campus distress and the managerial or techno-solutionist interventions the College seems willing to provide. 

For example, 250 faculty signed a petition last fall supporting higher staffing levels, better wages and more democratic workplaces for the staff who are integral to the student experience. The administration responded by creating an online portal to solicit faculty praise for staff members — an individualist solution to a structural problem, one that many found deeply condescending. 

Recently, the College hired an outside consultant to “better understand the specific challenges of undergraduates,” according to an email we received encouraging dialogue between Dartmouth staff and faculty and the consultants. Our students’ challenges include spending six weeks in an empty dorm over winter break because they can’t afford a plane ticket home, or turning in a paper late because their cousin is being held in a migrant detention center and they are the only bilingual member of their family. The consultants suggested an app that periodically reminds users, “Go outside.” 

Student distress is not an individual problem with individual solutions. Rather, it is produced through institutional structures and environments that make students unwell.

Several students reported that the 2022 “Day of Caring ” made them feel “gaslit” by the institution. Instead of difficult, vulnerable discussions about the classmates and friends they had lost to suicide, they reported feeling infantilized with rock painting and a petting zoo.

Likewise, the “Day for Community” may cause more of the harm that it seeks to undo, despite the best intentions of those staffing its activities. The same institution that endangered all of us and shattered our sense of safety and trust cannot determine the process of repair. Rebuilding can only come after the administration accepts accountability for the harm it has inflicted — which begins with dropping charges and bans — and engages with students, faculty and staff from the bottom up, not the top down. A “Day for Community” that cannot even name the source of harm while drawing on the labor of those already working overtime is emblematic of the major gap in administrative understanding. 

Others are less confused about causes and effects. Graduate students are on strike for demanding concrete improvements to their working conditions. Students and faculty have returned historic votes of no confidence and censure in response to the administration’s actions on May 1. Representatives of the Black Alumni Network, Dartmouth Association of Latino/a/x Alumni, Dartmouth Asia Pacific American Alumni Association, Dartmouth LGBTQIA+ Association, Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth and Women of Dartmouth pointed out the obvious in a May 15 letter to Beilock, Provost David Kotz and the Board of Trustees: “When troopers arrived in riot gear they threatened the safety of everyone on campus, especially those historically and disproportionately targeted and mistreated by law enforcement officers.” 

So long as the College leaves in place the structures that undermine student well-being and offers instead corporate wellness hacks, it will waste the commitment of the very people it consistently turns to for community repair — but never for their analysis of the source of harm.

Vigorous community-building is going on all around campus — in the mutual aid and education among students, staff and faculty at the Brave Space; in the growing number of employee unions; in the community-wide mobilization to endorse the protest and denounce the armed response to it. We are not waiting to be asked for advisory input by an administration that will not listen. In the absence of democratic structures and substantive responses to real problems, we are building them ourselves.   

In solidarity,

1. Bethany Moreton (Department of History)

2. Mingwei Huang (Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

3. Pamela Voekel (Department of History)

4. Bench Ansfield (Department of History)

5. Ainsley Morse (Departments of East European, Eurasian and Russian Studies and Comparative Literature)

6. Samantha Wray (Departments of Linguistics and Cognitive Science)

7. Carly M. Lesoski (Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning)

8. Jodi Kim (Department of English and Creative Writing)

9. Aanchal Saraf (Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

10. Jonathan Cohn (Department of Physics and Astronomy)

11. Daniel Lin (Dartmouth Libraries)

12. Nataliya Braginsky (Academic Skills Center)

13. Matt Hooley (Department of Native American and Indigenous Studies)

14. Rebecca Clark (Department of English and Creative Writing)

15. Paula Olson (Design Initiative at Dartmouth)

16. Anonymous Staff Member (Hood Museum of Art)

17. Nichelle Gaumont (Hood Museum of Art)

18. Anonymous Staff Member (Hood Museum of Art)

19. Katherine Achacoso (Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

20. Anonymous Staff Member (Hood Museum of Art)

21. Kellen Appleton (Outdoor Programs Office)

22. Jorge Cuéllar (Department of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies)

23. Anonymous (Department of History)

24. Eman Morsi (Department of Comparative Literature)

25. Daisy Goodman (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology)

26. Alexandra Leewon Schultz (Department of Classics)

27. Bruch Lehmann (Department of History)

28. Annelise Orleck (Department of History)

29. Anonymous (Department of History)

30. Julia Rabig (Department of History)

31. Patricia Stuelke (Department of English and Creative Writing)

32. Anonymous Staff Member (Campus Services)

33. Anonymous Lecturer

34. Mary K. Coffey (Departments of Art History and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies)

35. Thomas Pike (Department of Classics)

36. Daniel Abosso (Dartmouth Libraries)

37. Yuliya Komska (Department of German Studies)

38. Melissa Zeiger (Departments of English and Creative Writing and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

39. King Ray (Native American Program)

40. Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb (Department of English and Creative Writing)

41. Jane Henderson (Department of Geography)

42. Kate Gibbel (English and Creative Writing Department administrator)

43. Anonymous Assistant Professor (College of Arts and Sciences)

44. Emily Walton (Department of Sociology)

45. Anonymous Staff Member

46. Steven Ericson (Department of History)

47. Anonymous (Department of Anthropology)

48. Anonymous Staff Member (Hood Museum of Art)

49. Annabel Martín (Departments of Spanish and Portuguese, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Comparative Literature)

50. Anonymous Staff Member (Campus Services)

51. Anonymous Staff Member

52. Anonymous Staff Member (Department of Student Affairs)

53. Anonymous Staff Member (Thayer School of Engineering)

54. Patricia Lopez (Department of Geography)

55. Laura Edmondson (Department of Theater)

56. Eng-Beng Lim (Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

57. Casey Stockstill (Department of Sociology)

58. Anonymous Lecturer

59. Giselle Hart (Hood Museum of Art)

60. Lilly E. Linden (Dartmouth Libraries)

61. Anonymous Staff Member

62. Val Werner (Dartmouth Libraries)

63. Katie McCabe (Hopkins Center for the Arts)

64. Harold Swartz (Geisel School of Medicine)

65. Anonymous Staff Member (Hood Museum of Art)

66. Silvia Spitta (Departments ofSpanish and Portuguese and Comparative Literature)

67. Anonymous Staff Member (Advancement Division)

68. Lee Witters (Geisel School of Medicine)

69. Gerd Gemunden (Department of Film and Media Studies)

70. Irene Kacandes (Departments of German Studies, Comparative Literature, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Jewish Studies and Classics)

71. Anonymous (Department of Anthropology)

72. Anonymous Staff Member

73. Matt Garcia (Department of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies)

74. Anonymous Senior Lecturer

75. Anonymous Staff (College of Arts and Sciences)

76. Ann Barry Flood (Professor Emerita, Geisel School of Medicine)

77. Anonymous Staff Member,

78. Aden Evens (Department of English and Creative Writing)

79. Casey Stockstill (Department of Sociology)

80. Anonymous Lecturer

81. Lilly E. Linden (Dartmouth Libraries)

82. Anonymous Staff Member

83. Anonymous Staff Member

84. Anonymous Staff Member

85. Aden Evens (Department of English and Creative Writing)

86. Tania Balderas (Department of English and Creative Writing)

87. Roopika Risam (Departments of Film and Media Studies and Comparative Literature)

88. Klaus Mladek (Departments of German Studies and Comparative Literature)

89. Anonymous Staff Member (Tuck School of Business)

90. Elaina Vitale (Dartmouth Libraries)

91. Maria Clara de Greiff (Department of Spanish and Portuguese)

92. Veronica Golden (Dartmouth Libraries)

93. Laura Braunstein (Dartmouth Libraries)

94. Tricia Martone (Dartmouth Libraries)

95. Shea Roll (Dartmouth Libraries)

96. Anonymous Staff Member

97. Tracey Dugdale (Dartmouth Libraries)

98. Anna Grallert (Dartmouth Libraries)

99. Jentry Campbell (Dartmouth Libraries)

100. Alexander Chee (Department of English and Creative Writing)

101. Smriti Upadhyay (Department of Sociology)

102. Eli Hecht (Department of Cognitive Science Staff Member)

103. Dae Houlihan (Cognitive Science Program)

104. Nelson Kasfir (Professor Emeritus of Government)

105. Misagh Parsa (Professor Emeritus of Sociology)

106. Miles Blencowe (Department of Physics)

107. Susan Ackerman (Department of Religion)

108. Desiree Garcia (Department of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies)

109. John Kulvicki (Department of Philosophy)

110. Jack Wilson (Department of Studio Art)

111. Anonymous (Department of Studio Art)

112. Ivy Schweitzer (Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing)

113. Graziella Parati (Department of French and Italian)

114. Roberta Stewart (Department of Classical Studies)

115. Donald Kollisch (Geisel School of Medicine)

116. Aseel Najib  (Department of History)

117. Anonymous Staff Member

118. Anonymous Staff Member

119. Kate Collins (Dickey Center for International Understanding)

120. Toben Traver (Dartmouth Libraries)

121. Leo Spitzer (Professor Emeritus of History)

Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.

Nadeem: No, I Don’t Want Your Mental Health Advocacy

Reflection: What’s in a Woccom?

Reflection: Memories Make the Place

Graduate student kexin cai found dead, dartmouth faculty votes 183 - 163 to censure beilock, more than 4,200 people sign pro-beilock letter, new food options to open in west lebanon.

The Dartmouth

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How Do You Respond to a Young Person Upset by Racist Jokes at School?

When you talk to students about social media radicalization, racism and bullying, you learn how desperate they are for some guidance.

By Dashka Slater

The sixth-grade boy who raised his hand was wiry and small. “People at my school make racist jokes,” he said, when I called on him. His voice had yet to change. “How do I get them to stop?”

I was sitting on a high school stage in Piedmont, Calif., where I had finished a conversation with two high school seniors about my new book, “Accountable,” which was adapted in The New York Times Magazine last August . Both the article and the book tell the story of the turmoil that befell a California high school and its community after some students created and shared racist material on an Instagram account. Since the article and book came out, I have spoken at schools around the country about the issues the story raises: social media radicalization, racism, humor, boy culture, the impacts of bullying and the vexing question of how to respond effectively.

This particular audience was made up mostly of adults, and they responded with applause, as if the boy’s mere desire to stop racist jokes was triumph enough. Perhaps it was. But this sixth grader wasn’t looking for approval. He wanted an actual answer , not the platitudes that adults fall back on when asked about the toxic social dynamics of middle and high school: “Be kind!” “Speak up!” “Be an upstander!” He wanted to know how to get people at his school to stop making racist jokes without becoming the butt of the jokes himself.

I talked about having a firm but nonconfrontational phrase ready, something like “Dude, that’s messed up.” I talked about how to identify which classmates had the social clout to influence their peers and how to approach those people. I talked about when to get an adult involved and how to choose the right one. But even as I spoke, I was thinking: “You know I’m just a journalist, right? I’m the one who asks the questions. What makes you think I have the answers ?”

This is both the joy and the terror of talking to young people about hot-button topics. I usually start by asking students to raise their hands if they’ve seen or heard hate speech online, whether it’s the use of slurs on gaming platforms; racist memes or videos on social media; or ugly remarks in the comment section of an article or video. They all have, of course. We all have.

If I’ve managed to engage their attention — tougher to do just before lunch or during first period, when they’re barely awake — students will respond to my presentation with questions that reveal both how pertinent the topic is to their lives and how eager they are for guidance.

Sometimes the questions are philosophical: “How do you know if someone is a good person or a bad person?” “You say that everyone has the capacity to transform, but what if it’s a mass murderer?”

Sometimes they are practical: “What should we do when we see something racist online?”

And often the questions are deeply personal. Usually, at the end of my presentation, there is a small group of students waiting to talk with me. With the sensitivity that is characteristic of their generation, they will keep some space between one another so that the person speaking with me won’t be overheard.

Within that small cocoon of privacy, I’ve had a young woman sob in my arms after saying: “Those girls you wrote about must have felt so heard. But nobody listened when it happened to me!” I’ve heard the stories of young people who were the targets of everything from racist remarks to violent bullying. I’ve fielded questions about free speech and the role anger plays in the emotional health of victims.

“I did not want to write about my experiences with racism,” Jeena Ann Kidambi, an eighth grader from Framingham, Mass., wrote in an essay about the girls, Ana and A., featured in the Times article because they were targeted by the racist Instagram account. Like A., she wrote, “I did not want to dwell on those memories. However, by writing this essay and embracing my emotions on the subject, I gained closure and released myself from anger’s chokehold.” (The essay won a contest in her school district sponsored by the Swiacki Children’s Literature Festival at Framingham State University.)

At one school, a girl spoke so softly that I had to lean close to hear her. Haltingly, with her eyes fixed on the ground, she asked how people could make amends for a harm they caused if the person harmed wouldn’t speak to them. She didn’t tell me what she had done, but I could see that it haunted her — both the guilt over the injury she had caused and the fear she would be punished in perpetuity.

I think about this girl often, wishing I had a better answer to give her. At every school I visit, I remind students that they are works in progress, that during their teenage years they will both be harmed and cause harm, and that they have the capacity to survive both. And each time, I walk away struck by how vulnerable they are to forces that they neither created nor control.

Dashka Slater is a writer in California with a focus on teenagers and criminal justice. Her book “The 57 Bus,” a New York Times best seller, was based on an article she wrote for the magazine in 2015 and went on to win a 2018 Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association.

The Great Read

Here are more fascinating tales you can’t help reading all the way to the end..

The Jungle, an encampment in Ithaca, N.Y., harbors the unhoused and unwell. It was Thomas Rath’s home, until, in a blur of violence, he was gone .

In Safed, a center of ancient Jewish mysticism, ordinary citizens shocked by the Oct. 7 attacks are carrying military-grade weapons .

A litigation team built from the sharpest, funniest tweeters is suing Elon Musk. Here’s how a profane joke on the platform spawned a legal army .

Hare Krishna seemed to answer Justine Payton’s deepest questions. Then, it soured into something she knew she had to leave .

The “Belltown Hellcat,” a modified Dodge Charger, roars through the streets of Seattle’s downtown at night, infuriating residents. But it seems no one can stop it .

• A Theoretical Engagement With Remix – Distant Reading

Having performed a term of research doing all kinds of operations on the Brut – applying transcription tools on the text itself and on secondary texts, using it in accordance with artificial intelligence, and documenting my experience, I find m yself back in this project, without being able to read the Brut . Though I have been “working with” the text from various angles, a crucial experience that is lacking in the center of it is a most canonical one that one associates with books – reading.

In my first meeting with Professor Warren, I asked for some factual knowledge on the past research done on the chronicle. What I have discovered was that except for a few past students who have read The Brut , most people who partook in Remix could not read Middle English. Considering that the main group of people who are constantly working with The Brut is the Remix project group, I have discovered that the relationship between us researchers and The Brut is essentially one of not reading – rather than reading.

Franco Moretti, in his Distant Reading theory, proposes that close reading is problematic, and it is because: “But the trouble with close reading (in aIl of its incarnations, from the new criticism to deconstruction) is that it necessarily depends on an extremely small canon. This may have become an unconscious and invisible premise by now, but it is an iron one nonetheless: you invest so much in individual texts only if you think that very few of them really matter.” (Moretti, 48). Moretti claims that with the abundance of text available to the readers – the expanse of which is greatly enlarged by the introduction of works outside the anglosphere – the reader does not have the capacity to closely engage with enough texts that will equip them with the necessary picture of the reality of texts in the world. The only way to access that kind of picture, to understand, as Moretti says, “the system in its entirety”, is to resort to the literary canon (Moretti, 49). Moretti proposes that, “At bottom, it’s a theological exercise-very solemn treatment of very few texts taken very seriously-whereas what we really need is a little pact with the devil: we know how to read texts, now let’s learn how not to read them.” (Moretti, 48).

By distant reading, Moretti means: “Distant reading: where distance, let me repeat it, is a condition of knowledge: it allows you to focus on units that are much smaller or much larger than the text: devices, themes, tropes-or genres and systems.” (Moretti, 49-50). Smaller units – frequency of word occurrences, topics, themes, names, and time stamps that can be categorized into systems, and larger units – cultural milieu, the larger historical reality under which the text was produced – are not the text itself. The ultimate goal is the “system” as Moretti calls it, which is the sphere, the manners, and the genealogy of the production of texts, and Moretti imagines that distant readings – by looking at small fragments or larger structures than the text itself – will take researchers to this understanding.

FromThePage.com is doing exactly this operation. Under the “subjects” section, fragments that are smaller than the texts are collected, and categorized into sections called “author/people”, “document title”, etc. The belief that metadata schemes reveal certain things about the text and the endeavor to extract meaning from the study of these metadata schemes are means of distant reading.

Michael Gavin’s essay, “Why Distant Reading Works”, follows up on Moretti’s judgment by continuing to place values on – and gives us another way to look into what Moretti means by – the idea of the “entirety of the system”, and the vision that Moretti wants to gain from distant reading. Gavin explains such visions through the scope of relevance, and he uses Dan Sperber and Deirdue Wilson’s definition of relevance: “There is a single property,” they write, “. . . which makes information worth processing for a human being.”13 That property is relevance: “Every act of ostensive com- munication communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance” (Gavin, 620). Gavin expands on Moretti’s vision by arguing that “If it’s true that discourse is optimally directed toward the cognitive environments of its readers, then words naming the most contextually relevant facts are precisely those words most likely to appear in syntagmatic relation.” (Gavin, 625).

Through the parallel and proportional relationship between the frequency of words and their relevance to the people of a given time and space and their linguistic system, understanding those frequencies on an expansive level will equip the reader with the historical realities of such time and space – such reality operates not only on the material level but also on the linguistic level, which concerns the way that people used language.

Looking back at FromThePage, when one clicks on a subject that is frequent enough or appears multiple times, FromThePage offers something like this:

Here, the subject is “Ella Wheeler Wilcox”, and it disperses into different subjects that are mentioned frequently with it through topic modelling. On the right side are pages with mentions of the subject, and the project, after extracting data from the raw material, organize them into the graph on the left. It is possible for the viewers to see the graph as its own coherent body of text, revealing a series of linguistic units – smaller than the text itself – organized by the principle of relevance.

At this point, we get enough conceptual understanding about distant reading in order to compare it to our – similar but different – endeavor at Remix. First, distant reading focuses on units that are smaller and larger than the texts themselves; and second, distant reading is supposed to give rise to an understanding of a greater picture – for Moretti, such a picture is “world literature”, and for Gavin, “relevance”. Both of these concepts, however, depend on the existence of an extensive corpus of textual materials that allows distant readers to formulate certain claims about a certain period in (literary) history. Remix, on the other hand, uses one text as its object of study across almost a decade.

A critique by Katherine Bode on distant reading is also helpful for us to decide two ways in which the project of Remix differs from Moretti’s methods: “In my view, these criticisms describe the symptoms—not the essence—of a problem, which in fact inheres in Moretti’s and Jockers’s common neglect of the activities and insights of textual scholarship: the bibliographical and editorial approaches that explore and explicate the literary-historical record.” (Bode). This study of literary scholarship which is lacking in Moretti’s method, for Bode, renders distant reading accomplice with close reading – one only studies the textual information in the original sense, even if distant reading allows a machine to process this textual information. It only focuses on the text at the moment of its production – on the author’s side – and ignores the way readership and literary scholarship potentially grant a text new meanings. Remix, on the other hand, cares about the literary scholarship, as secondary texts like provenance documents, as well as the notes on the margins of pages by earlier readers – one of the notes say “It ys to harde for my lernyng”, and one of the provenance texts addresses this complaint.

Remix, on one hand, instead of aiming at studying a large corpus of texts in a short period of time, dedicates long, extensive research periods to one text. While we have the Handlist of Brut Manuscripts , which fits the Dartmouth Brut within a corpus, we nonetheless dedicate a long time to the Dartmouth Brut itself. On the other hand, Remix does not limit its own focus to the textual content of the Brut , and instead studies its materiality and readership, and how current and future readers – the ones with the digital tools – might interact with the text differently and create a new kind of literary scholarship.

Remix, thus, has a claim of a kind of fidelity to the text, and strangely without requiring one to do close reading. One can argue that the methodologies and maneuver of Remix invents a new kind of proximity and fidelity to the text that is different from the Russian Formalists and the New Critics. When a Remix researcher examines the bindings, the handwriting, and the captions of the Dartmouth Brut instead of the textual content itself, Remix arguably has a closer level of fidelity towards the text than the formalists, in the sense that textual content itself is mass-producible, while the idea of a unique and original manuscript is not. Walter Benjamin’s argument of the contrast between theater and film can be borrowed here to contrast manuscripts and printed text: “Any thorough study proves that there is indeed no greater contrast than that of the stage play to a work of art that is completely subject to or, like the film, founded in, mechanical reproduction.” (Benjamin, 10-11). The textual information itself, in its form, is reproducible – pure textual information has no sense of originality. There is no original version that one can claim fidelity to. For manuscripts, however, the idea of originality is very much alive. One argument posited by Benjamin helps illustrate this idea: “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes the changes which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes in its ownership.” (Benjamin, 3). The presence in time and space of the Dartmouth Brut is ubiquitous in our study, and we’ve invested much energy into the changes of its physical condition and ownership.

Benjamin criticized “high art” in favor of mass-reproduced texts, which he uses film as an example, he argues: “It is inherent in the technique of the film as well as that of sports that everybody who witnesses its accomplishments is somewhat of an expert.” (Benjamin, 12). He thinks that these mass-producible media will democratize the public’s involvement radically and distribute some form of expertise to all of them, while “high art” – like painting – does not allow this kind of engagement. While Benjamin made his criticism, we are working with a manuscript – and one of canonical British history – which would’ve been part of high culture. Strangely, we undergraduates who (mostly) can’t read a sentence in Middle English are valorized as the experts. Despite the exclusivity of the idea of “Original” and the object of our study, our project of democratization through digital means is placing the tasking of democratization on not the object of study itself, but on the way we study it and engage with it. Remix fosters the idea that expertise is just practice, and it fosters a different kind of expertise. Most Remix researchers conclude their projects without knowing how to read Middle English but gain some kind of expertise in the tools that they use to engage with the Brut . The close reading of a text that is usually pursued in research is here substituted by the close reading of the tools themselves. The tools take less time to learn than Middle English, or at least, takes less time to learn to the extent to engage meaningfully with the Brut .

Partially, this democratization of the expertise of the researchers comes from the conditions under which the Remix project occurs. One of the very earliest projects of Remix was to transcribe the text into a full, textual form. Remix scholars tried using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to help transcribe, but it generated too much garbage text, and the researchers needed to transcribe manually. Transcribing even with the help of digital tools is very time-consuming and exhausting for the researchers, who are primarily undergraduate students. The transcription project was thus never finished and the Dartmouth Brut never had a full-text digital version. Dartmouth’s quarter system makes the students very conscious of how much time and dedication they can afford to spend on Remix. There are rarely graduate students who participate in Remix, and considering that the Comparative Literature program lasts for only a year, many graduate students who are interested in Remix are in a more hasty situation than undergraduates. Remix itself is a long, expansive project in which the researchers put together an archive. Archival work is often slow, and researchers might not have a clear sense of progress in the short run. Researchers who only have a short amount of time to spend on the project don’t tend to engage with long and arduous works like transcription. What the inaccessibility of the full transcribed text means for the students is not the creation of aura and elitist condition of critical agency as Benjamin suggests, but the shift in the research focus. The students are constantly in a position of distraction so Remix needs to find a way so the students can engage with the texts critically in this state of distraction.

So what have we accomplished? Professor Warren insists that it’s curiosity. It’s the engagement of each student. Remix has continued for almost a decade and has been through the hands of different researchers. The constant involvement of students makes Remix their own projects. In the end, it is about the process more than the result. Other than the archive that we form that whoever is interested might look into, it’s what each student takes with them when they leave the project that counts.

My inquiry about the lack of experience in reading the manuscript as a Remix researcher ended up as a homage to the decade of their hard work. The inquiry started with a question about the kind of intellectual material that a researcher can cultivate from Remix, and I have arrived at some kind of an answer. I joined Remix during my sophomore summer, which was the start of my junior year, with academic confusion about where my theoretical interest lies. Partaking in Remix has given me quite a lot of incentive and time to think about these questions. I think that the answer to the question I posted at the beginning of the investigation is arguably in the question itself.

Works Cited:

Benjamin, Walter, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations , edited by Hannah Arendt, translated by Harry Zohn, Schocken Books, 1969, pp.1-26

Bode, Katherine. “The equivalence of “close” and “distant” reading; or, toward a new object for data-rich literary history.” Modern Language Quarterly 78.1 (2017): 77-106.

Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?.” The Critical Tradition , edited by David H. Richter, Publisher, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp.520-530.

Gavin, Michael. “Why Distant Reading Works.” New Literary History, Volume 53, Number 4, Autumn 2022 / Volume 54, Number 1, Winter 2023, pp. 613-633.

Moretti, Franco. “Conjectures on World Literature.” Distant Reading , Verso Books, 2013, pp. 43-62.

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