Dartmouth is the outdoor Ivy. The most rural member of the Ivy League, it’s where brilliant students and outdoor enthusiasts meet — and are the same people. If you have stellar grades and palpable drive, but also daydream about being a ski bum or hiking a mountain or fishing in a river, Dartmouth may be your perfect fit. But you probably already know that which is why you’re reading this post.
Over the past 20 years, the overall acceptance rate has decreased from 18% to a little over 6%. Most recently, 46% of the class was filled in the early decision cycle and the acceptance rate for that cohort was 19%, an all-time low for the university. This rise in exclusivity has impacted the waitlist process, too. Dartmouth reports that “fewer than 10 percent of applicants are offered a place on the wait list,” and between 600 and nearly 2000 students accept that offer to try their luck on the waitlist.
The eventual acceptance rate from the waitlist has ranged from 0% (2007, 2014, 2017-2019) to 13.4% (2015), with an average of 4.5%.
Those aren’t great odds, so you should probably call-in help if you’re eyeing a shot at the waitlist.
We are experts in giving students their best shot to get off of a waitlist, so send us an email. We specialize in helping exceptional students get into their dream school, even when the odds are against them.
Once you’ve sent us an email, there are a few things you must do to secure your collegiate future and set yourself up for waitlist success — which are overlapping, but not the same.
First
You need to accept your place on the waitlist through the Dartmouth Application Portal. If you do not do this, you will not be on the waitlist, so you must do this first.
Next
Once you’ve accepted your spot on the Dartmouth waitlist, you need to secure a place at a school you were accepted to. There is a very low chance that you will get into Dartmouth off of the waitlist. It is possible, especially with help from us, but it is hard from guaranteed. As a result, you need to have a backup plan. Accept a spot and place a deposit at a school you were accepted to and would be satisfied attending.
Update
Finally, you need to update Dartmouth. The first way of updating Dartmouth is to submit a “brief letter of interest” through the application portal. This is often called a ‘Letter of Continued Interest’ by other colleges, so if you’ve heard of that before this is the same thing, but with some specific expectations set forth by Dartmouth.
Dartmouth would like you to submit a “brief text tile” — like a Word doc — “containing your news or additional materials.” They do not want you to send images, certificates, or other large files. And, while they don’t say it explicitly, you need to make this update super polished. This is not something you should write quickly and in a panic. This is your last chance to talk directly to the admissions office at Dartmouth, so you need to do it with care and precision.
Header: Start your update with a formal intro such as “Dear Admissions Committee,” and then reintroduce yourself in 1-2 sentences to remind them why you want to be at Dartmouth.
Body: The body of the update will be the meat of it. This is where you give your academic and extracurricular updates. There may also be personal updates that are relevant, but not necessarily. Keep this professional, so don’t bring in drama from your life to try to drum up sympathy. Instead, focus on the academic and extracurricular aspects of your life that directly speak to you as a student.
Closing: Close your update as professionally as you started. Treat this like a letter to a potential boss.
Last Steps
You will need to submit your update in late April or early May. Dartmouth also expects to receive your up-to-date or final grades, so definitely talk to your college counselor or guidance counselor at school about this.
Then you wait.
You’ll hear from Dartmouth in May or June, but don’t try to meet with an admissions officer in the meantime. They explicitly do not want you to contact them directly or show up on campus. Instead focus your attention on the update and lining up a back-up school.
If you’re anxious about being on a waitlist, we’re pros at this. We guide students towards an outstanding future.