Updated August 10, 2026

How to Write the Dartmouth Supplemental Essays for 2026-2027 (With A Real Example That Worked)

Bonus Material: PrepMaven’s 50+ Real Supplemental Essays for Ivy+ Schools

Expert guidance provided by Mike Kleynman (PhD in English, 10+ years’ experience coaching admissions) and reviewed by Kevin Wong (co-founder PrepMaven, 20+ years’ experience coaching admissions).

Last year, Dartmouth admitted just 5.8% of applicants, which means that if Dartmouth is your dream school, your application needs to be unbelievably impressive!

Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Dartmouth, Princeton, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works.

In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Dartmouth supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.

As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including a real essay that got a student admitted into Dartmouth!

Jump to section:
Dartmouth’s 2026-2027 Essay Prompts
How to Write Dartmouth’s First Essay
How to Write Dartmouth’s Second Essay
How to Write Dartmouth’s Third Essay
Next steps

Dartmouth’s 2026-2027 Essay Prompts

Dartmouth hasn’t officially announced its prompts for the 2026-27 admissions cycle. That usually happens in early August, so check back here to make sure you have the latest information.

But there’s good news: Dartmouth hasn’t changed their prompts much in recent years, so there’s a good chance that last year’s prompts still apply.

Currently, Dartmouth has 3 required supplemental essays, the first one considerably shorter than the second and third.

Here all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for Dartmouth’s supplementals:

As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2031, what aspects of the college’s academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you? (100 words or fewer)

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

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.

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

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

What excites you?

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?

In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. “A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives,” he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?

The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall’s research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: “Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.” Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground?

Celebrate your nerdy side.

“It’s not easy being green…” was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity, outlook, or sense of purpose?

Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.

We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to Dartmouth and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.

As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!

Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including Dartmouth). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.

How to Write Dartmouth’s First Essay: “Why Us?”

The first supplemental essay prompt from Dartmouth is a classic essay type that we’ve written a lot about. Below, we’ll summarize the advice from our detailed guide to the “Why this College?” essay, then offer some Dartmouth-specific tips before looking at a real example.

The tricky bit is that while usually these essays have a word count of around 250, Dartmouth only gives you 100 words to make your case. That’s not a lot!

The analogy we like to use is that you can approach this essay a bit like a first date: you want to show why the two of you (you and the college) are a good match.

A lot of students just start by talking about how great the school they’re applying to is, but that’s the wrong move. Dartmouth already knows it’s hot stuff (they rejected over 90% of applicants, remember?).

What they want to know is why you are such a good fit for their offerings and culture, and vice versa.

So, we recommend tackling this essay in two steps:

Step 1: Research unique offerings

This first step is key. Research what Dartmouth offers that other universities do not.

Dartmouth-specific advice: from speaking to students who attended Dartmouth and worked in the admissions office, we can tell you that the key is to focus on community.

While Dartmouth offers many, many interesting opportunities, they pride themselves on how they build community.

So, when answering Dartmouth’s first question, be sure to focus primarily on why their community is a good fit for you, and vice versa. Our real sample essay below does a great job of showing this in action!

Step 2: Link to your story

People usually do step 1, but many forget to do this second step. It’s not enough to show that you did your research into Dartmouth’s offerings.

You need to show that these offerings actually speak to your interests, capabilities, and goals.

So, for every specific aspect of Dartmouth you mention, you need to connect it back to something you’ve already done or some existing passion of yours.

Quality over quantity is the rule here. Instead of listing 5 specific programs at Dartmouth you like, list 2, but go on to explain how each one speaks to the experiences you’ve already had or the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Take a look below for a real sample essay written in response to this prompt! And, if you want to work with a college essay expert like the one who wrote this essay, contact us.

Real Dartmouth Sample Essay for Prompt 1:

As I flipped through the hefty “Best 380,” Dartmouth jumped out for three words: “Students are happy.” I’m a big believer in happiness. I am motivated in races by a positive mindset, write daily in my “Happiness Project” journal, am intrigued by positive psychology, and love to smile! My friends don’t understand how I’m always optimistic, but it’s simple. So much is out of my control—the past, other people’s actions, the President’s stance on climate change—but I can always control my attitude. Realizing this changed my life. So could four years in a community that values happiness like I do.

Notice: this essay is short, sweet, and to the point (it has to be, since it’s exactly 100 words). But most importantly, it focuses on community at Dartmouth.

In addition, it also connects to the student’s core values and experiences (the journal, their attitude).

Writing this essay doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require a very specific approach.

When everything has to come together perfectly like it does here, we recommend working with one of our experienced college essay coaches, the majority of whom come from Ivy League schools themselves.

In the meantime, download over 50 sample essays for free below!

How to Write Dartmouth’s Second Essay

As you can probably tell by the prompts, this essay question really wants you to reflect on who you are and your background.

To a large extent, the advice that we give in our guide for the Common App personal statement also holds true for this kind of supplemental: be specific and tell a story!

We do want to warn you: the “introduce yourself” prompt often gives students a lot of trouble. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of being generic or cliche when trying to tell someone “who you are.”

Plus, your Common App essay should already be telling the admissions officers who you are. In a sense, this particular essay prompt sets you up to fail.

Because of that, we recommend going for the first essay option here: talk about your community and environment.

It’s also a good idea because, as we pointed out above, Dartmouth really values community!

Use Dartmouth’s second essay as a chance to show how your background–religious, cultural, or anything else–has influenced your ability and desire to contribute to a large and diverse college community.

How to Write Dartmouth’s Third Essay

As you can tell by the prompts, Dartmouth’s third essay is a bit of a wild card one, with lots of different, unusual prompts.

There’s no universal “right” prompt to respond to for everyone here. But you need to approach your choice of prompt tactically.

Your goal is to use these supplemental essay prompts to show the Dartmouth admissions committee different, positive aspects of who you are and what you’ve accomplished.

So, don’t start by picking the most interesting prompt. Start by thinking about what story you want to tell, or what side of yourself you want to show.

For example, if your Common App essay and first two supplementals already tell Dartmouth admissions officers about your identity, your love for community, and your main extracurricular pursuit, think about how this third essay can complement those.

An easy way to go would be to use this essay to discuss your academic or intellectual interests (the prompt “celebrate your nerdy side” works well for this).

Not only is this something crucial to convey to the college you’re applying to, but it will also likely save you a lot of work.

You’ll already need to write supplementals about your academic interests or major choice for other colleges, so you can modify and reuse that supplemental for Dartmouth here.

Because all the Dartmouth essays are so short, you won’t have time to launch into an extended narrative like you did in your Common App essay.

But the same rules still apply! To sum up:

Make sure your essay is introspective. Whatever story you tell, be sure that it shows you thinking critically about your life and your place in the world.

Use your own voice. Read your Dartmouth supplemental aloud: does it sound like you? If not, it’s time to edit it.

Be honest. Vulnerability can work wonders in these essays. Dartmouth has made it very clear that they’re interested in risk-takers, and this supplemental essay is your best chance to show it.

Don’t be generic or cliche. This can be rephrased more bluntly: don’t be boring.

This advice is simple in theory, difficult to execute. Think about how many essays Dartmouth admissions officers read.

Are you 100% sure that your essays stand out? That your essays are totally different from everyone else’s?

A good way to tell? Work with a college essay expert who’s read many of these essays and can give you an outside perspective on your writing.

Below, find over 50 other memorable, unique supplementals that got students accepted into elite schools like Ivies. There’s no better resource to use as you start your own Dartmouth supplemental essays!

Next Steps

Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Dartmouth and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.

First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Dartmouth.

Most people don’t really know what colleges like Dartmouth actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.

Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.

Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.

That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.

And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Dartmouth before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!

How to Write the Dartmouth Supplemental Essays for 2026-2027