Dartmouth College requires all applicants to answer three supplemental essays. With an acceptance rate of just 6%, these essays can make or break your application. They’re your chance to give admissions a reason to choose you over thousands of other qualified applicants.
In this blog, we’ll break down how to answer each of Dartmouth’s supplemental essay questions. We’ll also give you tips on choosing the right prompts for your personality and background, so you can write responses that are true to you and make your case.
- Dartmouth Supplemental Essay Prompts
- How to Write the Dartmouth “Why This College” Essay
- How to Write the Dartmouth “About You” Essay
- How to Write the Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Essay
- Writing Dartmouth Supplemental Essays That Work
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Takeaways
Dartmouth Supplemental Essay Prompts
Dartmouth College asks all applicants to submit three writing supplements on top of the Common App personal statement. The first is a required prompt asking why Dartmouth is the right fit for you.
| Dartmouth “why this college” supplemental essay prompt |
| As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2030, 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) |
Next, you’ll choose one of two prompts that ask you to reflect on who you are.
| Dartmouth “about you” supplemental essay prompts |
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For the third essay, you’ll pick one from a list of seven prompts that all ask something different.
| Required Dartmouth supplemental essay prompts #3 |
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With these three essays, you have plenty of room to show Dartmouth who you are, what you care about, and why you belong there. Make sure each response is well-written, personal, and leaves a lasting impression on whoever reads it.
Next, let’s dive into each Dartmouth essay prompt and discuss how to craft a flawless response.
How to Write the Dartmouth “Why This College” Essay
| Prompt |
| As you seek admission to Dartmouth’s Class of 2030, 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) |
This prompt asks the classic “Why This College” question, but with just 100 words. You’ll need to be specific about what draws you to Dartmouth, whether that’s its academic programs, campus culture, or community. Before writing, do your research. Explore Dartmouth’s resources, visit information sessions, and look into opportunities that genuinely interest you.
| Dartmouth “why this college” supplemental essay example |
| Last fall, I hauled a whiteboard outside to map data for a student-led climate project, cold air sharpening every idea. This immersive curiosity is what draws me to the Thayer School of Engineering’s lack of departmental silos, which mirrors my own interdisciplinary approach. Rather than studying fluid dynamics in a vacuum, I want to apply it to sustainable energy projects through the Irving Institute. The D-Plan lets me pursue off-term internships without sacrificing the continuity of close faculty research. I’m also drawn to the Ledyard Canoe Club and the Outing Club, where environmental discussions continue on the water or hiking trails. (100 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This essay works because it opens with a personal memory that instantly shows the writer’s character. From there, every sentence connects a personal interest to something specific at Dartmouth, such as the Thayer School, the Irving Institute, the D-Plan, and specific clubs.
Instead of just saying “I love engineering,” they show how Dartmouth’s structure fits the way they already think and work. Nothing in this essay could be copied and pasted into an application for another school, and that’s exactly the point. In 100 words, the writer made a clear and convincing case for why Dartmouth and no one else.
How to Write the Dartmouth “About You” Essay
| Prompt #1 |
| There is a Quaker saying: Let your life speak. Describe the environment in which you were raised and the impact it has had on the person you are today. (250 words) |
Consider this Dartmouth’s take on the “diversity” essay. Your hometown, family background, culture, and the community you grew up in all shaped who you are today. This prompt wants you to make that connection explicit. Show Dartmouth where you’re from and, more importantly, what you took from it.
| Dartmouth “About You” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 1 |
| Since childhood, once the kitchen table was cleared of the dishes, it became a makeshift workshop littered with dismantled toaster ovens and half-soldered circuit boards. My father, a high school physics teacher, never handed me a manual. Instead, he’d give me a multimeter and say, “Find where the current stops.” This environment of unstructured inquiry taught me that failure isn’t necessarily a dead end, but another data point and opportunity for discovery.
This hands-on upbringing ignited a fascination with the intersection of sustainability and engineering. I spent my junior year converting an old mountain bike into an electric commuter, navigating the frustrations of erratic battery discharge and mismatched gears. While I was proud of the outcome, I was even more proud of my tenacity to troubleshoot at 2:00 AM with coffee running in my veins. I learned that complex problems don’t require genius as much as they require the patience to stay in the room until you finally bring your ideas to life. I want to carry this tinkerer’s mindset into collaborative engineering spaces where ideas are tested against reality. I’m drawn to building functional solutions for environmental challenges, especially energy access in underserved areas. My goal is to help design decentralized power systems for rural communities, applying the same iterative grit I practiced at my kitchen table to challenges on a much larger scale. My upbringing taught me that my life speaks loudest when my hands are busy solving problems others have walked away from. (247 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
The writer opens with a vivid scene of a kitchen table covered in dismantled toaster ovens and circuit boards, showing (rather than telling) you how they grew up in a hands-on environment. Notice the key terms too: multimeter, battery discharge, mismatched gears. Like this writer, use specific objects and details to paint your environment instead of describing it in general terms.
The essay also dives deep into the lessons learned from growing up in that environment. The writer traces it to a specific moment, troubleshooting at 2 AM with coffee running through their veins, and connects it to a bigger belief: that complex problems reward patience over genius. That’s a value stated with conviction and backed by real experience.
Another thing worth noting is that the essay has a natural, human quality. No stiff or formal language here. Let your personality come through in your writing, and your reader will feel like they already know you.
Finally, the last paragraph pulls everything together into a social mission of designing decentralized power systems for rural communities. What started at a kitchen table became the foundation for a career goal. This is the progression every strong college essay should follow: personal environment, intellectual passion, future purpose.
| Prompt #2 |
| “Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself. (250 words) |
The operative word in this prompt is “yourself.” Dartmouth isn’t asking what you’ve accomplished, so resist the urge to sound impressive. They want to know who you actually are, including how you think, what you care about, and what makes you different from the thousands of other high-achieving applicants in the pool. This is your chance to be memorable, so take it.
| Dartmouth “About You” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 2 |
| The smell of damp earth defines my Saturdays. While my peers were perfecting their jump shots, I was literally getting my hands dirty with the micro-ecology of my backyard garden, documenting how the introduction of nitrogen-fixing clover altered the vitality of my heirloom tomatoes. I find genuine thrill in the invisible systems that keep the world running, whether it’s the symbiotic relationship between fungi and roots or the rhythmic logic of a well-written line of code.
This curiosity led me to the intersection of computational biology and environmental ethics. Last summer, I spent six weeks modeling forest fire spread patterns using a rudimentary Python script. I quickly realized that data can be useless without a narrative. More than just charred acreage, the numbers also represented lost habitats and shifting climates. This experience taught me that the more I learn, the more I must listen to the nuances of the natural world. I want to work at the boundary where science meets storytelling, where complex biological data becomes accessible, meaningful, and actionable. Whether through writing, research, or fieldwork, I hope to translate technical findings into narratives that inform smarter, more compassionate environmental decisions. I aim to help bridge rigorous scientific research with community-level environmental action. I believe that when we understand how systems function and why they matter, we can design solutions that are both effective and humane. I’d like to be the student (and eventually scientist) in the lab working to protect the soil under our feet. (247 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
The first thing this essay tells you is how the writer thinks. They open with damp earth and backyard gardening, then pivot to Python scripts and forest fire data modeling. These feel like opposites, but the writer connects them through one common thread: a fascination with invisible systems. That’s essentially a window into their mind. When you write your own essay, think about the unexpected connections between your interests, because those connections are often the most revealing thing about who you are.
What the writer cares about comes through just as clearly. Their commitment to the environment is rooted in a specific moment: examining wildfire data and realizing that behind every number lies a lost habitat. That realization is what makes the social mission feel earned and genuine. Let your own “what I care about” be something you arrived at through experience, and it will land with the same conviction.
Finally, look closely at how the writer defines their future goal. They want to work at the intersection of science and storytelling, translating technical findings into narratives that drive community action. That’s a goal with a name, a method, and a purpose, and it’s one that only this writer could claim. When Dartmouth asks you to introduce yourself, they want to know what sets you apart. Dig deep and define your future goal with that same level of clarity.
How to Write the Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Essay
| Prompt #1 |
| What excites you? (250 words) |
This is one of the shortest prompts Dartmouth gives you, but it might be the hardest to answer well. Anyone can list things they like, but what Dartmouth is really asking is what makes you come alive intellectually, and why. Is it a buried historical fact, an unanswered scientific question, or a pattern nobody else seems to notice? Pick one thing, the kind that sends you spiraling through tabs and articles for hours, and write about it with that same intensity.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 1 |
| Did you know that the term “logging in” has roots in an 18th-century maritime term? “Chip log,” a literal block of wood used by sailors to calculate speed, evolved into the terms “system logs” and “logging in” that define our digital architecture. Words are a time capsule, and I love doing etymological detective work, uncovering the hidden histories that we speak into existence every day without realizing it.
This passion led me to volunteer at a local community center, helping to archive oral histories from long-term residents. As I transcribed their stories, I became obsessed with the syntax of memory, how the specific cadence and vocabulary of a person’s era shape the way they perceive the present. I realized that language is the most intimate form of architecture we inhabit. I also learned radical empathy: that to truly understand someone’s perspective, you first have to understand the linguistic landscape they were built in. I see myself as a cultural translator with the desire to use linguistics as a tool for restorative justice. My goal is to work on language revitalization projects, helping communities reclaim their heritage by documenting and preserving endangered dialects. When a language disappears, a unique way of seeing the universe vanishes with it. I want to ensure those “ways of seeing” survive, using my skills to bridge the gap between historical preservation and modern communication. I want to spend my life making sure that everyone has the words they need to tell their own story. (248 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
This essay grabs you from the very first sentence. The writer leads with a fun fact about the origins of the term “logging in,” and suddenly you want to keep reading. That’s the power of starting with something surprising and specific. If you can open your essay with a fact, a detail, or an observation that makes the reader think “Today I learned,” you’ve already done something most applicants will not think to do.
Notice also how niche this topic is. While many applicants play it safe with broad, universally appealing topics, etymology and language revitalization are unexpected essay subjects, and that works in the writer’s favor. If your passion is unconventional, lean into it. Admissions officers read thousands of essays, and a topic they’ve never encountered before, handled with genuine depth, is one they will remember.
Beyond the topic itself, the essay also follows a formula worth emulating: personal passion, intellectual curiosity, values gained, and social mission. The writer moves from a love of word origins to volunteering at a community archive to a realization about radical empathy to a career goal in language revitalization and restorative justice. Each step builds naturally on the last. When you write your own essay, ask yourself if your response follows that same arc. A strong answer to “What excites you?” should always end with why it matters beyond yourself.
| Prompt #2 |
| Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta recommended a life of purpose. “We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things,” she said. “That is what we are put on the earth for.” In what ways do you hope to make—or are you already making—an impact? Why? How? (250 words) |
Dolores Huerta’s quote sets the bar high: a life spent giving back rather than collecting. Dartmouth wants to know where you already stand on that spectrum. What causes have you already done something about? And more importantly, what’s the change you’re working toward and how are you getting there? Start here, and build your essay around those answers.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 2 |
| The vanishing gray of belched exhaust fumes was the only sign left of the bus that I narrowly missed. While many see a city as a collection of buildings, I typically see it as a series of barriers.
I am someone who finds profound meaning in the “invisible” infrastructure of our lives, recognizing that the way we design our physical world dictates the quality of our social equity. After all, did I, a student commuter, deserve the hassle of public transportation because my family couldn’t afford a car? This frustration led me to collaborate with the Transportation Alternatives Youth Activist Committee to map “sidewalk deserts” in my neighborhood. I spent months documenting areas where public infrastructure abruptly ended, forcing elderly residents and students to navigate dirt paths. After all, this wasn’t just about concrete—it was about dignity. I learned that a life of purpose is found in the granular details of service, that ensuring a safe path to a grocery store is a tangible act of justice. This experience taught me civic tenacity, proving that change requires both a data-driven mind and a boots-on-the-ground heart. I want to move beyond the pursuit of “aesthetic” architecture to focus on utilitarian equity, designing transit systems and public spaces that prioritize the most vulnerable users. I plan to use spatial analysis to identify and bridge gaps in urban resources. I believe that by smoothing the physical friction of daily life, we can foster a more empathetic and integrated society. (246 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
A missed bus. Exhaust fumes fading into the air. That’s all it takes for this writer to pull you into their daily reality. But what makes it powerful is what comes next. They describe a frustrating morning and then use that moment to reveal how they see the world: a city as a series of barriers rather than buildings. Your situation reveals your worldview, and your worldview is what Dartmouth wants to see.
The essay also tackles all three parts of the prompt head on. In what ways? Mapping sidewalk deserts with the Transportation Alternatives Youth Activist Committee. Why? Because a safe path to a grocery store is a tangible act of justice. How? Months of fieldwork documenting areas where public infrastructure abruptly ended. This writer answers all three, and each answer is grounded in lived experience. Apply the same logic to your own essay: what have you done, why does it matter, and how exactly are you doing it?
The lesson the writer draws, that “change requires both a data-driven mind and a boots-on-the-ground heart,” is what ties the whole essay together. It’s a belief the writer has already lived out, through months of fieldwork, through conversations with elderly residents navigating dirt paths, through the act of turning frustration into civic action. Dolores Huerta’s quote asks for a life of action, so make sure your essay reflects one.
| Prompt #3 |
| In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. “A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives,” he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others? (250 words) |
Dartmouth expects its students to be readers. What this prompt is really asking is whether reading has actually moved you. Has a book ever challenged something you believed? Made you understand someone you thought you knew? Pick one book that genuinely changed you and trace exactly how it did.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 3 |
| Last November, I picked up a battered copy of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I expected a dry historical drama about an English butler. Instead, a realization hit me like a cold draft: I was seeing a mirror of my own obsession with “perfect” performance.
For several days, I lived in the rigid white gloves of Stevens. I felt the physical ache in his back as he prioritized a dinner service over saying goodbye to his dying father. I wanted to reach through the pages, shake him by his lapels, and tell him that his “dignity” was actually a cage. But I thought about the previous Tuesday, when I’d spent six hours obsessing over the kerning in a club flyer, ignoring three calls from my younger brother who just wanted to show me a drawing. I had mistaken meticulousness for meaning. Through Stevens’s eyes, I saw how easily “professionalism” can become a mask to hide from the messiness of being human. By trying to be a flawless student, I was becoming an architectural sketch instead of a person. Now, when I’m tempted to choose a spreadsheet over a conversation, I think of Stevens standing on that pier at the end of his life, realizing he’d mastered his craft but missed his heartbeat. I’ve started leaving the “white gloves” off. I’m learning that the most important parts of life aren’t the ones we polish, but the ones we actually show up for. (244 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
Stevens prioritized a dinner service over saying goodbye to his dying father. The writer spent six hours obsessing over kerning while ignoring calls from their younger brother. Put those two side by side and you have the engine of this entire essay. That contrast, between a fictional character and a real Tuesday afternoon, is what transforms a literary reflection into something personal and memorable.
From there, the essay pulls you in through vivid, specific images: the physical ache in Stevens’s back, the white gloves, the urge to reach through the pages and shake him. Those details make the reader feel the essay rather than just read it. When you write your own, pull your reader into the specific moments that hit you hardest and let those moments do the talking.
“I had mistaken meticulousness for meaning.” Only six words, but that single line captures an entire shift in perspective and it is the most powerful moment in the essay. Push past the surface of what you learned from your book and find your version of that sentence. That’s the sentence that tells Dartmouth exactly who you are and how you think.
| Prompt #4 |
| The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall’s research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: “Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.” Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground? (250 words) |
Dartmouth values open engagement with different perspectives, which is why the college created Dartmouth Dialogues. In fact, 93% of undergraduates say engaging with challenging viewpoints is essential to their education. Like Goodall, the best answers to this classic “Disagreement” prompt show someone who listened first, then engaged. Pick a moment where a difficult conversation changed something in you, and build your essay around that.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 4 |
| The atmosphere at the “Save the Creek” meeting was more stifling than the humidity in the basement of the town hall. I sat across from Mr. Henderson, a local developer whose blueprints for a new shopping complex sat like a threat on the table between us. To me, the creek was a sanctuary of dragonflies and filtration. To him, it was a drainage problem delaying a multi-million-dollar project.
My instinct was to lead with a lecture on riparian buffers. Instead, I remembered a video of Goodall sitting silently near a chimpanzee troop, waiting for them to move first. So the first thing out of my mouth was: “What’s the biggest risk you’re taking on this project?” He sat back, surprised, absorbing the question. Then, for twenty minutes, he didn’t talk about concrete. He talked about the rising cost of flood insurance and his fear that the town’s economy was stagnating. I realized he wasn’t a villain out to destroy nature, but a man terrified of financial ruin. “I’m worried about the flooding, too,” I said, “but if we pave over that bank, the runoff will hit your foundation during the first spring thaw. A natural preserve is also a free sponge for your basement.” We spent the next hour redrawing the parking lot perimeter. We didn’t agree on everything, but we found a way to bridge the gap between “economic growth” and “environmental safety” by simply acknowledging that we both wanted a town that wouldn’t wash away. (247 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
Most “disagreement” essays describe a conflict and how the writer won it. This one does something harder: it shows a writer who deliberately chose not to lead with their strongest argument, and who discovered something real about the other person as a result. That’s what the Goodall framing is asking for.
The question, “What’s the biggest risk you’re taking on this project?”, is the essay’s turning point, and it works because it comes from genuine curiosity rather than a rhetorical trap. What followed, twenty minutes about flood insurance and economic fear, is what real listening produces. The writer found common ground by understanding what the other person actually cared about, and that realization is what drives the essay forward.
When selecting your moment, choose a disagreement where both sides walked away with something they didn’t have before. The prompt’s most important question is “how did you find common ground,” not “what did you disagree about.” If you struggled to find any, this is probably not your prompt.
| Prompt #5 |
| Celebrate your nerdy side. (250 words) |
This is Dartmouth giving you full permission to geek out. Whatever you’re obsessive about, whether it’s medieval siege weapons, competitive Scrabble, or the fluid dynamics of sourdough, this is the prompt for it. The only rule is to be genuine. Pick the thing you would talk about for hours, whether or not anyone asked.
| Dartmouth “Open prompt” Supplemental Essay example for Prompt 5 |
| The heavy, metallic clack of a 1954 Smith-Corona Silent-Super is my version of a symphony. While most people are streamlining their lives with cloud-based notes and haptic feedback, I spent my entire junior year spring break elbows-deep in mineral spirits and degreaser, trying to resuscitate a typewriter that had been entombed in a basement since the Nixon administration.
I’m incredibly interested in “obsolete” technology—not out of a sense of nostalgia for an era I never lived through, but because I love seeing the logic of a machine laid bare. There is no hidden code in a typewriter, but only the physical consequence of a finger hitting a key. If the letter “e” sticks, it’s not a software bug. It’s a tiny steel pivot arm, no thicker than a toothpick, that needs a drop of watch oil and a steady hand. I can tell the difference between a 10-pitch and 12-pitch typeface at a glance, and I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit researching the specific chemical composition of 1920s typewriter platen rubber. To me, these machines are a masterclass in intentionality. You can’t “delete” a mistake on a Smith-Corona without leaving a ghost on the page. It forces me to think three words ahead, to commit to my thoughts before I strike the paper. Whether it’s re-inking a silk ribbon or adjusting the drawband tension, I love the granular work of maintenance. I respect the craftsmanship of the past enough to keep it clicking in the present. (249 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
The Smith-Corona opening works immediately because it’s so specific. Not “a typewriter” but a 1954 Smith-Corona Silent-Super. Not “spring break” but the entire junior year spring break. Not simply “cleaning it” but mineral spirits, degreaser, a pivot arm no thicker than a toothpick, a drop of watch oil. That level of specificity is the whole essay. Let it guide how you write yours.
What makes this essay go beyond a fun hobby story is the “why” behind the interest. The writer is drawn to obsolete technology because they love seeing the logic of a machine laid bare, every movement a direct physical consequence of a human action. That curiosity leads to a real realization: a typewriter forces you to think three words ahead, to commit to your thoughts before you strike the paper. That goes well beyond a quirky observation. It’s a window into how this writer thinks and what they value.
When drafting your own response, name the exact model, the exact chemical, the exact technique. If you catch yourself writing something any casual enthusiast could have written, push until the details could only come from someone who has actually lived it. The goal is to show Dartmouth the version of you that comes out when nobody’s evaluating you, the one that spends spring break elbow deep in degreaser because that’s genuinely where you want to be.
| Prompt #6 |
| “It’s not easy being green…” was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity, outlook, or sense of purpose? (250 words) |
Kermit’s famous line is about the discomfort of standing out. This prompt asks you to reflect on what makes you different and how you’ve embraced it. Think beyond broad categories like ethnicity or nationality and focus on something more personal: a perspective, experience, or trait that has shaped how you see the world. Kermit never stopped being green. Show Dartmouth how you learned to make your version of “green” work for you.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 6 |
| The dinner table at my house is the quietest, loudest place I know. Alongside the clinking of silverware is the rhythmic thump of a palm against wood to grab attention and the blur of hands carving stories out of thin air. As a hearing child in a profoundly Deaf family, I grew up speaking a language that requires no sound.
For years, I felt caught between two worlds, belonging fully to neither, possessing a voice I felt guilty using at home, and moving through a hearing world that viewed my primary culture as a disability that needed to be “fixed.” I “translated” for my parents, navigating the high-stakes world of car repairs and doctor appointments. However, as I entered high school, I realized that my “greenness” is a superpower of perception. While my classmates struggled with the spatial reasoning required in my advanced geometry and physics courses, years of tracking ASL’s three-dimensional syntax had trained my brain to visualize invisible structures and rotating axes. My ability to “listen” with my eyes also made me more observant. I notice the subtle shift in a classmate’s shoulders, the tilt of a head, or the tension in a hand long before they ever voiced their frustration. My upbringing taught me that true listening is about the deliberate, focused act of turning your whole self toward another person. The most profound connections happen in the space between the words we speak and the signs we make. (242 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
“The dinner table at my house is the quietest, loudest place I know.” That opening line does everything right. It pulls you in with a contradiction that demands explanation, and by the time the writer resolves it, you already understand exactly what kind of person you’re dealing with. When you write your own essay, lead with the image or moment that captures your difference most vividly. If your opening line could belong to anyone else, rewrite it.
The writer also does something smart with the Kermit framing. They actually use the word “greenness” in the essay, tying their personal story directly back to the prompt. That kind of intentional callback shows the reader that the writer understood the assignment and thought carefully about how to answer it. Always look for opportunities to weave the prompt’s language or imagery into your own response.
The third paragraph is where the essay gets truly interesting. Growing up in a Deaf household trained the writer’s brain to track ASL’s three-dimensional syntax, which translated directly into stronger spatial reasoning in geometry and physics. That cause and effect is so precise and personal it could belong to no one else’s story. When you write your own essay, trace your difference to something that granular: a skill, a reflex, a way of reading a room. The more precisely you can name it, the more convincing your essay will be.
| Prompt #7 |
| The Mindy Kaling Theater Lab will be an exciting new addition to Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center for the Arts. “It’s a place where you can fail,” the actor/producer and Dartmouth alumna said when her gift was announced. “You can try things out, fail, and then revamp and rework things… A thing can be bad on its journey to becoming good.” Share a story of failure, trial runs, revamping, reworking, or journeying from bad to good. (250 words) |
This prompt is about how you respond when something doesn’t work the first time. Inspired by Mindy Kaling’s idea that the Lab is “a place where you can fail,” Dartmouth wants students who experiment, revise, and improve. Focus on a specific moment where a setback led you to rethink, rebuild, and ultimately grow.
| Dartmouth “Open Prompt” Supplemental Essay Example for Prompt 7 |
| The first sourdough loaf I ever baked could have been used as a doorstop. It was a dense, grey disc of sadness that tasted vaguely of vinegar and failure. I treat my chemistry lab reports like holy relics, so the kitchen was supposed to be my controlled environment. Instead, I had created a culinary disaster.
I’d been treating Lazarus (my starter) like a math equation with exact measurements and strict timings. But Lazarus was alive, and he didn’t care about my spreadsheets. He reacted to the humidity of the afternoon and the draft from the kitchen window. My next few months were recorded in a flour-dusted journal, where I kept track of every variable. Batch four was a gummy mess because I panicked and added too much water. Batch seven looked like a cratered moon because I over-proofed it while distracted by a movie. Slowly, I learned to develop a “feel” for the dough, recognizing the subtle change from shaggy to silky under my palms. I got used to the mess, the sticky fingers, and the smell of fermenting disappointment. By batch twelve, the crust crackled like parchment, and the interior was a honeycomb of airy pockets. I finally made a good loaf because I let myself be a terrible baker for eleven weeks. Now, when I’m faced with a difficult coding problem or have to refine an essay, I think of Lazarus and know that with enough patience and effort, the raw dough of my ideas can also rise. (250 words) |
Essay analysis and tips
“A dense, grey disc of sadness that tasted vaguely of vinegar and failure.” This opening captures exactly what this prompt rewards: humor, vivid detail, and the ability to laugh at your own mistakes. The essay treats the failure itself as the story, which makes the experience engaging from the very first line.
The detail that carries the most weight is Lazarus not caring about the spreadsheets. It’s a small, funny observation, but it encodes what the writer learned: some systems don’t respond to precision the way you expect them to. Look for an insight like this in your own essay, something you discovered through failure that now shapes how you approach other challenges.
The essay also succeeds because it shows the process of improvement. The writer walks us through multiple attempts, gummy dough, over-proofed bread, and gradual progress. When drafting your response, choose a failure with enough stages to show the revision in action. Details like the “gummy mess” and the “cratered moon” make the journey vivid and the eventual success convincing.
Writing Dartmouth Supplemental Essays That Work
Dartmouth’s three supplemental essays cover a wide range of topics. The first asks why Dartmouth specifically. The second focuses on who you are and the experiences that have shaped you. The third gives you several directions to choose from, including what excites you intellectually or how you’ve learned from failure. Together, these prompts give you more space than most schools to show different sides of yourself.
Across all three essays, one principle matters most: specificity. Vague answers tend to blend into the thousands of applications Dartmouth reads each year. The strongest essays feel personal and distinct, filled with concrete details, honest reflection, and a voice that clearly belongs to one student.
If you want support throughout the process, our Senior Editor College Application Program offers guidance on essays, strategy, and the entire application. Our team has reviewed more than 10,000 essays, and 75% of our students earn admission to at least one Ivy League school. If Dartmouth is one of your top choices, we’re here to help you put together the strongest application possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Dartmouth require supplemental essays?
Yes, Dartmouth requires supplemental essays on top of the Common App personal statement.
2. How many supplemental essays does Dartmouth have?
Dartmouth requires three supplemental essays.
3. What’s the word limit for Dartmouth supplemental essays?
The required “Why Dartmouth” essay has a 100-word limit. The remaining two essays each have a 250-word limit.
Takeaways
- Dartmouth requires three supplemental essays on top of the Common App personal statement.
- The first supplemental essay is a required “Why Dartmouth” question with a 100-word limit.
- The second supplemental essay asks you to reflect on who you are and where you come from. You can choose one of two prompts, each with a 250-word limit.
- The third supplemental essay gives you seven open-ended prompts to choose from covering topics like your passions, values, and experiences. You only need to answer one, with a 250-word limit.
- Avoid feeling overwhelmed by working with an admissions consultant who can provide expert advice and personalized strategies to help you craft compelling essays and boost your chances of getting into Dartmouth.
Eric Eng
About the author
Eric Eng, the Founder and CEO of AdmissionSight, graduated with a BA from Princeton University and has one of the highest track records in the industry of placing students into Ivy League schools and top 10 universities. He has been featured on the US News & World Report for his insights on college admissions.
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