How to Write the Dartmouth Supplemental Essays (2025–2026)
Dartmouth Supplemental Essay Prompts
Dartmouth’s supplement includes a very short “Why Us” essay, followed by two longer responses where you choose between multiple prompts.
This structure is unusual. The academic fit is compressed into 100 words, while much of the supplement is devoted to personal reflection. As a result, the essays place more emphasis than usual on how you interpret your experiences, rather than simply what you want to study.
What Dartmouth Is Actually Asking
Dartmouth’s prompts are trying to answer two questions.
First, are you a clear academic fit? That is handled quickly in the 100-word response.
Second, who are you, and how do you make sense of your experiences? The remaining essays focus heavily on that.
The challenge is that the personal essays are open-ended but still constrained. You need to make deliberate choices and avoid drifting into general reflection.
Prompt #1: Why Dartmouth? (100 words)
This is a standard “Why Us” essay, but in an unusually short space.
Because of the word limit, you cannot cover multiple ideas. You need to identify one clear aspect of yourself—usually academic—and connect it directly to what Dartmouth offers.
The prompt allows you to talk about academics, community, or environment. In practice, academic answers tend to be stronger because they give you something concrete to build around. If you choose a non-academic angle, you still need to make the connection specific.
The key is compression. You are not describing Dartmouth. You are showing, very quickly, why it fits something you already care about.
Prompt #2: Personal Essay (250 words)
You choose between two versions of the same task.
One asks you to describe the environment in which you were raised and how it shaped you. The other asks you, more broadly, to introduce yourself.
Both are personal essays. The difference is structure.
The first is more directed. You focus on your background, describe it briefly, and then explain how it affected the way you think or behave. The strength of the essay comes from how clearly you can connect environment to outcome.
The second is more open. It invites you to lean into whatever is most distinctive about you. This version works best when you commit fully to a particular angle and develop it with clarity rather than trying to present a balanced overview.
In both cases, the main risk is overlap with your Common App essay. You should choose something that adds a new dimension rather than repeating an existing one.
Prompt #3: Additional Essay (250 words)
You choose one prompt from a wide range of options. Although they look very different, they follow a similar pattern. Each works best when you focus on one specific example and develop it clearly.
What excites you
This should center on one idea or activity and explain why it matters to you. The essay works when the reader can see the excitement through the way you describe it, not just through the claim itself.
Making an impact
You should identify one concrete way you have made—or hope to make—an impact. The strength comes from specificity: what you did, how you approached it, and why it matters.
A book that changed your perspective
This is not a book report. You should mention the text briefly, but the focus should be on how it changed the way you understand yourself or others.
Difficult conversation
This is a disagreement prompt. The key is not the conflict itself, but how you engaged with it and how you found common ground. The essay should show what allowed the conversation to move forward.
Celebrate your nerdy side
This prompt works best when you commit to one specific interest and pursue it fully. Trying to cover too much will weaken the response.
Difference and identity
You should focus on a specific way in which you have stood out or felt different, and how you have come to understand or embrace that. This works best when it feels natural rather than forced.
Failure and growth
If you choose this prompt, you need to tell a clear story. The focus should not be on the idea that failure leads to success—that is already implied. Instead, you should show, in detail, how getting something wrong was necessary for you to move forward, and what you learned from that process.
Common Mistakes Students Make
Trying to do too much in the 100-word essay
You need one clear idea. Multiple partial ideas will not land.Repeating the Common App essay
The personal prompt should add something new, not restate what you have already said.Staying too general in the open-ended prompts
Broad reflection without a specific example weakens the response.Choosing a prompt that doesn’t fit your experience
Some of these prompts are quite specific. If you do not have a clear example, the essay will feel forced.
Final Thought
Dartmouth’s supplement is less about complexity and more about choice.
You are given multiple options, but each one requires you to commit to a clear idea and develop it fully. The strongest responses are focused, specific, and deliberate.
You can find more supplemental essay guides here:
College Essay Supplemental Guides →
Want Help Refining These?
Dartmouth’s essays are short, but the range of options makes them harder to navigate than they appear.
If you’re unsure which prompts best fit your experiences or how to keep your responses focused, we work with students to refine each piece so the overall application feels clear and cohesive.
You can learn more about our approach here:
College Essay Coaching →