Early, Regular or Transfer

First-Year Applicants: Early Decision and Regular Decision

Typically, students who are currently attending high school or home school programs apply as first-year applicants. Also, those who have completed high school but have not enrolled in a post-secondary institution usually apply as first-year applicants.

Early Decision (ED)

Early Decision is for applicants who know that Dartmouth is their clear first choice college. Students applying ED file their applications by November 1st and receive their admissions decisions by mid-December. If admitted to Dartmouth, ED applicants withdraw their applications from other colleges and agree to enroll at Dartmouth. Students who are not admitted during ED will be either deferred to Regular Decision or denied admission during the early round and cannot reapply until the following academic year. Admitted ED students who apply for financial aid will receive an estimated financial aid award with their admissions decision.

Get the Early Decision Checklist & Forms

Regular Decision (RD)

Regular Decision applicants submit their application by January 1st, receive their admissions decisions by early April and have until May 1st to decide if they would like to enroll at Dartmouth. Approximately two-thirds of the students in each first-year class apply as RD applicants.

Get the Regular Decision Checklist & Forms

Transfer Applicants

Students who have graduated from high school with a high school diploma or a GED and have enrolled in a post-secondary institution of any kind, should apply as transfer applicants. Transfer applicants should be aware that Dartmouth rarely awards credit for coursework completed at a community college or two-year program, a foreign university, or online. At the present time, exceptions to this policy are made for United States Military Veterans.

Get the Transfer Checklist & Forms

I’m not sure if I am a First-year or a Transfer

If you have not yet earned a high school diploma – even if you are also enrolled in a post-secondary institution – you should apply to Dartmouth as a first-year applicant. (This includes students pursuing an Associate's degree while finishing high school.)

If you have already earned a high school diploma and have enrolled at a post-secondary institution, you should apply to Dartmouth as a transfer applicant.

Transferring Credit to Dartmouth

First-year students can receive credit for up to 4 courses from other colleges or universities during their Dartmouth career.
Transfer students can receive credit for up to 17 courses taken at other colleges and universities. To graduate, a transfer student must enroll at Dartmouth for at least 6 terms and earn credit for at least 18 courses at Dartmouth.

Dartmouth rarely awards credit for coursework completed at a community college or two-year program, a foreign university, or online. At the present time, exceptions to this policy are made for United States Military Veterans. Because the Dartmouth faculty evaluates each individual course taken by an enrolling student before awarding credit, it can be difficult to predict how many courses taken at another college or university will count towards a Dartmouth degree. In general, Dartmouth professors award credit for courses that are similar in content and rigor to coursework being taught at Dartmouth.