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, should apply as transfer applicants. Students are eligible to transfer from a liberal arts curriculum that is similar to Dartmouth's. Applicants who have attended vocational, professional, technical or online programs will not normally qualify for transfer admissions. Transfer applicants should be aware that Dartmouth rarely awards credit for coursework completed at a community college or two-year program and does not award credit for courses taken online.

Exceptions to the transfer eligibility criteria:

Military Veterans
Students who have taken college coursework in lieu of a final year or two of high school
Students who have taken college courses during high school or who have enrolled in a college in lieu of a final year or two of high school should apply as first-year applicants. This includes students pursuing an Associate's degree while finishing high school.
Students who hope to enter Dartmouth having completed less than one full year of university level coursework
Students who will have completed less than one full year* of study at a college or university before the proposed transfer matriculation date, should apply as first-year applicants. Please note, credit may or may not be awarded for completed college-level coursework.
Students who hope to enter Dartmouth after having completed more than two full years of university level coursework
Students who will have completed more than two years’ worth of coursework at a college or university before the proposed transfer matriculation date are not eligible to transfer to Dartmouth. Please consider the following opportunities for graduate studies at Dartmouth after completing your undergraduate program.
Students who have already earned a bachelor's degree
Students who have earned a bachelor’s degree are not eligible to transfer to Dartmouth. Please consider the following opportunities for graduate studies at Dartmouth.

Get the Transfer Checklist & Forms

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 (the equivalent of two years) and earn credit for at least 18 courses at Dartmouth.

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. Information about Dartmouth College's courses is provided in the online course catalogue, Organization, Regulations and Course, or ORC.