Secondary School Report

The Secondary School Report (SSR) is where the Admissions Committee learns about your academic preparation during high school.

Your Transcript

We don't just look at your grades and classes when we review your SSR. We review your academic achievement in the context of your high school. Using the SSR and a profile provided by your secondary school, we'll gain an understanding of what courses your school offers, how the grading system works, what characteristics help to define the school community and what percentage of students go on to college after graduation.

When reviewing your transcript, we'll start with two major questions:

Given the courses that your school offers, have you enrolled in a challenging curriculum?
If you have enrolled in a challenging curriculum, have you had success that suggests that you'll thrive in the classroom at Dartmouth?

If we can answer those two questions with "yes," then we can look deeper into your application to better understand your particular areas of academic strength and weakness, subjects that interest you most, and your motivation for learning.

Counselor Evaluation

The written evaluation from your counselor that is included in your Secondary School Report is one place where we will start to look for a better understanding of both your intellectual engagement and your interactions with others beyond the classroom. Your counselor will provide us a with a perspective on your experience within your school (and perhaps beyond school).

College-Level Coursework in the Admissions Process

The Admissions Committee will review and consider all college-level coursework pursued by first-year and transfer applicants (including community college and online course work). It is important that applicants include their academic performance in college course with their applications, as this information will help us understand the candidate's preparedness for the Dartmouth curriculum.