Course Selection

Dartmouth does not require applicants to fulfill specific course requirements while in high school, but students are encouraged to pursue the strongest course of study available to them in their school.

Most applicants to Dartmouth present strong secondary school transcripts that include the following courses:

4 years of English
4 years of mathematics (often through calculus, if available)
4 years of social science
4 years of laboratory science
4 years of a foreign language

Course choices, policies and opportunities will vary from one school to the next, and the Admissions Committee takes the context of the school curriculum into consideration when reviewing an application. If you feel that your curriculum needs further explanation, we encourage you to speak with your school counselor about how to best convey the information you'd like to share with us. In most cases, unusual curricular choices are best highlighted in a concise explanation provided by the counselor in the Secondary School Report evaluation or by the applicant in the “Additional Information” section of the Common Application.