Admissions & selectivity
Dartmouth College Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Dartmouth College?
Dartmouth College’s reported acceptance rate is 5.4%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 5.4%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Dartmouth College Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Dartmouth College admits 5.4% of applicants, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 28,230 first-year applicants and admitted 1,699, with 1,205 enrolling.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Dartmouth College students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Dartmouth College reported that 69% of enrolled first-year students submitted SAT scores. The middle half scored between 1440 and 1550.
For the 33% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half ranged from 32 to 35. Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 96% placed in the upper tenth of their high-school class and 99% in the upper quarter.
Applicants can compare their own scores to the SAT range of 1440–1550 and the ACT range of 32–35. The figures describe enrolled students who submitted scores or reported a rank, not admission cutoffs.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Dartmouth College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
69% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1440
- Median
- 1520
- 75th percentile
- 1550
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
33% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 32
- Median
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Dartmouth College Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Dartmouth College?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 14.3%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 2.6%
- First-year retention
- 98.4%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
14.3% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 2.6% arrive as transfers or part-time students. Among 4,541 undergraduates, the composition is built around traditional first-year entry.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 689 degree-seeking transfer applicants, admitting 68 and enrolling 40. Pell-eligible families should run their own numbers through the cost calculator to see what grants and scholarships might cover.
Prospective transfer students should carefully verify how prior coursework applies to their intended field before applying.
Dartmouth College posts a six-year graduation rate of 95.5% for its first-time full-time cohort, well above the 68.8% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). First-year retention is similarly strong at 98.4%, against a peer median of 83.4%.
Pell Grant recipients in that cohort complete at 89.4%, which is 6.1 percentage points below the overall rate. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 98% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.