2014-2015 Dartmouth University Application Thread

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meowfish6868 said:
I got an II at the end of August and my status is the same as yours! I know it's easier said than done, but be patient and try to avoid checking portals. It's probably a coincidence, but I didn't get any IIs till I quit neurotically checking school portals and my email. Dartmouth was my first invite and a very pleasant surprise. Good luck and hopefully you hear some good news soon 🙂
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The Voice of Reason! Let me clean out my ears so that they can hear good sense!
 
hey guys, quick question about the requirements. I've done a semester of Biochem but it was without a lab. Does that meet the requirements?

thanks!
 
Hey all,

Quick question for those listing their "Complete as of __" date. Did you actually get an email confirmation of being complete (as other schools do)? I only know the date I submitted my application, but I never got an email from them like at other schools (I know my app is complete via their portal). I did get an email once my MD/PhD was complete (anyone else applying MD/PhD)?
 
ac8511 said:
Hey all,

Quick question for those listing their "Complete as of __" date. Did you actually get an email confirmation of being complete (as other schools do)? I only know the date I submitted my application, but I never got an email from them like at other schools (I know my app is complete via their portal). I did get an email once my MD/PhD was complete (anyone else applying MD/PhD)?
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Yeah, got it 3 days after submitting the secondary. How long ago did you submit?
 
ac8511 said:
Hey all,

Quick question for those listing their "Complete as of __" date. Did you actually get an email confirmation of being complete (as other schools do)? I only know the date I submitted my application, but I never got an email from them like at other schools (I know my app is complete via their portal). I did get an email once my MD/PhD was complete (anyone else applying MD/PhD)?
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Yes I received an email stating the file was complete and being sent to the admissions committee or review. This was about ten business days after I submitted the secondary.
 
PreMed9242 said:
Yeah, got it 3 days after submitting the secondary. How long ago did you submit?
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So I sent in the secondary around August 1st or so (it was one of my first secondaries completed). Then it took me awhile (cause I got sick) to send in my MD/PhD application. I got confirmation that the MD/PhD was complete around 8/22, but never got an email about just the MD program. They consider both independently, correct? Or I have I been misreading stuff this whole time? (FYI: I'm OOS, LizzyM = 78.5, balanced). Does OOS matter at Dartmouth for the MD-only track?
 
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ac8511 said:
So I sent in the secondary around August 1st or so (it was one of my first secondaries completed). Then it took me awhile (cause I got sick) to send in my MD/PhD application. I got confirmation that the MD/PhD was complete around 8/22, but never got an email about just the MD program. They consider both independently, correct? Or I have I been misreading stuff this whole time? (FYI: I'm OOS, LizzyM = 78.5, balanced). Does OOS matter at Dartmouth for the MD-only track?
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I am not familiar with OOS mattering at all per se in a private school and NH is not all that big a place anyway. I did not apply MD/PhD so can not tell you if the one reply is implied to cover both apps.
 
Can anyone tell me what Dartmouth's all about? I have been researching their website but I would appreciate some personal insight from anyone here. Are the away rotations required, or is that just optional? How's the curriculum? How do the students like the school and being in Hanover for four years?

Thanks! 🙂
 
I can say a bit about Hanover. It is small and beautiful. As is often the case in itty-bitty college towns, prices are high and restaurant choices are very limited--if you like ethnic food, better learn to cook before moving here! The weather is harsh--very cold in winter--and Dartmouth College is conscientiously "green" (as well as Dartmouth Green), so salt is verboten, and even sand on the sidewalks is scarce. Having said all of that, it is a beautiful place, and there are many, many opportunities to enjoy sports and activities. My friends as Geisel find it challenging, but they like it. Beyond that, as a fellow applicant, I can't say much except that the school itself has high standards for admission and performance. Hope someone else can add more.
 
Received complete email relatively quickly. Within 5 business days.
 
I submitted my secondary in the first week of august but I still haven't received a complete email :/ should I be worried?
 
Hmmm. I just realized, looking back through my emails, that my complete email came later than I had thought. I remember the secondary portal showing that all my materials were in soon after I submitted the secondary, but the "File Complete" email came only a couple of weeks later. It arrived right on the heels of an an acknowledgement of an update letter I had just sent in.
 
What % of applicants are sent a secondary application?
 
Hi everyone! I'm a first year student here. If you guys have any specific questions about Geisel (be it curriculum, extracirruculars, life in Hanover, etc), please feel free to post here or PM me. I also give admission tours, so hoping to run into a few of you in the future! 🙂
 
snarkie said:
Hi everyone! I'm a first year student here. If you guys have any specific questions about Geisel (be it curriculum, extracirruculars, life in Hanover, etc), please feel free to post here or PM me. I also give admission tours, so hoping to run into a few of you in the future! 🙂
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Hey @snarkie, would you mind talking a little bit about the curriculum in terms of how often you have exams, # of hours for lecture/group activities each week, do the majority of students attend the lectures, etc? I'm interested in learning more. Thanks 🙂
 
Is Dartmouth receptive to Letter of Interest/Updates? My publication was accepted and is out in print so I thought that might be something interesting....b/c I couldn't really talk about it in the secondary and it was barely hinted at in my primary description since the publication was not officially accepted yet.
 
@9iron

Great questions! This comes up a lot during tours. Our schedule is different every week so everything varies, but I will try to give an idea of hours. In terms of number of hours of classes each day, it varies from 3 - 7hr. On a typical day, we go from 8am to about 1pm or so. All of our labs are done in groups, and we typically have about 1-3 labs a week, ranging anywhere from 3-8 hours total. Our anatomy labs are 2-4 hours/session. We have histology labs that run for 2-3 hours every week or two. We also have tutorials (we call them conferences) that happen in small groups where there is a lot of active participation. These happen once or twice a week between all the classes.

I would say half the class attends lectures and half don't. All the classes are recorded so you can watch them back anytime.

We have quizzes every two weeks and they encompass everything we learned for the 2 weeks in all 4 courses. We get 4 booklets at once at the beginning of the quiz so we can allocate our time for each subject accordingly. We also have final exams before the end of term.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the curriculum! I didn't want to throw too much at once 😛
 
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jpwsurf21 said:
Absolutely! Dartmouth is receptive to LOI's and update letters and something as big as a publication is definitely worth bringing to the admission committee's attention.
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Oh ok that's good to hear, thanks! I was about to send them like a short 3 sentence letter about my publication but maybe I'll expand it a bit to show my interest in the school
 
jpwsurf21 said:
I would highly suggest doing that as opposed to just a simple update letter. You definitely want to show them that your interested in this school and not come across like this is a generic update email that you put out to every school
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Hi @jpwsurf21 thanks for your help on this thread! I posted a question about the preferred style/length of update letters on the main pre-allo board the other day and there was no support for making an update letter anything more than just facts. Do you have any information, by any chance, about how updates are viewed at Geisel that makes you think something less generic would be appreciated?

I am sure it doesn't matter too much, but I am curious. Incidentally, I sent in an update on publications a while back, bare-bones only.
 
jpwsurf21 said:
@breakintheroof - I personally think Geisel cares about what these letters say based on knowing the people on the admissions committee here. That may not be true at some other schools where you won't hear back a response that they've received your information for almost a week! Obviously sending a letter with a publication will be useful, regardless of if it is tailored to a particular school or not, but for Geisel, adding in a little bit of why you're interested in the school can only help IMO.

That being said, an LOI without any sort of update in it may not be that helpful and so many people won't see a positive response from sending one of those but I also don't see it hurting your application unless a school explicitly states they don't want them or if you send them way too many and it comes across as neurotic.
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Thank you for your perspective, it's very helpful!
 
Congrats to those who got II! I was complete 9/5 but haven't heard anything yet. Do you know if Dartmouth does rejections or just a hold until end of cycle? Thanks!
 
I think the admission office does send rejections but it tends to come quite late, closer to after New Years.
 
mus1cx said:
I submitted 9/02 and was complete on 9/15. Does Dartmouth always go chronologically or do I still have a chance... I feel super paranoid now 🙁

cGPA 3.92, sGPA 3.91, MCAT 35 (14/10/11), ECs on MDapps
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Your super paranoia is unjustified, my Canadian friend. No school goes exactly in chronological order.
 
mus1cx said:
I submitted 9/02 and was complete on 9/15. Does Dartmouth always go chronologically or do I still have a chance... I feel super paranoid now 🙁

cGPA 3.92, sGPA 3.91, MCAT 35 (14/10/11), ECs on MDapps
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I feel the same way except my stats are lower than yours.
 
I was complete way back in late July, and still haven't heard back from Dartmouth yet...No II, no rejections...Should I be worried about such radio silence?
 
Once you have your interview date nailed down, start figuring out travel accommodations! This is NOT the easiest school to get to, but you can figure it out if you give yourself enough time.
 
jpwsurf21 said:
This is for the people posted above you too - Absolutely not! Interview season goes til March, even April last year and those II are given about 3-4 weeks in advance so that means they go out Til the end of February/early March. I know several classmates who interviewed late in the season and got in directly without being placed on the waiting list.

I realize how tough it is just waiting in silence - I've been there myself with plenty of schools last year - just try to keep a positive attitude. As cheesy as that sounds, I say it because once you start being negative, it's hard to stop and it's something that'll pull everyone else down around you. That came across more serious than I intended it to lol but hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Anyways, good luck to everyone waiting and hang in there!!
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Thanks for the rah-rah!!
 
jpwsurf21 said:
This is for the people posted above you too - Absolutely not! Interview season goes til March, even April last year and those II are given about 3-4 weeks in advance so that means they go out Til the end of February/early March. I know several classmates who interviewed late in the season and got in directly without being placed on the waiting list.

I realize how tough it is just waiting in silence - I've been there myself with plenty of schools last year - just try to keep a positive attitude. As cheesy as that sounds, I say it because once you start being negative, it's hard to stop and it's something that'll pull everyone else down around you. That came across more serious than I intended it to lol but hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Anyways, good luck to everyone waiting and hang in there!!
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Thank you so much for your kind words! It's reassuring to know that people who interview late still can get in directly. 🙂
 
Mhm! Agreed. I interviewed quite late in the season as well last year (late Jan) and received an offer in late March. I know that last year, the last round of offers went out in mid April, so don't lose hope! Dartmouth is one of those schools that are a bit more conservative with their offers early on to give an equal chance to those who interview later in the cycle 🙂
 
Not sure if the issue of Biochem Lab was ever resolved here, but I just reached out to the admission office and spoke to Mr. Brown, he said, if the lab was part of some kind of Biochem Lecture+Lab combo, then it's required. But if the Biochem offered at your institution has no string attached with regarding to the Lab, or that there isn't any biochem lab offered at all, then the lab is not required. So I think most people here are fine as far as this is concerned.
 
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