Dartmouth University is an outstanding Ivy League university in the idyllic college town of Hanover, New Hampshire. It is very much the mountain Ivy. It isn’t completely isolated, but it is the most rural of the Ivy League schools. It has the hardest winter, by far, and many would argue them most indomitable spirit. Students who choose Dartmouth don’t pick it just because they want a fancy name on their diploma, they pick it because they want Dartmouth. Unsurprisingly, getting in is tough. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was only 5.8%.

Dartmouth is the mountain Ivy. It is an outstanding top-tier university nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Due to its quite isolated location, it attracts students who are at the top of their game in school but who also want to be outdoors, in nature, and who aren’t scared of a hard winter. The overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 6%. The Early Decision acceptance rate that same year was 21.6%. 

Dartmouth is the mountain Ivy. It’s not in the middle of nowhere, but Hanover, New Hampshire is by far the smallest college city that is also home to an Ivy League institution. It is nestled in the White Mountains. This mountain setting gives Dartmouth a particular energy, culture, and community. The 2025-2026 application cycle marked the second-largest applicant pool in the history of the College. One year earlier, in 2025, the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 6%. That year, they received over 28,000 applications and accepted only 1,699 students. Of that group, 1,205 committed to Dartmouth – or a 71% yield. Then, in 2026 the acceptance rate dropped to 5.8%, and they received even more applications. This continued a trend that has included record setting numbers of applicants year-over-year for nearly a decade.