When you applied to Dartmouth Early Decision, you knew that this could happen. That doesn’t make a deferral decision any easier, though. You aren’t out of the game, but you didn’t get in Early Decision. You might still be accepted, but now you have to act like you won’t and go through the whole rigmarole of the Regular Decision admissions cycle.
Obviously, that’s a huge bummer. There is some good news, though. Yes, you were deferred — but a Dartmouth deferral is not a ‘soft no.’ If Dartmouth didn’t want to reconsider your application, they would have simple rejected you. Now, you are still in the running and there are steps you can take to increase your odds of being in the 5-10% of deferred students who are ultimately accepted in Dartmouth’s regular decision round. That gives you around the same chance of getting in as a new RD applicant, if not a slightly elevated odds of acceptance.
Dartmouth has been receiving record numbers of applications over the past few years, with nearly 30,000 applications for only about 1,200 seats in the Class of 2030. This year, we expect the numbers to shake out much the same. Dartmouth remains highly competitive, and you still have a way in. In fact, we help students pull it off every year and are here to help.
First, though, you have work to do to ensure that your college application process is a success regardless of what happens with Dartmouth.
We craft bounce-back strategies after Early Decision deferrals. Get yours.
As we said, there is work to do on Dartmouth. A lot has to come before that, and we have really good reasons for why. Dartmouth will not look at your application again until after the Regular Decision deadline. However, now you have other stuff to get done by RD deadlines: namely, your RD applications. Maybe you already have some essays written and a college list you feel is solid. Fair, but you also thought Dartmouth ED was going to happen. This means that there is a blind spot somewhere, and now we have to find it, address it, and submit the newer, better version of your application that results.
Review Your College List
You have a narrow window between receiving the notice of deferral from Dartmouth and Regular Decision deadlines. You had months to worth on Dartmouth, and now have only a few weeks to polish (or, worse, start) a slew of applications. It can be easy, then, to just keep on keeping on with the list you’ve been working off of since summer.
Sometimes the list is perfect. It’s well-balanced with a mix of targets, safety schools, and reaches, and there isn’t much to mess with. Often, however, we see college lists after a Dartmouth deferral that are more aspirational than they are realistic. Remember that schools that offer a binding early application option typically accept a 2x (or more) rate of applicants early than they do Regular Decision. This can turn a target in the early round into a reach when you are applying Regular Decision.
But remember what drew you to Dartmouth. Perhaps it was the combination of the liberal arts and a mountain location, or maybe you like the D-Plan’s unique structure. Use the attributes that stood out most to you when assembling your other options. Williams and Bowdoin may be reaches now as Regular Decision, perhaps Bates is a target, and a school like Bennington could be a secure safety.
Sometimes, rebuilding your college list can feel like a hit to your ego. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important and necessary. Rebuild, then you can focus on your rewrites.
Reassess Your Common App Essay
To achieve a deferral from Dartmouth, you needed to have the grades and the scores to qualify as a strong applicant. Something was missing, though. Most often, we find that missing piece in the writing that a student submitted along with their application through the supplements and the personal statement.
This can feel like another ego hit. You worked hard on your writing, and you felt confident in it. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved, though, and it’s likely that your personal statement is actually one of the reasons you were deferred.
As you re-read it, ask yourself these questions:
Is it undeniably and unmistakably you?
Does it tell the application reader something about you that they wouldn’t otherwise see in your application?
Is it fun to read?
That last question is probably the most ignored to the greatest detriment of students. When you focus on being impressive, it’s easy to lose the thread that an actual human is reading your application. They only have a few minutes, and they don’t even read all of each essay. They are skimming, but what we want to make them do is to pause. We want them to slow down and relish your writing.
Reach our essay guide for 2026-2027 to assess how your current essay measures up.
Press Submit
Once your college list is refreshed and your essays are adjusted, it’s time to press submit. Yes, this is still before you even deal with Dartmouth. Once the applications are in, we can turn our attention back to your first choice.
What Dartmouth Wants
Dartmouth accepts deferred students, but to get through in the regular decision round you need to make a compelling case for why they should reconsider you. The first and most crucial piece of this is your grades.
Grades and Scores: Your grades must have – at minimum – remained constant. What Dartmouth really wants to see on your mid-year report, though, is an upward trajectory. Remind your school counselor that you’ll need the report sent to Dartmouth when it is ready, and also schedule sending any new SAT or ACT scores that came in after the ED deadline.
Letter of Continued Interest: The LOCI is a critical piece of your Dartmouth deferral follow-up as this is where you reinforce that Dartmouth remains your first choice. No, the binding agreement does not apply anymore, but Dartmouth only wants to extend an offer if they are confident that you will accept. The LOCI should be no more than 400 words, and be broken up into three sections:
In The Opening, you need to state clearly and directly that you will attend if accepted. You also need to state your intention with this letter. Namely, you are reinforcing your interest in Dartmouth and providing important updates to your application.
The Update is what stumps many students. It’s been only about two months since you pressed submit, so we can forgive you if it doesn’t feel like there is much to brag about. Leadership roles were allocated in the fall, and much of the past few weeks were eaten up by school vacations and exam season. We do, however, need to find at least two things (but no more than 5) to update Dartmouth admission on. This could be something that didn’t even make it onto your application in the first place, or something brand new that just popped up in your life. Each update should serve to strengthen your profile as an applicant, and nothing should come close to making excuses.
Then you get to The Close. The end if the letter should reiterate your commitment to Dartmouth, restate that you will enroll if accepted, and sign of in a formal and professional way. This is not a text to a friend, so something like “Sincerely,” is expected.
Additional Letters of Recommendation: We have also had success in the past with submitting one (1) – seriously, just one, new letter of recommendation that provides new and relevant information that Dartmouth should know. For example, if you have been doing martial arts for 10 years this could be from a sensei who has trained you for much of that time. He or she could speak to your strength, determination, community-mindedness, and mentorship of younger athletes. The point here is a new voice underlining aspects of who you are that may have not fully been communicated in the initial application.
When we work with students to bounce back from a Dartmouth deferral, one of the first things we do, after addressing the Regular Decision applications, is to dig into what may have been missing from their Dartmouth application that the school should have known. This self-interrogation can be awkward, but it is critically important to attain the outcome you want. Making mistakes is human. Owning and addressing them is what matters.
Once you have your applications in and Dartmouth is updated, it’s all a waiting game. Do not send Dartmouth additional letters or materials, do not call and ask when you will hear back, and do not do anything else to be a thorn in their side. If you do not respect their process and space, they will not seriously reconsider your application. To make your hard work worth it, you need to be patient.
We help strong students attain impressive acceptances, even after early disappointments. Learn more.