Peer Review????

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

I have never heard of this in my life…

"A peer recommendation is strongly encouraged for us to get a better understanding of your interests and character from a different perspective.

A peer recommendation
Recommendations
Dartmouth requires a counselor recommendation, two teacher recommendations, and strongly encourages a peer recommendation.

is a written statement of support for the applicant’s candidacy, completed by anyone the applicant considers a peer. It should not be someone who is in a supervisory or oversight role in the applicant’s life. A few examples are a classmate or teammate; brother, sister, or cousin; a co-worker; a friend met at summer school or summer camp; lab or debate partner."

https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/glossary-term/peer-recommendation

Has anyone who applied to Dartmouth actually done this? Would you consider doing this?

It just seems odd that they encourage peer reviews considering I’ve never seen other universities do it, if anything they advise strongly against it.

Thoughts?

2

I’ve never heard of this either. But I think it’s a great opportunity for the admissions committee to see the personal side of a candidate. I’d absolutely submit peer review if they strongly recommend it.

3

Dartmouth and Davidson College both do peer reviews. My D is an incoming freshman at Dartmouth and her sibling completed the peer review for her. Davidson didn’t allow siblings to complete the peer review so D asked her best friend to complete it for that application.

4

Dartmouth prides themselves on being close knit community and yes, they want to know what your peers think of you. Remember that learning takes place both in and outside of the classroom. Yes, my kid had her peer review done by one of her best friends in high school. Many years after graduating she will tell you that she has professional friends, she has friends from other aspects of her life, but her true core group of friends are the ones that she made at Dartmouth.

5

My S did it for a friend, and another friend did it for him. He was shy about asking, but was eventually convinced that it wasn’t an imposition.

I have the impression that most applicants who are serious about the school do it.

6

Maybe he’s an outlier, but my son, a '19, did not provide a peer review and got in, in fact he got a likely letter. So it is possible, but why take the chance, if you really want to attend there?

7

I wonder if Dartmouth would give more weight to a peer review recommendation from a classmate than from a sibling?

8

My daughter is a '22. I thought the peer was required- I could be wrong. She was also advised not to have a sibling write it, her good friend wrote it.

9

They can be astounding, and I think they can play a big role in the admissions decision. D let me read the one her best friend wrote for her (after it was submitted). His perspective was totally different from her teachers and college counselor. The college ended up with a very clear picture of who they were asking to join the community.