The President's Take on Admissions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Thought some of you might be interested to hear what President Wright has to say about admissions at Dartmouth. Hear are his comments from the semi-annual letter to parents and alumni sent out today.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Admissions ~ The number of applications for admission to Dartmouth has reached a
record level of more than 12,700 applicants. We assess every student individually,
and we look for a range of qualities: academic accomplishment, athletic or artistic
ability, contribution to diversity, leadership and contributions to the community,
evidence of service and other extracurricular activities. Legacy status certainly has a
positive impact on an application. Currently legacies have an admission rate of 36
percent -- twice the rate of non-legacies -- and make up approximately 9 percent of
an entering class. I am always pleased to hear that legacies want to come to
Dartmouth, and, while admission to the College is extremely competitive, we are
strengthened by the generational continuity provided by legacies.

[/quote]
</p>

2

<p>I'm surprised that he is so open and seemingly enthusiastic about legacy admissions.
I was under the impression that most elite university presidents are reluctant to talk about it, and view it as a necessary evil.</p>

3

<p>I thought so too, until I realized that the OP stated that this letter was sent specifically to parents and alumni. Of course he wants them to be assured that there was a strong legacy benefits, so they can in turn feel content giving to their alma mater.</p>

4

<p>Especially with a $1.2 Billion fund raising campaign</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2005030301020%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2005030301020&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Dartmouth's president makes me want to come to Dartmouth even more because Dartmouth isn't trying to conceal the truth from prospective students and the public. They always seem to be forthcoming with their opinions on things like "likely" letters and legacy admissions. In contrast, it seems that many of the other Ivies continue to keep the status quo of denial and snobbiness (did I spell that right?).</p>