Admissions Overview

First-Year and Transfer Students

Admission to Dickinson is highly competitive. Many factors are considered in the admissions process to gain a comprehensive impression of the applicant's personal and academic qualifications for Dickinson. The primary credentials are:

We value and encourage your submission of additional materials in support of your application. If submitting artwork, please send copies, slides or electronic media. If you submit original artwork, material will only be returned, upon request, if a return self-addressed envelope with postage is included with your submission. Materials will be returned after June 1.

Applicants with an interest in music are required to fill out the Dickinson College Music Application Form and are encouraged to audition with the Music Department.

The secondary-school record is a very important element. Grades, the quality of courses taken, the class rank and how it is computed, and the quality of the school from which the student is applying are all taken into consideration for admission. Dickinson admissions representatives visit more than 600 secondary schools throughout the United States each year in order to gain a more comprehensive appreciation of each school and its students.

The official recommendation from the applicant's secondary school provides the Admissions Committee with an understanding of how the applicant is viewed within the school's environment, while the two academic teacher recommendations provide specific insight into the applicant's achievements, motivation and character. Additional letters of recommendation also are considered in our review process, although they are not required.

Dickinson seeks to create a sense of community in which the students are active participants. The Admissions Committee has a responsibility to admit students who will make positive contributions to that community. We seek people who have demonstrated their willingness to participate in school, family or community activities. We look for students who have made a commitment to something for which they have had to assume responsibility and from which they have grown. What is important is not the number of activities with which an applicant has been involved but rather the quality of participation in them.

As a liberal-arts college, Dickinson is committed to breadth as well as depth of quality in its curriculum. We believe that a student should have the opportunity to explore different aspects of the curriculum before declaring a major. We do not expect our applicants, as seniors in high school, to know precisely what they want to major in or what they plan to do with the rest of their lives. Learning how to make such choices wisely is what Dickinson's four-year liberal-arts education is all about.

The policy of the college is to enroll a first-year class by selecting qualified candidates who will benefit from and contribute to the life of the college. Dickinson College is an intellectual and social community which values justice, free inquiry, diversity and equal opportunity. It is a fundamental policy of the college to respect pluralism and to promote tolerance, civility, and mutual understanding within its community. The college does not discriminate on such bases as race, color, sex, political and religious beliefs, marital status, age, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origins, veteran's status or disability.

Dickinson is a member of the National Association for College Admission.