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How to Write Dartmouth's Celebrate Your Nerdy Side Essay

Celebrate your nerdy side.

250 wordsChoose 1 of 6Intellectual curiosity2026-27
Dartmouth College's wording, checked October 26, 2026
“Celebrate your nerdy side.”

How to approach it

  1. 1Go deep on one nerdy thing with real detail.
  2. 2Let the joy show.
  3. 3The verb is celebrate. Tone is part of the answer.
  4. 4It can be academic or not. Fonts, transit maps and bird calls are all fair.

A structure that works

One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.

  1. 1Open with the nerdiest true detail you have.
  2. 2Explain the obsession for an outsider, quickly.
  3. 3Show how far down you have gone: what you built, memorized, argued about or stayed up for.
  4. 4Say what it gives you, without apologizing.

Where the 250 words go

PartWords
The moment or exampleabout 100
What it shows or changedabout 90
Why it matters, or what you bringabout 60

Mistakes to avoid

  • Apologizing for being nerdy.
  • A serious academic interest described with no nerdiness in it.

The checklist our grader uses for this question

When you check your Dartmouth answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 250 words limit they set its readiness verdict.

AreaWhat a reader looks for
Answers the questionThe opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered.
One specific ideaIt names one specific topic, question or idea early, narrower than a whole subject.
Evidence you pursue itIt shows what the applicant read, built, asked or tried on their own, beyond required class work.
Your own thinkingThe reader sees how the applicant's mind works on it: a connection, an opinion, a question still open.
Dartmouth's askIt does every part of what Dartmouth's question asks, in the college's own terms.

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Questions

How long is Dartmouth's "Celebrate your nerdy side" essay?

Up to 250 words.

Is it required?

Choose 1 of 6. Dartmouth's full set of questions is on the Dartmouth supplemental essays page.

Can I reuse an essay from another college for this prompt?

You can start from material you have, but rewrite it for Dartmouth's exact wording: answer every part of this question, and cut what it does not ask for.

Can Statementory write or improve my answer?

We never write or rewrite it: colleges ask you to affirm your essays are your own work. Our checker reviews it against the checklist on this page, quotes your own words, and asks the questions only you can answer.

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