Dartmouth College's wording, checked October 26, 2026“In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. "A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives," he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?”
How to approach it
- 1Name the book and the moment in it.
- 2Show the change in how you see someone in your life.
- 3The quote is about novels, but the question asks what you read: choose the book that did this for you, whatever its reputation.
- 4Spend at most two sentences on plot.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The book and the exact moment in it: a scene, a line, a character's choice.
- 2What you understood then that you had not before.
- 3A real person or situation in your life you now see differently because of it.
- 4What you do differently as a result, even in a small way.
Where the 250 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| The moment or example | about 100 |
| What it shows or changed | about 90 |
| Why it matters, or what you bring | about 60 |
Mistakes to avoid
- A book report.
- Choosing a book to impress.
- Insight about humanity in general with no person from your own life 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.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| One specific idea | It names one specific topic, question or idea early, narrower than a whole subject. |
| Evidence you pursue it | It shows what the applicant read, built, asked or tried on their own, beyond required class work. |
| Your own thinking | The reader sees how the applicant's mind works on it: a connection, an opinion, a question still open. |
| Dartmouth's ask | It does every part of what Dartmouth's question asks, in the college's own terms. |
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Questions
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