Selective Admissions

Prior to 1920 the creation of the freshman class was a simple affair. Successful candidates had to be male and properly prepared for college. That system worked fine until National Geographic ran a feature story about the Dartmouth Outing Club. In one year applications jumped from 825 to 2,625 and die admissions office had some choices to make.

In 1921 Dartmouth inaugurated its Selective Process of Admissions, a national first. To whittle the applicant pool down to 2,000 acceptances, the College looked for evidence that candidates would succeed as Dartmouth students. In addition to intellectual capacity, the admissions office looked at character, personality, interests, and participation in school activities. The new system opened the door to a wave of public high-school graduates. And Dartmouth alumni took on a unique and highly influential role in the new process, interviewing candidates and reporting back to admissions officers. Within five years Dartmouth's innovation had spread to most other colleges in the East.

Thanks to a paean in National Geographic,Hoppy started matriculating choicer kids.