What is the acceptance rate for Northwestern and Dartmouth, and how selective are they compared with each other?

The biggest practical difference is that both schools are extremely selective, but Dartmouth is typically a bit harder to get into than Northwestern in the overall applicant pool. In recent cycles, Dartmouth’s overall acceptance rate has been around the mid-single digits, while Northwestern’s has also been in the single digits but usually somewhat higher. So for college list planning, it makes sense to treat both as reach schools, with Dartmouth often the slightly tougher admit.

Part of the confusion online comes from different years, different application rounds, and whether a source is citing overall, early, or transfer admission rates. A number you see for one cycle may not match another, and some websites keep outdated figures posted for a long time. The most reliable way to compare them is to look at each school’s own admissions reporting for the same year.

In practical terms, the selectivity gap between them is real but not huge enough to build a strategy around. Both attract very strong applicants, both deny many students with excellent grades and testing, and neither should be treated as anything close to likely admission. If you are making a balanced list, these belong in the highly selective category rather than trying to separate them too finely by odds alone.