Dartmouth Courses

Students officially registered to take Dartmouth College courses will earn 1/2 HHS credit for each Dartmouth course completed successfully.

General Guidelines

The following guidelines have been developed with the Dean’s Office at Dartmouth when a Hanover High School student wishes to enroll in Dartmouth courses on a tuition-free basis. A student interested in taking a Dartmouth course should first consult with their counselor. General expectations for applying are as follows:

  • The student’s academic performance must be strong in all areas. Students approved to take Dartmouth courses generally rank in the top quarter of their class.

  • The student must be a second semester junior or a senior.

  • The student must have completed successfully (generally at an A or A- level) all course work at Hanover High School in the chosen field.

  • The student must be a full-time student in the high school. This is defined as carrying the recommended five courses, with the Dartmouth course counting as one or two of them.

  • During a student’s time at Hanover High School, they may take a limit of four Dartmouth courses over 2 years but no more than one Dartmouth course per Dartmouth term.

  • Once a student is enrolled in a Dartmouth course, a) the student is expected to complete the course unless he/she is forced to drop out for health reasons, and b) the student falls under the grading policies of Dartmouth College for that part of his/her program. Grades earned at Dartmouth will become part of the permanent record of the student.

NOTE 1: No Hanover High School student is to approach a Dartmouth instructor for admittance to a course as part of their high school program before they have made application through the high school’s Counseling Department.

NOTE 2: Once started, students may continue taking Dartmouth courses as long as they earn grades of “B” or better.

Guidelines for taking a Language Course at Dartmouth

Dartmouth College has made its foreign language programs available to Hanover High School students with proven ability for learning languages at an advanced level, upon the recommendation of Hanover High School’s Foreign Language Department. Due to the variety of foreign language courses offered both at Hanover High School and Dartmouth College, the following guidelines govern the availability of Dartmouth Language Courses to Hanover High School students.

1. Students wishing to take a Dartmouth Language Course must be juniors or seniors and have demonstrated outstanding ability (generally an A- average or better) in the study of a foreign language. These courses are not available to younger students because language learning at the middle-school level does not adequately demonstrate the ability to study a language at the college level.

2. Students wishing to enroll in advanced French, German, Latin, or Spanish courses at Dartmouth (levels 1, 2, and 3 are not available to Hanover High School students) must meet the following criteria:

  • They have successfully completed the highest level of the language intended for Advanced Study.

  • They have demonstrated competency to take an advanced level Dartmouth course.

3. Students wishing to enroll in languages not offered at Hanover High must meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • They have successfully completed two years of high school courses in that language (from a previous school).

  • They have demonstrated in that language a level of competency comparable to two years of study at the high school level based on extended residency in a foreign country or heritage learning within the family. Competency will be determined by the HHS Foreign Language Department using placement exams and department interviews.

  • They have successfully completed the highest level of a language offered at Hanover High School. Students with exceptional ability may apply to start a new language at Dartmouth while taking the highest-level course in the first language at HHS.

4. Hanover High School’s Foreign Language Department will review cases wherein a student’s circumstances do not fit neatly into any of the categories described above; the department coordinator will present the department’s decision to the student and his/her counselor.