The number of students who applied is about the same as last year's 615 winter applicants, according to Wilson. However, individual students appear to be applying to more internships and jobs, as the total number of resume submissions increased from 5,841 last winter to 6,866 this winter, she said. The surge in submitted resumes marks an 18 percent increase.
Though many students submitted resumes through DartBoard in this round of recruiting, she said the high level of participation may be more a sign of peer pressure than a true indicator of interest in the opportunities.
"We have so many students that come in and say, We're participating because we think we should or because my friends are doing it,'" Wilson said. "I think students should participate when they have a sincere interest in the opportunity they're applying for. They shouldn't use the recruiting program as practice."
The deadline for submitting resumes for the 74 internships and 29 entry-level jobs was Jan. 12 at 11:59 p.m., according to Wilson. The same number of jobs and internships were offered last winter.
Employers will review all applications Career Services does not pre-screen them and notify selected students of on-campus and phone interview opportunities beginning on Tuesday, she said.
Career Services forwarded this information to a variety of employers, including Goldman Sachs, Bridgewater Associates and CarMax, according to the DartBoard website.
Wilson said that there is no way to tell precisely how many students in total took advantage of this round of recruiting because employers often tell students who are on off-terms or studying abroad to bypass DartBoard and apply directly.
Career Services has delivered applications from students to employers for over 20 years but only began using the DartBoard website in 2008, Wilson said.
Aly Perez '13 applied for seven consulting positions through this round of Career Services recruiting, though she said she wanted to participate "more for the experience than looking for a specific job."
To avoid a last-minute crunch, Perez devoted many hours over winter break to perfecting her resume and cover letters. She estimated she spent four hours per day for a over week working on her applications.
"I think getting the experience of knowing how to write a good cover letter and learning how to mold your resume for the position I think that's really important," Perez said. "We have these resources. I think you really might as well take advantage of them."
Even if she does not get an internship, Perez said she values the recruiting process.
"If [an internship] doesn't work out, I think I would just want to get a better sense of what consulting's all about and what interviewing for a professional job is all about because that's something you don't get a lot of practice doing here at school," she said. "We're always in class and don't get the real world experience."
Although she applied for five internships through DartBoard, Hannah Hoyt '13 said she recognized the high level of competition involved in Career Services recruiting and made sure to apply for summer opportunities elsewhere.
"There's only a limited amount of places that go through Dartmouth for jobs," she said. "There's a reason that Google and Facebook don't go through Dartmouth for jobs they just have the top of the town come to them."
Having applied for internships outside of Career Services recruiting, Hoyt said she saw the merits of the College's resources.
"It's a lot harder to apply for jobs outside of this very regulated, organized environment," she said. "When you send an application for a nonprofit, there's no deadline for when you hear back."
There are approximately 20 more internship and job opportunities with submission dates in the upcoming months, and there are "likely more to come," Wilson said. She stressed, however, that the recruiting program is not the only service Career Services provides.
"Career Services does offer many other resources to help students find other internships and jobs," she said. "The recruiting program is very high-profile, but I want students to understand it's only a fraction of what's out there. We literally have hundreds, if not thousands, of other internships not on the recruiting program."
