AMHERST: Applying as a First-Year 3 Years after HS Graduation...

It’s been 3 years since I graduated High School. In the meantime I’ve been mulling around at a CC, trying to figure myself out. I did pretty well, but not as good as High School (I got one F and one C) so I’m applying as a first-year to Amherst College.

Stats:
GPA: 4.44 weighted, 3.98 unweighted- lots of APs and Honors
SAT: 720 writing, 710 reading, 650 math = 2080 total
ACT (I think i may retake): 27 total, Eng- 31, Reading - 30, Math- 23, Sci- 25, Eng/Wri- 29
ECS: lots of honor societies in HS, active in my current community college as president of some organizations
It’s been 3 years since I took my tests. I may retake the ACT though on late registration.

A little bit about me:

  • URM, also multiracial, Female, Lesbian, Under Poverty line
  • Rejected by all my college choices in Senior year right around the time my grandmother got very sick and after 1 year in CC, she died. I’ve been struggling with grief and trying to find myself since then, and I didn’t do as well in CC as I should’ve (4 W’s, one F and one C, both retaken as A’s- all A’s otherwise). If I had done better, I’d consider applying transfer, but I don’t want to submit these transcripts. I work fulltime and I am immensely passionate about writing, and art to a lesser extent. I want to be in Amhersts creative writing program and am going to send examples of my writing (and maybe art) with my application.

What are my chances?

I know they are not ideal and it’s a reach for sure.

I’m also trying to look into other colleges, so if you could give me some recs, let me know.

They are going to ask for your cc transcripts. So you’ll need to explain.

Hey sgopal2! Thanks for the reply, it’s much appreciated. I spoke with them, and they said I’m welcome to apply as a first-year without CC transcripts. However, I plan to explain my situation in my essay so it will be well understood why I didn’t include them.