Waitlisted, and I’m glad. I liked Amherst alot (hence submitting my application) but since then I’ve been admitted to Hopkins and Cornell which were some of my top choices. I’m happy that I didn’t take a spot from someone else! Best of luck to everyone and congrats to those who got in!
P.S I was also rejected from Pomona </3
WL. Also WL from Pomona. Williams rejection. Kid will start looking into details for LOCI etc. pretty soon. Taking the weekend to celebrate the one yes from yesterday night. But these WLs at top schools are something to be proud of…if they’re taking less than 5% of apps in RD (think I saw that # on Williams thread) then WL is probably the next 10% and still towards the top of the overall pile in a crazy tough year. Pomona WL letter has some stats to that effect. Congrats to the admitted! Open curriculum can be an amazingly versatile asset…so many ways to use the freedom.
Twins accepted with 3.51;3.56/31;31 so anything is possible
Do Amherst/Williams view private school applications more favorably than public (an unstated bias???). Looking at some of the comments here from accepteds only. Sad for my child - rejections at both. And agree with others that stats don’t matter. DD is an intellectually curious, amazing human - transgender who brings diverse perspective from that lens. Also has 4.0 (4.75 adjusted) with having taken extremely difficult classes (is starting college at 3rd level college math). Has shown true leadership in her extra curriculars, the SATs (1580). Fingers crossed for the next round of colleges in a few weeks. She really wants an open curriculum and too few good schools offer it. Amherst was top two on her list - Loss for them. She would have been an amazing human on their campus.
Beyond what Amherst offers, Hamilton, Smith, Brown and Grinnell offer some of the nation’s more notably flexible curricula. I hope your child has applied to some colleges from this group.
I’m not sure about the private school, my daughter goes to a private prep school in NJ. She has excellent GPA and highly selective Leadership positions, she was rejected at both Amherst and Williams. She went test optional though so not sure if that played a role. Her school councillor recommended to only submit SAT if it’s close to 1600. She was PSAT commended scholar but wasn’t near 1600 in SAT so not very sure.
Your child’s stats are amazing and I want to wish all the luck to your kid for the upcoming decisions, pls don’t get disheartened. Sometimes these rejections in life makes them stronger!!
My guess is Amherst is a bit tougher than many others for private school kids for a couple reasons. One, they are very openly seeking diversity along all lines, including socioeconomic. Two, I’m sure they get a ton of apps from private schools, and again they want a mix.
Having said that, there are a lot of prep school kids there. By and large, those kids are extremely qualified, and much more likely to apply than a typical public school kid.
Close to 1600 for a school with a 1470 pre-covid average? That seems pretty aggressive. My daughter submitted everywhere she applied because it was above the average everywhere she applied. If schools really count that as a negative against her and other applicants… oh well. There’s not anything I can say about test optional that hasn’t already been said.
Applied RD and waitlisted but we knew it was a reach. The applicant pool is amazing. Congrats to all who were accepted. Make the most of your 4 years at Amherst!
Good luck to your daughter for Amherst waitlist and remaining college decisions!!
My D is from an under-resourced public and we’re still in shock at her acceptance. She has some very unique ECs, but also some weaknesses in her profile (not a perfect GPA and only 3 years of high school due to study abroad). She’s been discouraged with lots of waitlists (the toughest was Grinnell, also an open curriculum school, that is within driving distance from home and a great fit academically). The schools at the very top truly do practice holistic admissions and there are only a very few slots for unhooked kids, unfortunately.
Your D sounds amazing and I’m certain will be successful regardless of the school she attends. And don’t lose hope - after waitlists from both Grinnell and Macalester (among others), mine was pretty convinced she’d be attending her safety (which fortunately, she likes) next year. Based on what you’ve said about your daughter’s profile, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she gets good news in the next two weeks.
I will definitely report back!
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go mammoths!
You can only imagine the banter as a mama mammoth and eph mama 
Congratulations to everyone that got in I’m late to the party because last week was Spring break for Amherst College and this week I have my Williams College kid home for part of her two week break.
Feel free to reach out with any questions. Also to chime in with @dadof4kids, our Amherst kid is a Senior and although a high school athlete, was not a collegiate athlete, but has several friends who are athletes. She got lucky in that her first year dorm floor had a lot athletes in the mix and her friendships with a few of those remain close to this day. Don’t let that deter you. It is a small enough school that everyone finds their people.
How do I find the waitlist information for the last two years? Were any students admitted off the WL last year, how many were taken in fall of 2020? My Guidance Counselor doesn’t seem very hopeful.
Wait list admits can be found on the Common Data Set. Last year Amherst took 0 from the wait list, the year prior it was 6.
My D22 was admitted today off WL.