Amherst ED or Colorado College ED?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi guys!

I have a huge dilemma and really need someone’s advice. So, I moved to the US in the middle of my sophomore year. Therefore, I am going to apply to colleges as an international student.

My stats are: ACT - 31, SAT USH - 800, SAT Chem - 760, TOEFL - 115, AP US History - 5.
During my senior year, I am also taking AP Econ, AP Govt, AP Calc AB, and AP French.
My GPA is 4.0 (unweighted) and 4.23 (weighted). GPA would be higher if my high school counted the honors class from my freshman year, when I still lived in my home country.

Also, I am white, and my family of 5 has income of $95,000. My family is ready to pay up to $20,000 per year for college.

I am deciding between applying ED to Amherst and EA to Colorado College or just ED Colorado College. I know that Amherst is need-blind for international students, so theoretically my chances of admission would not be lower, considering my fin need. But I also realize that I am below the average for Amherst (although I consider myself not a regular applicant in terms of my life story and some activities). On the other hand, I am average for CC with my stats, but CC has need-sensitive aid, so my chances of admission will be lower if I need money.

I am also aware that CC loves ED applicants, and about 50% of 2020 class were ED; CC often defers EA applicants. But I am afraid that my fin need as an international student may lower my chances at CC significantly.

So, what do you think would be a wiser choice for me: to apply ED to Amherst and EA to CC or just ED to CC?

I hope someone will be able to help me! Good luck!

2

Your ACT makes Amherst a pretty serious stretch, so keep that in mind as you make your decision.

3

marvin100, I understand. But then I also think that Amherst’s average is 32, so they have students with scores above and below. And CC’s ACT is 31, so just one point difference with Amherst… I don’t know. it is very confusing, and I feel like I am acting blindly

4

I’m not sure if you can apply as an international student if you’ve been living here for almost two years. And at this point, it’s pretty late in the game to be deciding where to apply ED. If you’re that torn, is it possible just to apply EA or RD to these schools and make a decision then? You don’t want to be bound to a school and then regret it.

5

Since you need significant financial aid I would not apply anywhere ED so you can have the opportunity to compare the financial offers from multiple schools.

6

Honestly, it really depends on which school you like the best, you have two really great choices, there. If your heart is set on Amherst, apply there ED and EA CC. Getting in RD is ridiculously hard at CC, but EA would only lower your chances slightly, so that’s totally okay. If you truly like them equally or think you would be equally happy at either, then ED CC because it is slightly easier to be accepted.

7

I’d rethink applying ED to either – both schools could be unaffordable or close to it.

What are your other options? What does your entire list look like?

8

Do you have a green card?

9

If your objective is to game the admission process in a way that maximizes your chances of admission to at least one of them, then it seems the best approach would be to apply ED to Amherst and EA to CC. That’s assuming either “early” program really does increase your admission chances compared to RD. I think they do, but not necessarily by as much as the admission rates might suggest.

You may be worried that Amherst is such a long shot that you’d be wasting an ED bump-up on them. But I don’t think Colorado College is necessarily much less selective for a high need, international applicant. CC does seem to be strongly need-aware. I base this impression not on good data, only on some College Confidential results I’ve seen.

Anyway, what’s the best way to mitigate the risk of being shut out by both schools?
Apply to a full gamut of reach-match-safety schools you’d be happy to attend.
Do this regardless of the ED-EA-RD choices you make for CC and Amherst.
Then sit back, wait for results, and stop worrying about gaming the process.

10

You have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and your test scores are great, other than your ACT (and 31 is still not bad). Elite schools are not all about test scores. If you can make a great case for you would be a valuable member of the community through your essays and ECs, your chances are even higher. I’d consider Amherst a very reasonable reach, more so if there is any way you can apply as a domestic student. I’d suggest applying there ED.

11

Which school do you like more? From what I can tell their campus cultures are quite different.

12

Why do you have to choose between ED’s? CC has two ED options: ED1 and ED2. ED1 apps are due November 10 and ED2 apps are due January 15. If you apply ED to Amherst and get rejected or rolled into RD you can still make the CC ED2 deadline. If you’re considering applying ED to CC (making a commitment) I’m surprised you didn’t know that. I don’t think CC publishes acceptance rate data for ED1 and ED2 separately, but I would guess that ED1 has a higher rate. That said, all CC’s recruited athletes apply ED1 so that could skew the numbers. Call and ask them.

I’m a big believer in applying ED. Not because it increases your chances of admission, but because it forces you to do your homework about which school and why. At least it should because you’re making a commitment. CC and Amherst both have great academics and are very pricey, but are otherwise really different schools with different cultures, attitudes, academic structures (block plan), histories, geography, climate, you name it. That’s not to say you wouldn’t be happy at either, but you need to understand what they’re about. Have you visited the schools? Attended classes? Talked to students? You should. Take notes on each, pro and con. While all schools want students who want them, CC is especially into applicants who want CC and can articulate why in the application-just look at their essay questions. Amherst is a reach for almost everyone except recruited athletes and some legacies (maybe). I would avoid getting caught up in the numbers and dig in on which place would suit you better. Four years is a long time to be miserable. Just because you get into a school with a glittering reputation doesn’t mean you’ll be happy. As for the money, I would talk to the schools about their aid programs and run the Net Price Calculator. Applying ED doesn’t mean you’ll get shut out, but it does mean you need to know how they hand out the money. You should be aware Amherst requires those applying ED to have your financial aid paperwork in November 1, two weeks before the ED application deadline. Last, I don’t know why anyone applies to CC RD when you have the ED 2/EA options unless they’re an indecisive procrastinator.

13

@Julia Austin, Before you begin worrying about ED admission, you need to concentrate on finding colleges that you can afford.

I see on another thread that your family is currently applying for a permanent residency. Having a green card would make a HUGE difference in your ability to secure financial aid. Depending on the anticipated timing, you might want to delay applying to colleges until you’re out of the international category.

Assuming that you do apply this year as an international, because you need a significant amount of financial aid, you should not apply ED. You may get in, but you won’t be in a position to apply to other schools that may give you more aid and you won’t be able to compare and negotiate need offers.

The key to making a college list for internationals, is to target schools that “guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for internationals.” This is more important than narrowing in on colleges that are need blind for internationals. Because there are so few schools that are need blind for internationals, they attract more international applicaions and are extraordinarily competitive.

As far as I can tell Colorado College does not guarantee to meet demonstrated need for internationals. I may be wrong about this, but that’s the way I interpret what they say on their website.

This is an incomplete list of colleges that guarantee to meet demonstrated need for internationals.
Amherst, Brown, Chicago, Colby, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Grinnell, Hamilton, Harvard, JHU, MIT, Macalester, Middlebury, Penn, Pitzer, Pomona, Princeton, Richmond, Rhodes, Stanford, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams

In addition, a few colleges offer merit aid to internationals. Large scholarships (e.g. $45 a year) are extremely rare and extremely competitive.

A family of 5 with an income of $95K may not be eligible for the amount of need based aid that you require. Remember, demonstrated need is the amount that colleges determine you need which may or may not be the same as what you really need.

The colleges’ net price calculators can be used as a starting point to give you an idea of what you could expect, but NPCs are not always accurate for internationals. At any rate, it’s highly unlikely that you will receive more than the NPC indicates; you may receive less. You and your parents need to talk to the financial aid offices for further information.

I don’t mean to be discouraging. Colleges do accept high achieving internationals and some do provide ample financial aid. Your background and life experience could be a significant factor in admissions. However, you need to do the research and put together a smart list in order to increase your odds.

In short, you should put the question of where you can get in on the back burner while you work out which colleges you can afford.

14

Hi everyone! Thank you for your inputs. I really appreciate them.

Dunboyne, on the ED contract, they say that if the financial aid is not adequate for me, I have a right not to go, since I am filing out the need-based aid.

tk21769, I know that CC is very competitive also, but I have much more opportunities to show myself there. Two supplements, interview… plus they do care about ED a lot. Amherst will get to know me much worse. Plus my ACT is not impressive, so they really need to see my hook, which is not that as discernable as it would be if I could write more to them as in CC.

frontpage, I’d love to believe that my hook would help me. And no, I canot apply as domestic since I am not a citizen nor a permanent resident.

Oxbelha1, I have researched both schools very diligently and know that their atmosphere is extremely different. But I can see myself in both of them very well. I am thinking about applying ED II to CC (is I get rejected from Amherst), and this is my current decision. I just really would love to know the results earlier, plus ED I might have higher chances.

momrath, thank you for all the information! I know all the schools you have listed. But they are extremely competitive, and considering my ACT and huge need, I probably have pretty low chances of acceptance. There are great schools with lower scores, but they do not provide good aid.
CC is need-aware, I know. But their average grant is about $40,000 for internationals. Plus, they are trying to become more diverse, and I feel like I would add diversity quite a bit. Anyway, it is all extremely hard, all these choices and money… But well, we’ll see :slight_smile:

15

Colorado College is not need-blind, even for US applicants, but does claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need. Absent a clear statement to the contrary, I would assume this claim must apply to all admitted students including internationals. For 2015-16, CC’s average dollar amount of institutional financial aid awarded to undergraduate, degree-seeking nonresident aliens was $ 42,891. That figure is similar to the averages for URichmond, Davidson, Grinnell, and Macalester.

At any rate, very few institutions are both need-blind and also claim to meet full demonstrated need for both U.S. and international students. Amherst is one of them.